Camping at Money Point
Money Point had been on my list of places to check out for ages, and back in July when I finally made it there, it certainly didn’t disappoint! This beautiful spot is located at the very northern tip of Cape Breton and got its name from the coins that washed up onto the shores from an old ship that had been wrecked there.
There are 2 ways to get to Money Point: a longer harder way or a shorter easier way! The harder way follows the Money Point Road from Bay St. Lawrence up the mountain and back down the other side. For the easier way, you drive up the dirt road past the Kauzmann trailhead until you see some communication towers. We parked here and hiked the rest of the way, which is around 12km return. Note that in order to go this way you need an SUV or a truck because the road is in rough shape in a few spots.
The hike, when starting from the Kauzmann Trail way, begins as a flat road that eventually narrows into an ATV trail. There was one fork on this part, and you keep left. For any backcountry trip I’d recommend having an offline maps app on your phone that shows your position in real time. I use maps.me (it shows hiking trails and also things like waterfalls and lighthouses) which I consulted at this fork and would definitely recommend downloading. Once the descent down the mountain begins, the path becomes rocky with many loose rocks and is quite steep. You’ll hear the ocean before you see it and emerge from the trees into a narrow field that runs along the coast where several horses spend the summer (these aren’t wild horses [neither are the ones in Pollett’s Cove] and are owned by locals who take them there to graze for the summer).
The field contains several old foundations and what remains of the old Money Point Road, complete with guardrail sections that are slowly being eroded into the ocean. On the day we hiked in it was 30 degrees so because we all just wanted to jump in the water, we didn’t go all the way to the end of the road before setting up camp and chose a spot on the bank above a tiny beach with turquoise water, which was probably the clearest I’ve seen in Cape Breton. Right beside this little beach was a cool rocky section that had been eroded smooth and had little depressions cut out of the rock that were perfect for sitting in and letting the occasional wave splash you a bit.
After swimming and getting a bite to eat, we wandered over to the beacon at the end of the road. There are old foundations from the lighthouses and other buildings that used to stand there in the past. The last lighthouse at Money Point was taken down by the Coast Guard in 2010 and replaced by the beacon that’s there today. Until 1980 there used to be a red and white checkerboard lighthouse there that was moved to the Canada Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa. You can see old photos of the previous lighthouses in the gallery on this website.
Money Point is a beautiful spot and I’ll definitely be back in the future! If you go to Money Point there are a few important things you should know:
You should be prepared for potential encounters with bears. While sitting at camp we heard a noise in the trees behind our tents, and after keeping our eyes on the area it came from, we spotted 2 bears. I also know of other people who have encountered bears while on this trail so it’s not uncommon to come across them. They didn’t come too close but we stashed all our food away from the tents and lit a fire as a precaution. We also had a can of bear spray with us which provided peace of mind.
There’s fresh water available there. We found an underground stream at the bottom of the bank by our tents and filled up there. There’s also a stream a few hundred meters past the light tower, but we didn’t make it down that far because we were worried about the horses messing with our tents while we were at the beacon lol
It can get windy there and because it’s at the base of the mountain there’s not many sheltered flat places to camp. In the middle of the night a thunder storm rolled by off the coast, which brought very high winds. They were so bad that we ended up getting up in the middle of the night to check the outside of the tent to make sure everything was still tied down. The wind also bent the centre pole of Chuck’s tent, which uses a hiking pole!
And as always, make sure to pack out all your garbage!
