BEACHES AROUND NOVA SCOTIA

Community: Canning

Region: Valley

Notes: Features 600ft cliffs and the world's highest tides on the Minas Basin.

Community: Avonport

Region: Valley

Notes: Blue Beach operates as a globally significant geological site and rocky stretch of coastline located along the Minas Basin near Avonport. Regarded as the official birthplace of vertebrate paleontology in Canada, the cliff-bordered beach is world-famous for its massive 350-million-year-old Carboniferous fossil beds, showcasing the world's oldest collection of fossil footprints. The site features a short scenic footpath down to the shoreline and is paired with the adjacent Blue Beach Fossil Museum—a dedicated, volunteer-run barn showroom displaying thousands of rare macro-fossils, ancient fish bones, and early land animal trackways curated from the beach.

Community: Grand Pré

Region: Valley

Notes: Evangeline Beach is a famous coastal stretch located on the Minas Basin mudflats in Grand Pré, offering striking panoramic views of Cape Blomidon. The long shoreline serves as a magnificent beach walking route at low tide and acts as a critical international staging area for millions of migrating semipalmated sandpipers and shorebirds every summer. Part of the Landscape of Grand Pré UNESCO World Heritage site, the location features public parking, interpretive panels, and exceptional opportunities to witness the extreme rise and fall of the world's highest tides.

Community: Wolfville

Region: Valley

Notes: Wolfville Reservoir Beach is a secluded public recreation area and park space located at the top of Pleasant Street within the town limits of Wolfville. The destination features a freshwater swimming area, wooded trail loops, and scenic lookouts, offering local residents and visitors a natural outdoor footprint for hiking and seasonal swimming within the Annapolis Valley landscape.