Pictou Road
While perhaps a little confusing, Pictou Road is the name of a roadway, but the official name to the entrance into Pictou Harbour.
The entrance to the harbour is protected by two sandbars and is about 400m wide.
Pictou County Atlas
Terrain Features: Harbour
A harbour is a sheltered body of water, where boats can safely anchor, load, or unload, often shielded by natural landforms (points, islands, reefs) or artificial structures (breakwaters, causeways). Also often connected to rivers, estuaries, or bays, making them hubs for inland and coastal transport.
In Pictou County, Nova Scotia, harbours such as Pictou Harbour and Merigomish Harbour have been vital to settlement, trade, and navigation along the Northumberland Strait.
Note: Not all Terrain Features have official place names. Even there are many Harbours located throughout Pictou County, very few 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 Features Sub Categories: Banks / Bays / Brooks (Creeks) / Channels / Coves / Entrance (Passages) / Guts / Harbours / Lakes / Ponds / Pools (Stillwaters) / Rivers / Sluice / Water Falls / Other
Click here to return to the Pictou County Place Names Atlas
Some official place names in the Pictou County Atlas related to Harbours include:
Pictou Harbour
Pictou Harbour is a critical maritime hub, is rich in history and ecological diversity, reflecting both its past significance in shipping and local tourism and recreation. It is located south of the Town of Pictou, and north of Abercrombie Point, flowing out into the Northumberland Strait. The East River, Middle River, and West Rivers all flow into Pictou Harbour.
Back Harbour
Back Harbour is a small part of Merigomish Harbour located between the south side of Kings Head and Olding Island.
Merigomish Harbour
Merigomish Harbour is a charming coastal destination that offers a unique blend of natural beauty, historical significance, and cultural experiences. Starting between Big Merigomish Island and Kings Head, the harbour extends several kilometres inland, branching into a maze of coves, tidal channels, and small islands such as the Pig Islands and French Channel.
It is located within several Pictou County communities including Big Island, Merigomish, Lower Barneys River, Kings Head, Egerton, Sutherlands River, and Woodburn and feeds into the Northumberland Strait. The harbour itself extends about eight kilometers to the east and nearly six kilometers to the southwest, featuring numerous islands within it. Find out more about Merigomish Harbour including several related maps
Boat Harbour
Boat Harbour is located along the Northumberland Strait south of Fishers Grant 24.
Caribou Harbour
Caribou Harbour is part of a larger geography that includes Caribou Island, Central Caribou, and Caribou River. It is historically significant to Pictou County and an important port offering ferry services, commercial fishing, recreational opportunities, and a notable maritime climate. Caribou Harbour was explored and described on early maps by Nicholas Denys in the 1660s.
Little Harbour
Little Harbour is a rural coastal community located along the Northumberland Strait on the south side of Little Harbour. Mi’kmaq name for the area is “Menpekwik” meaning Erosion. The Acadians lived here during the early 1700’s. Settlers from the British Isles didn’t arrive till around 1773. Little harbour is also a hydrographic feature. Learn more about Little Harbour …