The Aspy River is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 on northeastern Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....

 which rises in the Cape Breton Highlands

Cape Breton Highlands

The Cape Breton Highlands, commonly called the Highlands, refer to a highland or mountainous plateau of ancient rock across the northern part of Cape Breton Island in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia....

 and empties into Aspy Bay. The river valley follows the ancient Aspy Fault

Aspy Fault

The Aspy Fault is a strike-slip fault that runs through 40 km of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and is often thought to be a part of the Cabot Fault/ Great Glen Fault system of Avalonia. Part of the fault runs through Cape Breton Highlands National Park. This fault runs southward from Cape North...

 which extends for 40 km inland from the coast and extends along the upper section of the northeast Margaree River

Margaree River

The Margaree River is a river on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. The northeast branch of the river derives from the watershed of the Cape Breton Highlands, while the Southwest Margaree flows northeast from Lake Ainslie. The two branches join at Margaree Forks...

. This geological fault is thought to be a part of the Cabot Fault (Newfoundland)/ Great Glen Fault

Great Glen Fault

The Great Glen Fault is a long strike-slip fault that runs through its namesake the Great Glen in Scotland. However, the fault is actually much longer and over 400 million years old.-Location:...

 (Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

) system of Avalonia

Avalonia

Avalonia was a microcontinent in the Paleozoic era. Crustal fragments of this former microcontinent underlie south-west Great Britain, and the eastern coast of North America. It is the source of many of the older rocks of Western Europe, Atlantic Canada, and parts of the coastal United States...

.

It is believed by some sources that John Cabot

John Cabot

John Cabot was an Italian navigator and explorer whose 1497 discovery of parts of North America is commonly held to have been the first European encounter with the continent of North America since the Norse Vikings in the eleventh century...

 landed at Aspy Bay in 1497. In 1856, a submarine cable was laid across the Cabot Strait

Cabot Strait

Cabot Strait is a strait in eastern Canada approximately 110 kilometres wide between Cape Ray, Newfoundland and Cape North, Cape Breton Island. It is the widest of the three outlets for the Gulf of Saint Lawrence into the Atlantic Ocean, the others being the Strait of Belle Isle and Strait of Canso...

 from Aspy Bay to Newfoundland establishing a telegraph link between St. John's, Newfoundland

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador

St. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 192,326 as of July 1, 2010, the St...

 and New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

A dirt road in Cape Breton Highlands National Park

Cape Breton Highlands National Park

Cape Breton Highlands National Park is located on northern Cape Breton Island in the province of Nova Scotia. One-third of the Cabot Trail passes through the park featuring spectacular ocean and mountain views. The park was the first National Park in the Atlantic provinces of Canada and covers an...

 leads to the Beulach Ban falls on the North Aspy River. "Beulach Ban" is Gaelic for "white gorge".

External links

• John Cabot memorial at Aspy Bay Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia