Abandoned Roads of Nova Scotia – I’m Steve Skafte, and this is my project, a years-long attempt to create a complete map of every single unmaintained right-of-way in the province! Those still owned by Department of Public Works (DPW), the municipality, the county, or another government entity. After years of daydreaming and driving past the mouths of derelict roads, I finally started this project in late 2014. Since then, I’ve hiked hundreds of abandoned roads in all corners of western Nova Scotia, most closer to civilization than you’d think.
I started young, and against my will. In the early days, my mother would drag us out on Sunday afternoons to hike along the Bay Shore, or up one of the nearby abandoned roads. I’d be trailing behind tired, dragging my feet and taking three steps to every one of my 6-foot-plus parents. But I learned to love the sense of discovery, slowly. The one that stuck with me most was Chute Road, the nearest to my Beaconsfield home. The winding, twisting trail made me feel like going on an epic adventure in reach of home, looking down on the Valley below.
For years, I forgot about that kind of feeling, misplaced along the way by social concerns. But when I found myself out of high school and stuck in a job I couldn’t stand, I felt desperate for some kind of escape. So I got into photography, and that quickly grew into an excuse to get me out in the wild. I was immediately drawn to abandoned things. First were homes, the crumbling farmhouses and hippie houses all along the coast. Over time, the sense of wonder they instilled drew me further up and further into the woods, steadily searching.
The Road Map
LEGEND:
Annapolis County (blue)
Antigonish County (dark red)
Colchester County (light red)
Cape Breton County (light green)
Victoria County (dark green)
Digby County (yellow)
Halifax / Hants Counties (light orange)
Kings County (dark orange)
Lunenburg County (purple)
"P" for Parking, recommended start point.
The majority of these roads include both abandoned and maintained sections. To ensure total clarity, each line on the map traces out the abandoned section only. On some mobile devices, swipe up or select the bottom bar for the full listing, or do the same after selecting a road to see more info.
Current Status – Annapolis, Digby, and Kings counties are completely mapped. All others are in progress.
Like most folks in search of adventure, I've encountered a lot of amateur maps created with no pride in accuracy. I've pulled up directions to sites like waterfalls and cemeteries, and found a sea of misinformation, inaccurate coordinates, and sloppy organization. I'm no cartographer, but I've always had a love for the art. As a kid, I found my father's stash of maps and wallpapered my bedroom. I'd spend hours tracing lines with my fingers, imagining far-off places and what it'd take to get there. Even now, I have a map of the Bridgetown area above my bed, and a globe on my bedside table.
This love of maps is why I strive to make the Abandoned Roads of Nova Scotia map as close to 100% accurate as possible. Every abandoned road is given the appropriate historic title, best point of entry and length included, and each line painstakingly traced out exactly as it lies underfoot. Roads are arranged both alphabetically and by county, for easy navigation. Photos are included for every entry. I've hiked them all in person – no guesswork involved. There's a lot of my heart out there.
Books for Sale
I'm excited to announce the release of "Desperate Passages", a pocket guidebook to 133 abandoned roads in Annapolis, Digby, and Kings counties. This is a book 9 years in the making, painstakingly compiled through extensive research and countless kilometres since 2014. Everything is a public right-of-way, open access for all to use. It’s a passport to adventure that could keep you busy indefinitely. I'd love to have you follow in my footsteps!
Social Media
Starting in 2017, I began to share my discoveries online, with the Abandoned Roads of Nova Scotia group that I created on Facebook. There, folks from all over Canada joined in with the discussion of these lost historic roads, and to share what we found along the way. There are currently almost 30,000 members. I know a lot of folks get cynical about social media, but there’s been nothing so immediately accessible and interactive in the history of humanity. I’ve gathered essential information and stories in minutes that would have otherwise taken me months to find – if ever at all. You can check it out to see all of my discoveries, along with those of the other members.
In the News
AutoTrader – July 2020
CBC.ca – July 2020
The Chronicle-Herald – March 2020
CBC TV – October 2019
CityNews Halifax – August 2019
Global TV – August 2019
CBC.ca – August 2019
CBC Radio – August 2019
The Grapevine – July 2019
Kings County Register – June 2019
Colleen Jones and Robert Guertin (CBC TV) with Steve Skafte
Jeremy Keefe (Global TV)
A Few Short Films
The Legend of Kniffen Hollow (2018)
Chute Road – Bear River, Annapolis County
Bastards of the Forest (2018)
Fraser Road – Granville Centre, Annapolis County
The Ruins of Adventure (2020)
Old Vault Road – Port Lorne, Annapolis County
The Wet Woods (2022)
Upper Cross Road East – Phinney’s Cove, Annapolis County
The Thirsty Forest (2022)
Parker Road – Bear River, Digby County
How to Support This Project
As you might expect, a project such as Abandoned Roads of Nova Scotia requires quite an investment of time and money. Time spent researching, driving, photographing, hiking, writing, editing, mapping, and publishing. Money for travel expenses, food, lodging, camera equipment, and hosting fees for this website. For a project that is free for all to use – just as public right-of-ways should always remain – Abandoned Roads of Nova Scotia is certainly not free of cost for me to pursue. But that doesn’t stop me loving it with all my heart.
As a working artist, I survive on what meager income I gather from what I’m able to create day-to-day. There’s a long list of roads still to map in the province, and I’m not about to run out of adventures any time soon. If you’ve got a little spare change, here’s how you can use it to make a big difference in this project.
Etsy – Buy my books on various subjects of stories, photos, and poetry. Calendars are available in the last quarter of every year, until selling out.
Patreon – Support my work for as little as $1 a month.
PayPal – If you prefer a one-off donation.
You can also send an Interac e-transfer of any amount, no matter how small, to my email address (at the bottom of this page).
If there’s no monetary support you can offer, rest assured that sharing this site and the Abandoned Roads Map, joining the Facebook group, following on Instagram, or just getting out and hiking my discoveries is a huge help! I can’t thank you all enough for the push you’ve given me to get this far. Hold fast.
– Steve Skafte