Baillies Cove
Baillies Cove is a small coastal feature located along the Northumberland Strait, between Seafoam and Toney River.
Pictou County Atlas
Hydrographic Features: Cove
A cove is a small, sheltered coastal inlet often with a narrow entrance and calm waters (essentially a miniature bay). While bays can be expansive and open, coves are intimate, tucked-away features often found within or adjacent to larger bays.
In Pictou County, coves are abundant along the Northumberland Strait coastline, that complement its larger bays and harbours. Moodie Cove illustrates how coves often lie adjacent to larger harbour systems, serving as quiet recesses off main waterways. MacKinnon’s Cove is an example of how coves are often nestled between two Points. Its sandy beach and sheltered waters make it a recreational spot while also showing how coves form along indented coastlines.
MacDonalds Cove demonstrates how small inlets punctuate the rugged shoreline, providing natural landing places. And Charltons Cove is a great inland example, showing that coves can also occur along river systems, not just open coastlines.
Coves in Pictou County are the hidden corners of its bays; small, sheltered inlets that combine hydrographic significance with cultural and recreational value.
Note: Not all Hydrographic Features have official place names. Even there are many Coves located throughout Pictou County, not all have names included in the Canadian Geographic Names Database., if you know of some with local names that we have missed, then we encourage you to share that information with us so we can add the info to the atlas.
Hydrographic Feature Sub Categories: Banks / Bays / Brooks (Creeks) / Channels / Coves / Entrance (Passages) / Guts / Harbours / Lakes / Ponds / Pools (Stillwaters) / Rivers / Sluice / Water Falls / Other
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Some official place names in the Pictou County Atlas related to Coves include:
Chapel Cove
Chapel Cove is a small coastal inlet that helps define the character of Little Harbour, quiet, sheltered, and deeply tied to the rhythms of the Northumberland Strait. But that subtlety is part of its charm. It’s the kind of place where the water lies still on calm days, reflecting spruce trees and sky
Powells Cove
Powells Cove is a small, sheltered inlet tucked along the shoreline in the community of Little Harbour, a place where forest, salt air, and quiet water meet in a way that feels distinctly Northumberland Shore.
Megs Cove
Megs Cove is a small sheltered bay on the Cape John shore of the Northumberland Strait, accessible by a short dirt road off of the Cape John Road and valued locally for its quiet beach and coastal scenery.
Moodie Cove
Moodie Cove is a small protected area, just past Moodie Point, along the south side of Pictou Harbour, in the community of Pictou Landing.
Sandy Cove
Sandy Cove is a small body of water located north of Cole Point in the community of Braeshore.
Skinners Cove
Skinners Cove is a small body of water located between Forbes Point and Johnsons Point in the community of Melville . A wharf, a boat launch, and a sandy beach are located here.
Savage Cove
Savage Cove is a small, sheltered inlet along the south side of Big Merigomish Island, opening into the protected waters of Merigomish Harbour. Marked on modern topographic maps and noted in local geographic references, the cove lies close to Savage Point, another feature on the island’s southern shoreline.
Historical mapping, including the 1842 Merigomish Harbour map depicts this stretch of coast, showing how coves like Savage provided natural landing places for small vessels and sheltered access to the island’s interior.