Cape Chignecto Provincial Park

Cape Chignecto Provincial Park
IUCN category II (national park)
The cliffs of Cape Chignecto viewed from Red Rocks trailhead and visitor centre
Location	Nova Scotia, Canada
Nearest city	Amherst, Nova Scotia, Truro, Nova Scotia
Coordinates	45°21′01″N 64°49′30.5″W / 45.35028°N 64.825139°W / 45.35028; -64.825139Coordinates: 45°21′01″N 64°49′30.5″W / 45.35028°N 64.825139°W / 45.35028; -64.825139
Area	42 km2 (16 sq mi), 4,200 ha (10,000 acres)
Established	1989
Governing body	Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources

Cape Chignecto Provincial Park is a Canadian provincial park located in Nova Scotia. A wilderness park, it derives its name from Cape Chignecto, a prominent headland which divides the Bay of Fundy with Chignecto Bay to the north and the Minas Channel leading to the Minas Basin to the east. The park, which opened in 1998, is the largest provincial park in Nova Scotia.

The park's landscape is renowned for spectacular shoreline with extensive backpacking trails and scenic day hikes. The highest cliffs in Mainland Nova Scotia are located along the park's southern coast, measuring 200 metres (600 ft). The park occupies 42 square kilometres (16 sq mi) and has 30 kilometres (19 mi) of wilderness coastline with unique geological features such as raised beaches, caves and sea stacks. The complex geology was created by continental collision along the Cobequid fault. The spectacular coastal landscapes of the park make it popular for hikers and kayakers. It also contains several abandoned logging camps, saw mills and the ghost towns of Eatonville and New Yarmouth. A secluded ravine named Refugee Cove was the site where Mi'kmaq sheltered fleeing Acadians during the Expulsion of the Acadians.

The mixing of warm summer temperatures with the cold tidal waters of the Bay of Fundy create frequent fogs resulting in moist rain forest like conditions which nurture "fog forests" of large red spruce and many unique and endangered species of lichens. The park's high southern cliffs support species of vetch and primrose with Alpine characteristics which are unique in Nova Scotia. Cape Chignecto also provides shelter for Nova Scotia's endangered mainland moose herd.