Recreation and Places to Visit

Nova Scotia is renowned for its varied scenery, from the lush orchard country of Annapolis Valley to the rocky shores of Peggy’s Cove on the Atlantic Coast. The sea is never far away, and there are many sandy beaches, campgrounds, and picnic areas.

Parks and Historic Sites

Nova Scotia has 2 national parks and 122 provincial parks. Cape Breton Highlands National Park, near the northern tip of Cape Breton Island, is renowned for its rugged coastline and mountain scenery. Kejimkujik National Park, in southwestern Nova Scotia, attracts hikers, campers, and canoeists. There are 16 national historic sites, including Fort Anne at Annapolis Royal, Canada’s oldest fort; Louisbourg National Historic Site on Cape Breton Island, a reconstruction of a walled town built by the French; Halifax Citadel in Halifax; Port Royal, near Annapolis Royal, the reconstructed Habitation of 1605; Grand Pré, with its statue of Evangeline, the heroine of Longfellow’s poem; and Alexander Graham Bell Museum at Baddeck.

Nova Scotia has many well-preserved historic houses and buildings that are maintained by the provincial government and open to the public; many of these historic sites are part of the Nova Scotia Museum (NSM) system. They include the Perkins House, located in Liverpool and built in 1766; the Ross-Thomson House at Shelburne, erected in the 1780s; Uniacke House, built at Mount Uniacke near Halifax, from 1813 to 1815; and the Wolfville Historic House at Wolfville.

Museums and Libraries

The Nova Scotia Museum (NSM), a part of the provincial department of tourism and culture, contains 26 museums across the province. It includes specialized museums, historic buildings, and other historically significant sites. The NSM is highly decentralized, with many branches operated by local boards or societies. The NSM also provides financial grants to dozens of community museums. Among the NSM’s specialized museums are the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and the Museum of Natural History, both in Halifax; the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, in Lunenburg; Ross Farm Museum; the Museum of Industry at Stellarton; and the Fundy Geological Museum in Parrsboro. Historic sites include Barrington Woolen Mill, Sherbrooke Village, and Haliburton House.

The Nova Scotia Provincial Library, a part of the provincial department of education, coordinates public library services throughout Nova Scotia. The public library system includes nine regional libraries, each with many community branches. Nova Scotia was the first province in Canada to offer free Internet access in all public library branches. Specialized libraries include the Public Archives of Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Legislative Library, and the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society Library.

Source: MSN Encarta: Online Encyclopedia