McNabs Island Fall Foliage Tours October 18th, 2026

Rain Date October 25th
Time 9:30- 4:30

Join the Friends of McNabs Island Society for the annual Fall Foliage Tours of McNabs Island Provincial Park. See the island in its autumn splendour and participate in either a guided
Heritage Tour, Nature Tour, Adventure Tour, Coastal Shoreline Tour or the Hangman’s Beach – McNab Family Homestead Tour.

  • Discover how important Mniku’j (McNabs Island) was for the Mi'kmaw First Nations.
  • From Fort McNab National Historic Site, learn more about the role McNabs Island played during the world wars to protect the Port of Halifax. Parks Canada animators will be on site.
  • Hear the story of Bill Lynch, the "midway king" and how he got his start in the fairground business on the island.
  • Learn the tragic story of the SS England that was quarantined off McNabs Islandd in 1866.
  • Discover the island's coastal environment, plants and wildlife.
  • Learn from the Friends of McNabs Island horticulturalists how we are restoring the English Victorian Gardens.
  • Visit the Teahouse Outdoor Education Centre which was the former abandoned Teahouse.

We offer a variety of tours at the Fall Foliage Tours. There are two Heritage tours - one to Fort Ives and the North End of the island and the other to Fort McNab National Historic Site and the South End of the island; a Nature Tour; an Adventure Tour to Thrumcap suitable for hikers over 16 years of age; a Coastal Shoreline Tour; and a Hangman's Beach – McNab Homestead Tour based on the characters and setting from Thomas Raddall's book Hangman’s Beach.

Please select your top THREE tour choices on the Eventbrite order form.

The Friends of McNabs volunteers will try to accommodate your tour choices but cannot guarantee them. We will process your requests on a "first ordered" basis. Remember that there is only enough time during the day to take part in ONE tour. You will have to come back another time to do another type of tour.

Wear comfortable shoes or hiking boots and dress for the weather. If you choose the Adventure Tour, wear waterproof boots. Bring a lunch and drinking water. Sunscreen and bug spray are a must, even in the fall. Dogs are permitted but they must be on a leash at all times. Smoking tobacco or cannabis and the consumption of alcohol are prohibited in the Provincial Park.

Some of the island's trails are rough in a few places especially near Garrison Pier where storms have washed rocks up onto the trail. This small section of the main trail might make walking difficult for visitors with mobility issues. Visitors must be able to walk at least 5 - 7 km on most of our tours. The Adventure Tour is longer, at 10-15 km.

Departure Point: Halifax: Meet at Ambassatours (beside Cows Ice Cream) Cable Wharf, 1751 Lower Water Street on the Halifax waterfront by 9:15 am for the 9:30 departure. Note that visitors must be back at Garrison Pier by 4:00 as the boat departs from McNabs Island at 4:30 and returns to Halifax by 5:00 PM. Everyone must get their tickets in advance via Eventbrite.

There are NO refunds even if you do not get your choice of tour. Rain date is Sunday October 25, 2026. The event will be cancelled and tickets refunded if the park is closed or the weather cancels the event on the scheduled date of October 18th and you are not able to attend the rain date on October 25th.

Cost of Tickets:
$40 Adult - non-members of the Friends of McNabs Island,
$30 members of the Friends of McNabs Island,
$20 children/youth 16 years and younger.
Babies and toddlers 4 years and younger are free but still need a ticket.

Tickets on sale via Eventbrite. Follow this link for Tickets

For more information on this event
contact: info@mcnabsisland.ca or http://mcnabsisland.ca/contact.
For updates, follow us on social media:
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/McNabsIsland
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McNabs Island Guided Tours for 2026

Join our McNabs Island Guided Tours on Sundays in July and August

The Friends of McNabs Island Society is offering a variety of guided tours this summer. Join our heritage or coastal tours or try forest bathing. All our tours begin with a 30-minute boat ride aboard the Captain’s Pride departing from Fisherman’s Cove in Eastern Passage

Tickets are now on sale via Eventbrite!

https://www.eventbrite.com/o/friends-of-mcnabs-island-society-10724104906

McNabs Island North End Heritage Tour July 5, August 2 and August 23

South End Heritage Tour July 19 and August 16:

Learn why the Island was important to the Mi’kmaw First Nations, the early French settlers, and the British, who built several forts on the island to protect the Port of Halifax.
Admire the panoramic view from Fort McNab National Historic Site and learn more about the endangered barn swallows that live in the fort. Discover where Midway King, Bill Lynch, got his start in the fairground business. Learn the tragic story of the SS England, quarantined with cholera off McNabs Island in 1866.

McNabs Island Coastal Shoreline Tour July 12 and August 9:

Learn about the changing shape of the island as beaches and coves come and go. Stroll along sandy Maughers Beach, which didn’t exist 80 years ago. Walk around peaceful McNabs Pond, which has changed from a cove to a tidal inlet, then to a freshwater pond and now back to a tidal inlet again.

Forest Bathing Hike on July 26, 2026

Join the Friends of McNabs Island and Wil Brunner, a certified Nature and Forest Therapist, with www.softpinewellness.ca for a Forest Bathing Tour on McNabs Island.
Experience Forest Bathing, Japanese Shinrin-Yoku, and welcome a mindful sense of calm and exploration through a new perspective.

All our tours include a visit the Teahouse Outdoor Education Centre located in the English Gardens not far from Garrison Pier. At the end of the day, relax on the beach and dip your toes into the cool waters of Halifax Harbour.
Departure for our Summer Tours with A&M Sea Charters is at 9:30 AM from 87 Government Wharf Rd in Fisherman's Cove, Eastern Passage. The boat leaves McNabs Island at 4:00 PM arriving back in Eastern Passage at 4:30 PM. Space is limited to 24 people per trip.

Get your tickets early!

$40 per Adult (non-members), (Forest Bathing $50)

$30 per Adult for Friends of McNabs Island Society members, (Forest Bathing $40)

$20 for children/youth 16 and under, (Forest Bathing $30)

Babies and toddlers 4 years old and younger are FREE courtesy of the Friends of McNabs Island Even our youngest visitors need a ticket!

For Tickets, go to Eventbrite: 

https://www.eventbrite.com/o/friends-of-mcnabs-island-society-10724104906

Contact us for more details. info@mcnabsisland.ca

35th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Missed Vanessa Smith's presentation on Peter McNab and his Island? Watch it here.

This year’s guest speaker was archaeologist Vanessa Smith, who presented an engaging story of Peter McNab and his Island - the early colonial history of Peter McNab and his family who settled on the island in the late eighteenth century.

Vanessa Smith is the Curator/Registrar of Archaeology at the Nova Scotia Museum. Vanessa’s connection to McNabs Island began during her honours thesis work in archaeology at Saint Mary’s University where she researched the McNab Family and the Scottish settlement on McNabs Island. Vanessa went on to complete a master’s degree in Archaeology from the University of Glasgow. She also holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University.

Vanessa regularly participates as a tour guide at our McNabs Island Fall Foliage Tours where she shares her knowledge of the island’s history with visitors.

Image: Vanessa Smith in the McNab Family Cemetery, photo by Cathy McCarthy

McNabs Island 35th Anniversary Beach Cleanup


Celebrate Environment Week and Oceans Week by helping the Friends of McNabs Island
Society clean up McNabs Island Provincial Park on Sunday June 1st, 2025 (rain date June 8th).

Registration for Tickets opens on Eventbrite in May: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/friends-of-mcnabs-island-society-10724104906

For more detailed information: https://mcnabsisland.ca/events or info@mcnabsisland.ca

Departure Location is from the HALIFAX waterfront!

In Halifax, meet at Ambassatours, Cable Wharf, 1751 Lower Water St on the Halifax Waterfront
(beside Cows ice-cream) by 9:15 am for the 9:30 departure. Space is limited so everyone MUST
pre-register to guarantee your spot.

There will also be a limited departure from Eastern Passage for eager volunteers willing to help
haul garbage back to the Passage for pickup. Please contact us by email if you want to help
from Eastern Passage info@mcnabsisland.ca

Dress for the weather and island environment. Wear sturdy sneakers or hiking books. Bring
sunscreen, sunhats, insect repellent, work gloves, drinking water, a lunch and ENTHUSIASM.

We will supply the garbage bags and FREE transportation to the island for volunteers willing to
clean up the beaches. Sorry no bicycles or dogs on this trip. Note: the cleanup is not suitable for
very young children (under 5 years) as there could be hazards found on the beaches.

Over the past 35 years, volunteers have collected more than 17,150 bags of garbage and
recyclables from the beaches of McNabs and Lawlor Islands Provincial Park.

This year, we do NOT have any funding for this expensive cleanup. We are covering the costs
through donations to the Friends of McNabs Island Society. If you can make a tax-deductible
donation, we would really appreciate it!

To register: follow the link to Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.com/o/friends-of-mcnabs-island-society-10724104906
This event registration fills up very quickly, so add your name to the waitlist on Eventbrite if the
event is full.

For more information: info@mcnabsisland.ca or use the “contact us” link on our website.

Friends of McNabs Island AGM April 9 2025

Watch Dan Conlin's presentation "McNabs Island: An Island Circled by Wrecks" here.


Dan Conlin Explores McNabs Island from Halifax Harbour. (Photo Credit: Colin Timm, Pier 21)

You are invited to the Friends of McNab's Island Society’s 34th Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, April 9th in the Auditorium of the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History at 1747 Summer Street in Halifax. Doors open at 6:30 and the meeting starts at 7:00.

Join historian Dan Conlin for a fascinating illustrated talk about the shipwrecks that encircle McNabs Island. Many of these wrecks are still visible at low tide.

"McNab Island has been the final destination for countless vessels for centuries. Their evocative timbers and rusty fittings still have secrets to reveal and stories to tell.”–Dan Conlin.

Dan Conlin is a historian, author and retired museum curator in Halifax. Born in Berwick Nova Scotia, Dan studied journalism and history at Carleton University in Ottawa and then worked as a producer for CBC Radio in Ontario. He returned home to pursue a Master’s in History at Saint Mary’s University. One of his first steps in reconnecting with the province was to join the Friends of McNabs Island. He wrote the chapter on lighthouses and shipwrecks for the Friends’ Discover McNabs Island guide book.

Dan was curator at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic for 19 years where he was responsible for many successful exhibits including the Titanic display. He was also curator for a Pirates exhibit which led to his first book Pirates of the Atlantic: Robbery, Murder and Mayhem off Canada’s East Coast. His second book, War through the Lens: the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit was based on personal interviews and research that Dan conducted for his undergraduate thesis.

From 2014 until his retirement in November 2024, Dan was curator at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. His last show at Pier 21was "A History Exposed", the first national exhibition on the history of slavery in Canada, including a profile of the McNabs Island merchant and slaveholder, Joshua Mauger.


The spine of the shipwreck ‘The Brant’ in Wreck Cove on McNabs Island. (Photo Credit: Catherine McCarthy)