Abandoned Roads of Nova Scotia

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 public 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 and mapped hundreds of abandoned roads across Nova Scotia, working out from my home in the Annapolis Valley. Most are closer to civilization than you’d think.

Abandoned Roads of Nova Scotia:
Facebook Group | Instagram Page

The Road Books

— ORDER HERE —

This River Was Once a Road (2025) is from Nimbus Publishing, featuring detailed stories and photos from a selection of 20 abandoned roads spread across Nova Scotia. Adventures from my home in the Annapolis Valley area, through the central province, and out to the far eastern tip of Cape Breton Island. Desperate Passages (2023) is a small, self-published pocket guidebook to the 133 abandoned roads I’ve mapped in the western counties of Annapolis, Digby, and Kings. Includes brief directions and GPS coordinates for each hike. Compiled through years of research, everything is a public right of way.

Speaking Events

Abandoned Roads Map

Current Status — Annapolis, Digby, and Kings counties are completely mapped. All others are in progress.

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. I've used a lot of amateur maps produced with no pride, full of misinformation and inaccurate coordinates. I'm no cartographer, but I've always had a love for the art. As a kid, I used my father's stash of maps to wallpaper my bedroom, spending hours tracing lines with my fingers, imagining far-off places. Even now, I have a map of my area on the wall above my bed, and a globe on my bedside table.

This love of maps is why I work to be as close to 100% accurate as possible. Each road shows the historic title, best place to start and length, painstakingly traced out exactly as it lies underfoot. Roads are arranged alphabetically and by area for easy navigation. Ten photos are included for every entry. I've hiked them all myself — nothing is second-hand.

Other Maps I’ve Made

Bay Shore Tidal Beach Access

This map lists all the locations I'm aware of in the Kings, Annapolis, and Digby counties of Nova Scotia where you can drive any vehicle on a public road right up to the very edge of the saltwater shore.

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Old Truss Bridges of Nova Scotia

Rusty single lane steel truss bridges, scattered across the province. A mixture of large through truss, small pony truss, and also railway bridges. Most are well over a century old. Compiled by Steve Skafte and Jonathan King.

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Abandoned Cemeteries of Nova Scotia

This map contains a number of unmaintained burial grounds around the province. This is an ongoing project, updated as new discoveries are made. Find and share your own on the Facebook Group of the same name.

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Cemeteries of Annapolis County, Nova Scotia

This map features every burial ground in the county with at least one surviving historic gravestone. 1/3rd abandoned, 2/3rds active and maintained. Companion map to my guidebook: The Dead Centre — Order Here.

Support This Project

A pursuit like this requires a massive investment of time and money. Time for researching, driving, hiking, photographing, writing, editing, mapping, and publishing. Money for travel expenses, food, lodging, camera equipment, and hosting fees for this website. For a project that I’ve made free for all to use — as public right-of-ways should always remain — Abandoned Roads of Nova Scotia is far from free 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.

Patreon — Support my work for as little as $1 per month.

Substack — Support my work starting at $5 per month.

PayPal — If you prefer a one-off donation.

Interac e-transfer — Email address at the bottom of this page.