Exploring New Glasgow, Pictou County, NS for Family Fun
Our family is always looking for mini-away adventures, like the one we recently took to New Glasgow in Pictou County, NS.
Sometimes there are places we want to explore, but are just too far for a day trip, so we try to make a two-day adventure out of it, seeing as much as we can in the area. Much to the boys’ chagrin, it often involves going hiking.
Visiting the Museum of Industry in Stellarton, near New Glasgow, has been on my bucket list for a long time. Because it was more than a day trip, we decided to make an overnight trip of it.
We LOVED the Museum of Industry and highly recommend a visit. Read about our trip here.
While in the area, to make the most of your trip, here are some other things to check out.
Hikes in the New Glasgow Area
Hopewell Footbridge
Just outside New Glasgow in the community of Hopewell lies the Hopewell Footbridge. Here’s what the website says:
The Hopewell Footbridge is one of the last surviving footbridges in North America. It was originally built in the 1800’s along with another footbridge, which was destroyed by ice and extreme winter conditions. In 1991 large effort was made to restore the bridge. The bridge itself stems off into a series of trails and walking paths overlooking the river.
Our GPS took us to the “backside” of the bridge which was steps from the Riverside Park Road. If you take the entrance off Elgin Road, you will come to the main part of the park, and turn to the left, following the river through an old baseball diamond, and along the river about 5 minutes, to the bridge. It’s a short point to point, but a beautiful place to explore, and fun to see this old historic footbridge.
You will definitely need your GPS to help get you there, because it is off the beaten track, and about 20 minutes on the Truro side of New Glasgow.
Trenton Park
Trenton Park is located less than 10 minutes from New Glasgow. Here’s what the website says:
The Park offers 6km or walking/hiking trails winding their way through 565 acres of century-old coniferous trees. A 6.5km (4.4mi) mountain bike trail is also on site. Park visitors can enjoy a leisurely stroll (1.6km) along the prepared trail or stop to fish trout from the 3 man-made ponds.
What’s nice about the park is that you can do a choose-your-own-adventure, and pick and choose from the various trails to make a hike of your own desired length. The trails are extremely well marked, and it’s easy to navigate.
We went in the dead of winter when the trails were pure ice, so it was a little rough going, but still doable. We started down by the airport (second park entrance instead of the main one) and the scenery wasn’t that exciting, but it was an easy, accessible place to get out and stretch our legs.
Park Trail Map Here
Beaches
When you ask people from the area where you should visit in the New Glasgow area, most people say Melmerby Beach Provincial Park which is only a 20 minute drive from town.
Although we went in the winter, it was still beautiful, and you can imagine how wonderful it would be in the summer!
This is a place I would like to go back to again… especially when it is warmer!
Restaurants
On recommendations by friends, we ate at the Appleseed Modern Diner in New Glasgow. The food was delicious and there were so many yummy things to choose from!
It’s a great spot for kids with big booths, bright colours, and yummy food! Not to mention there is an arcade in the same building!
We would eat there any time in a heartbeat!
Accommodations
Our family loves to stay in Air B&Bs and we found a great one right in New Glasgow! When we went on to book it, we saw that local friends had also just stayed there and had highly recommended it, too!
Visit the Air B&B link here.
Overall, our family had a great time hanging out in New Glasgow and area! We got a taste for the town, and know where we want to explore further the next time we go back!
