Having trod over a good proportion of the 204 (+/-) acres for which Red Head provides its name, I am keenly aware of just how unusual and frankly one-of-a-kind this property truly is. The extraordinarily majestic cliffs on the entire eastern and southern sides of this property are each about a kilometer long with Atlantic shoreline of about the same distance, and dominate any views of the land from the sea and across Ingonish Bay.
Once on the property, as the slideshow photos illustrate, the views are empyrean! To the south is Cape Smokey, with its multitude of moods from glowering to stormy to calmly majestic. The beaches below the cliffs, one being exclusively part of this property, are sandy and private, the rocky headland providing a natural 20 foot barrier to incursions from beyond the property.
To the east is the Atlantic with its infinite variety of images, while just below and out from Red Head is matchless Ingonish Island. The Northern property boundary, all along its course, meets the Highland National Park land. The southwest has views of the distant Keltic Lodge, the Highlands and the fishing fleet as it emerges and returns to its protected harbour just around the point (which is in several pictures).
Walking from the north part of the property, the trees are largely fir with some areas densely packed and the ground simply wall-to-wall moose droppings. It is clear that moose move here in the late Fall for their wintering grounds. The land climbs steadily from the Park boundary line as one moves towards the southern cliffs and there are more hardwoods there than I took notice of - as evidenced from the owner's Fall photo taken from within the neighboring Federal Parklands.
On the top of the property the land is a little clearer. Were someone to locate a house there, the location would provide vistas in every direction creating one of the most preeminently beautiful - even majestic - properties on the whole east coast of North America.
The same could be said for locating further down the southern flank of the property, as the views, while mainly to the south, east and southwest, emphasize the most memorable vistas anywhere in Cape Breton or the Maritimes.
The blow downs that abound on the property bear mute witness to the strength of the storms that buffet this coast in the winter. But the trees are hardy, and with planning and care a series of screens of chosen evergreens could be productively located to re-grow wherever the owner wished.
Only a small amount of wood cutting has ever been allowed on the property, and the last participant is no longer around, so virtually no cutting rights are extant. |
