The Margaree 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 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....

 in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

. The northeast branch of the river derives from the watershed of 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....

, while the Southwest Margaree flows northeast from Lake Ainslie

Lake Ainslie

Lake Ainslie on Cape Breton Island is one of the largest natural freshwater lake in Nova Scotia. The Southwest Margaree River starts at the lake and empties into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...

. The two branches join at Margaree Forks. The river then flows north to empty into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence

Gulf of Saint Lawrence

The Gulf of Saint Lawrence , the world's largest estuary, is the outlet of North America's Great Lakes via the Saint Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean...

 at Margaree Harbour, Nova Scotia

Margaree Harbour, Nova Scotia

Margaree Harbour is a small community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Inverness County on Cape Breton Island.-References:*...

. The river is 120 km in length and drains an area of 1,375 km². The Margaree has been well known for a century for its trout and salmon sport fishery, that draws anglers from near and far. Fishing is highly regulated now and is restricted to fly fishing only, with barbless hooks, in the main stem of the river.

The gravel bars of the upper Northeast Margaree provide spawning

Spawn (biology)

Spawn refers to the eggs and sperm released or deposited, usually into water, by aquatic animals. As a verb, spawn refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, also called spawning...

 grounds for Atlantic Salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

; its steep valleys provide habitat for American Marten

American Marten

The American marten is a North American member of the family Mustelidae, sometimes referred to as the pine marten. The name "pine marten" is derived from the common but distinct Eurasian species of Martes...

 and the rare Gaspé shrew

Gaspé Shrew

The Gaspé Shrew is a North American shrew found on the Gaspé peninsula of Quebec, on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia and in New Brunswick...

. The Margaree Valley includes a mix of farms and woodlands.

During the 18th century, Acadian

Acadian

The Acadians are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia . Acadia was a colony of New France...

s settled along the coast near the mouth of the river; the French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 name for this river was St. Marguerite. Scottish

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...

 Highlanders began to settle in the Margaree Valley at the beginning of the 19th century.

Moses Coady

Moses Coady

Rev. Dr. Moses Michael Coady was a Roman Catholic priest, adult educator and co-operative entrepreneur best known for his instrumental role in the Antigonish Movement...

, a noted son of the Margaree Valley, attended school in Margaree Forks

Margaree Forks, Nova Scotia

Margaree Forks is a small community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Inverness County on Cape Breton Island.-References:*...

 and later, taught there before completing his education in Antigonish and Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

.

The Margaree was designated a Canadian Heritage River

Canadian Heritage Rivers System

The Canadian Heritage Rivers System was established in 1984 by the federal, provincial and territorial governments to conserve and protect the best examples of Canada's river heritage, to give them national recognition, and to encourage the public to enjoy and appreciate them. It is a cooperative...

in 1998.