Station 07F · Provincial Park Guide

Five Islands — red cliffs and five little islands on the Minas Basin.

Five Islands Provincial Park sits on the north shore of the Minas Basin in Nova Scotia. It is named for the five sea-stack islands just offshore — Moose, Diamond, Long, Egg, and Pinnacle — and is one of the best places on the Bay of Fundy to see the tide drop and expose a long red-sand beach beneath towering cliffs.

Location

Five Islands Provincial Park, Nova Scotia

45.3936°N, 64.0642°W

View larger map Get directions

At the park

The park is built around a red-sandstone headland (Economy Mountain) overlooking the five offshore islands. Facilities inside the park include the Estuary Trail day-use area, a small beach access with change rooms and washrooms, a picnic ground with kitchen shelters, cliff-top campsites with panoramic Minas Basin views, and a seasonal interpretive kiosk near the entrance.

Best time to visit

Open mid-May through mid-October
Time your visit for low tide to walk the exposed red-sand beach below the cliffs
Sunset from the Red Head lookout is one of the best on the bay
August has the calmest, warmest water for wading

Things to do in the park

Walk the Red Head Trail to the cliff-top lookout over the five islands
Descend to the beach at low tide and hunt for amethyst, agate, and fossils in the cobbles
Hike the Estuary Trail through salt marsh and mixed Acadian forest
Picnic at the day-use area with a view of the islands
Camp on the cliff top — sites overlook the Minas Basin and the sunrise
Stargaze from the campground on clear nights (very dark skies)

Park amenities

Cliff-top campground with serviced and unserviced sites (reserve ahead in summer)
Beach change rooms, washrooms, and drinking water at the day-use area
Picnic tables and covered kitchen shelters
Playground near the day-use area
Interpretive panels along the trails explaining the geology and the five islands

Field photos

Around Five Islands.

Red sandstone cliffs curving along the shore of the Minas Basin with one of the five islands offshore — The red cliffs curving along the Minas Basin with one of the five islands offshore.

Long red-sand beach beneath layered red sandstone cliffs at Five Islands Provincial Park — Long red-sand beach beneath the layered sandstone cliffs at low tide.

Red sandstone cliffs framed by green leaves along the Five Islands shoreline — Cliff-edge view of the red sandstone shoreline from the Red Head trail.

Red sandstone sea-stack on the wide red mudflats of Five Islands at low tide — A red sandstone sea-stack stranded on the mudflats when the tide is out.

White wooden Sand Point lighthouse with red trim on a grassy headland at Five Islands — The Sand Point lighthouse and interpretive centre near the park entrance.

Milky Way over an oTENTik canvas tent glowing in a meadow at Five Islands Provincial Park — Milky Way over the oTENTik campsites — Five Islands is a dark-sky spot on clear nights.