Mira River Provincial Park
(902) 563-3373
Mira River Provincial Park offers a 148-site campground,
flush toilets and showers, unsupervised swimming, a picnic area,
walking trail and boat launch. Also provided are fire grills,
a trailer dump station and facilities for people with disabilities.
The day-use beach includes flush toilets and change rooms.
The 40-kilometre (25-mile) long Mira River, with its myriad
of islands, peninsulas and sheltered coves, offers excellent
opportunities for a wide range of activities including canoeing,
boating, swimming, water skiing and fishing.
MIRA RIVER PROVINCIAL PARK
Situated on a peninsula in the midst of the beautiful Mira
River southeast of Sydney, Mira River Provincial Park offers an
attractive setting for a wide range of outdoor activities.These
include camping, swimming, picnicking, boating, or simply
relaxing.
The Mira River occupies a long, narrow valley, possibly along
an old fault line, which extends in a sweeping arch from Fram-
boise Cove to Mira Bay. At the southern end of the Mira, glacial
deposits have interrupted the river's flow, forming a chain of
small lakes. Elsewhere in the river, glacial deposits form numer-
ous peninsulas and islands.
About three kilometres (2 miles) from the mouth of the Mira,
the river abruptly narrows and cuts a valley through bedrock to
reach the Atlantic coast at Mira Gut. Here the valley is less than 50 metres (165 feet) wide, with steep banks 20 metres (65 feet) high.
CULTURAL HISTORY
The first inhabitants of the Mira River area were the Mi'kmaq who established seasonal camps along the river. In the early 1700s, French settlers arrived and soon began exporting timber, particularly white pine, to France. These settlers also farmed the area; old orchards and abandoned fields can still be
seen within the park.
In 1727 the French established a brick yard at what is now
Mira River Provincial Park. They chose the site for the high
quality of clay found along the river banks. Some of the bricks
were used to build the nearby Fortress of Louisbourg.
Mira River Provincial Park is located within the Sydney Plain
landscape unit. This unit is located along the southeastern tip of Cape Breton Island and is characterized by Acadian coniferous
and mixed-wood forest types on flat and undulating terrain.
Many streams and small to medium-sized rivers are found within
the landscape while various-sized lakes are common locally. The
coastline is dominated by unresistant rock cliffs and large bays
and harbours.
The Mira River lies between 320 million year old Carbonif-
erous formations to the north and 500 million year old Cambri-
an and Precambrian formations to the south.
VEGETATION
In the coastal areas of southeastern Cape Breton, white
spruce is common. Inland, balsam fir is the dominant tree
species. On better drained soils hardwoods such as red maple,
white birch, yellow birch and sugar maple are found.
These pages were created by Lark Szick
© Copyright All Rights Reserved. June, 2007.
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