Amethyst Cove, Nova Scotia

September 17th, 2022

Not all beaches are sand and swim. This beach was rock and crystals. I heard about this hike from a co-worker. I was like okay… untouched beach, lots of crystals to find, my kind of adventure. Then I started to read the reviews on how to get there. Not so fun. Climbing down a cliff…hmmm… I’m kinda scared of heights. Well lets be honest.. I am scared of heights. However, I was like… yup.. lets do it.

This hike starts at the trail head of Cape Split hiking trail. I need to mention that when we arrived at the parking lot, there were search and rescue teams set up. I thought… are they here to practice or are they here because people need to be rescued regularly? Just added to my already nervous Nelly stomach.

The day we picked was amazing. It was warm… early September. Myself, my daughter Vanessa, my niece Sophie and my sister Tracey all did this wonderful girls trip. We hiked in the morning and then headed to Old Orchard Inn for a wonderful girls night.

We arrived at about 9:20am… 2 hours before the lowest tide point. Very important to watch tide times when doing any beach hikes along this side of Nova Scotia. Some shore lines, the tide will come right up to the edge of the shore leaving no walking.

The first leg of the hike was easy. You start at the trail head of Cape Split and hike in at about the 1.5km mark. You will see orange tags that lead to a path the right of the main cape split trail. Follow the orange ribbons until you get to a bench and the start of the descent to the beach.

The climb down was a lot harder than the climb up. Maybe because I was not sure what to expect, or trying to find your best footing so you don’t stumble back and fall. The climb up you can keep your weight forward and step up to balance instead of stepping down.

It took us about 40 mins to climb down. Once you get to the beach it is about about another 3 km to Amethyst cove. The beach is all rock, so walking was a bit tricky. It has smaller rocks and then parts that are larger rocks that are easy to roll an ankle if you’re not careful watching your footing. We walked about 1 km and then decided to head back because we were not sure about how long it would take us to climb back up. Ironically it only took us about 20 mins to climb back up.

We did find a few gems, some white quarts and agate. Unfortunately no amethyst. We were too late in the season whereas the beach had been combed of all the good amethyst. The best time to find amethyst is in the spring.

To sum it up, I loved this hike. I will go back in the spring and plan to explore the shore line for a longer period of time. There was something very spiritual about this coastline. You can feel the energy from the crystals. Not a great beach for swimming, although my daughter did take a quick dip.

If you are up for an adventure and are not afraid of heights, I highly recommend this hike.

RECAP:

• Outhouses at the trail head
• Trail head starts at Cape split. Then about 1.5 km in you will turn right to start Amethyst cove trail
• Lots of parking
• Must be able to walk and climb
• Not recommended for small children
• Pay attention to tide times, reach the beach at about 1 hour before lowest tide to be able to complete the walk to the cove and back
• 3km at the bottom of the rope to actual Amethyst Cove
• Best hiking results for collecting gems are in March, April and May before beach has been beach combed.