Ben Eoin Provincial Park, Provincial park in Cape Breton County, Canada.
Ben Eoin Provincial Park is a 225-acre (91 ha) wooded park on the south side of East Bay of the Bras d'Or Lake at Ben Eoin, Cape Breton Island. A short walk in, several mown clearings that were once farm fields hold picnic tables under trees at the field edges. The 1.7 km return Ben Eoin Trail climbs through old birch and beech to a cleared look-off on a ridge of the East Bay Hills, 165 m above the bay.
The park received official designation as a provincial park on February 11, 1975, becoming part of Nova Scotia's network of protected natural areas. This designation preserved the shoreline and its ecosystems for future generations.
The park occupies an old farm in the community of Ben Eoin, and its mown clearings are former farm fields where picnic tables now stand at the field edges under the trees. The Ben Eoin Trail begins at a hiker's sign in the picnic park and climbs through old birch and beech to a look-off on a ridge of the East Bay Hills.
The park is open for day use from dawn to dusk, between May 15 and October 12, and entry is free. The Ben Eoin Trail begins at a signed trailhead inside the picnic park and runs 1.7 km return, climbing to a look-off on a ridge of the East Bay Hills. Pit toilets and hot-coal disposal areas are on site; the civic address is 5549 East Bay Highway (Route 4).
In summer 2013, ultrasonic detectors set up in the park recorded at least 5,754 bat passes, with August and September the busiest months. The study reliably detected little brown bats and northern long-eared bats, and it also looked for signs of white-nose syndrome in eastern Cape Breton.
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