Wood Islands

Wood Islands is a settlement of about 470 people (2011) in southeastern Prince Edward Island. Wood Islands is home to the Northumberland Ferries Terminal and a major gateway to Prince Edward Island.

Understand

Wood Islands Harbour

Wood Islands is on the southeastern shore of Prince Edward Island fronting on the Northumberland Straight and takes its name from several small forested islands located just offshore. It remains as the only ferry service connecting Prince Edward Island to the mainland, with the other ferry at Borden-Carleton being replaced by the Confederation Bridge in 1997.

Visitor information

• 1 Wood Islands Visitor Information Centre, 13054 Shore Road (Wood Islands Welcome Centre near Route 1 & 4), ☏ +1 902-962-7411, toll-free: +1-800-463-4734, vicwoodislands@gov.pe.ca. Open May-October. (updated Jul 2022)

Get in

By boat

The Northumberland Ferry crosses the Northumberland Strait between Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. It's reached from the mainland via a 75-minute ferry from the Caribou Ferry Terminal near Pictou, Nova Scotia, 19 km (12 mi) north of New Glasgow on Highway 106. Similar to the Confederation Bridge tolls, fares are only charged for passengers departing Prince Edward Island, check on the website for current fares. The ferry operates as few as 3 crossings daily per direction in the winter and over double that frequency during other times of the year.

Highway 106 in Nova Scotia becomes Highway 1 in Prince Edward Island, and continues to Charlottetown. Highway 106 and Highway 1 are part of branch of the Trans-Canada Highway.

See

• 1 Wood Islands Provincial Park, ☏ +1 902-652-8950. Open mid-June to mid-September. Day use park featuring playground equipment, an unsupervised beach, flush toilets, a boat ramp, picnic facilities and food services. (updated Nov 2019)

Harbour Light

• 2 Wood Islands Lighthouse, 173 Lighthouse Road, ☏ +1 902-962-3110, wilighthouse@bellaliant.com. Tour the Wood Islands Lighthouse, built in 1876, has a 54-foot square tower still attached to a two-storey, six bedroom home. (updated Nov 2019)

Eat

• 1 Brehauts Restaurant, 7 Mariners Lane, Murray Harbour, ☏ +1 902 962-3141, harvourview8@gmail.com. W-Su 11:30AM-7PM. A modest family-owned restaurant since 1976. A must-visit in Murray Harbour, well-known for their fresh and local seafood. A restaurant for all ages, customers can dine inside or outside on picnic tables. (updated Jul 2022)
• 2 Whistle Stop, 13054 Shore Road, Belle River (Next to the Wood Islands Visitor Information Centre), ☏ +1 902-969-2474. Soup, sandwich, pizza and lobster roll. (updated Jul 2022)
• 3 Treena's Takeout, 84 Lighthouse Road (Next to the ferry terminal), ☏ +1 902-962-2777. 11AM-7PM daily. Seafood. (updated Jul 2022)

Sleep

• 1 Northumberland Provincial Park Campground, 12547 Shore Rd, Rte 4 (3 km from the Wood Islands Ferry), ☏ +1 902 962-7418. Open from 27 May-17 Sep. The Northumberland Provincial Campground provides a gentle camping experience. The park has a lovely view of a family friendly island beach with lifeguards on duty through the summer. Unserviced sites daily $30-32, serviced sites daily $34-39; camp cabins daily $59, weekly $378. (updated Jul 2020)

Go next

Routes through Wood Islands

Borden-Carleton ← Charlottetown ←

W  E

→ → becomes → Pictou → New Glasgow