Between The Hills Hiking Trail in Harbour Breton

Saturday, July 29, 2023 

Hi Blog!

It is not often we can start a six mile hike right from our campground. Camped in the Deadman's Cove RV Park puts us in position to hike two different trails - The Deadman's Cove Trail and the Between the Hills Trail. Since the Between The Hills Trail leads to Rocky Point Lighthouse, we decided to hike Between the Hills first. However, you need to follow a portion of The Deadman's Cove Trail to get there, so here we go.

We were given this hiking map when we checked in. However, the actual trails are not well marked on the ground.

We started by walking down to the Deadman's Cove Beach (47.460209, -55.834667) where we could pick up the Deadman's Cove Hiking Trail which would lead us over to the Between the Hills Trail. But first, we decided to poke out to the end of the point next to the picnic area to see what we could see.

There were seals resting on the rocks below.

Just beyond the stairs to the picnic pavilion, the Deadman's Cove Trail makes a sharp left turn and heads inland along an ATV trail (47.459700, -55.834356) toward a pond and old quarry site.

We stopped to admire the small pond and wondered if there would be trout in there.

Now the trail follows the old quarry road. The walls of the quarry have been artfully decorated.

While the road is wide, the granite gravel is hard under foot. We were glad we decided to wear our hiking boots.

As we reached the second quarry, the Deadman's Cove Trail turned to the right and headed out toward the ocean. The Between the Hills Trail turned left and began a steady climb up. The trekking poles worked well in this section.

While this section was steep and the gravel fairly loose, it was a relatively short climb.

Once we reached the height of land, we could look down upon the town of Harbour Breton.

The trail then descended into a valley between the hills. The hardest part of the hike was trying to figure out how to get around the ponds in the middle of the road.

As we continued our hike, the fog rolled in. It wasn't actually raining, but we were wet nonetheless. Hiding under the fog is a cute little pond. We looked for moose, but didn't spot any.

Some roadway ponds were easy to work around with rocks just below the water's surface. Others required a bushwhack through wet alder bushes. Since we were already wet from the fog, it didn't make us any wetter.

By the time we reached quarry number three, the road was wide and puddle-free.

It looked like the old quarry road was heading straight into these folks' back yard. The road turned left just as it hit their property line.

We popped out on Hill Side Drive where we turned right to catch the trail to the Rocky Point Lighthouse. From our vantage point we could see over to Jerseyman's Harbour.

Unlike the Between The Hills Trail, the trail to Rocky Point Lighthouse was clearly marked. Here is our first look at the lighthouse.

The short trail opens up and you get a great view of the lighthouse as you approach.

We had an early lunch in the shadow of the lighthouse. Well, there would have been a shadow if it wasn't a grey foggy day!

After resting for a bit, we decided not to hike back the trail, but to walk back through town to see what we could see. It wasn't that the trail was that difficult, it was just very wet and we didn't feel the need to do it a second time. If the weather was better, we may have made a different decision. 

In any event, our hike was about 3 miles to the lighthouse (including some short side trails).  Had we returned, it would have been about a 6 mile hike.  As it happened, our total return hike, including the return through town, was also about 6 miles.  So that is what you should plan if you want to do this entire trail.