It consists of mountains, valleys, waterfalls, rocky coastlines and the Cape Breton Highlands, a tundra-esque plateau.

The park is known for its "steep cliffs and deep river canyons that carve into a forested plateau bordering the Atlantic Ocean".

Also on the east side of the park located in Ingonish at the Keltic Lodge resort is Highlands Links, an 18-hole golf course designed by Stanley Thompson.

[10] Mammals include white-tailed deer, marten, lynx, muskrat, snowshoe hare, beaver, mink, bobcat, river otter, stoat, red fox, raccoon, moose, black bear, and coyote.

[13] In late October 2009, country folk singer Taylor Mitchell died as a result of her injuries and blood loss due to coyotes attacking her while she was hiking by herself on the Skyline Trail.

These groups of rocks consist of limestone, mudstone, anhydrite, gypsum, halite, siltstone, fluvial sandstone, shale, and conglomerate.

[18] The Cabot Trail then doglegs to the north, crossing the Wilkie Brook Fault Zone, and entering the southernmost extent of the Blair River Inlier.

Between these zones are outcrops of Silurian Fox Back Ridge diorite and granodiorite, as well as the Red River Anorthosite Suite of Middle Proterozoic age.

[18][21] The Cabot Trail then follows the Grande Anse River westwards, with exposed Horton Group until it reaches the coast at Pleasant Bay.

Moving south along the trail, the 433 Ma Ordovician-Silurian Belle Cote Road orthogneiss is encountered, followed by another granite (Proterozoic-Devonian in age).

[18] As the trail loops west to follow the coastline, rocks of the 439 Ma Ordovician-Silurian Jumping Brook Metamorphic Suite are exposed.