The Coastal Plain District is divided into three Units:
521 Northumberland Plain
522 Judique Coastal Lowland
523 Tantramar Marshes

Geology Development
District 520 of the Carboniferous Lowlands is one of the three true lowland areas of Nova Scotia; the other two are the Windsor Lowlands (Unit 511) and the Submerged (Bras d’Or) Lowland (District 560). This District borders the Northumberland Strait (with one interruption) from Tidnish to Port Hood. It is underlain by Middle and Late Carboniferous strata (Windsor to Pictou groups) which are all unresistant. Consequently the relief is low, and the topography is flat and undulating. This area is also submergent, and many long inlets and estuaries extend inland from sheltered harbours.

Scenic Quality
The most scenic feature of this region is the coast, for two reasons: the water and the farming landscapes.

Salt marsh, Northumberland Strait Click to enlarge

Scenic potential tends to be higher around enclosed bays and along drowned estuaries, particularly Wallace Harbour, Amet Sound, Pictou Harbour, and Antigonish Harbour. The juxtaposition of land and sea in these inlets provides greater visual interest than straighter stretches of coast. Farming tends to be more extensive in the same areas, providing greater visibility and more road access. Scenic ratings are thus very high in coastal embayments, moderately high elsewhere on the coast, and at medium levels inland. Where settlement and farming are absent inland, as around Amherst Head (Route 6), the forested plain has low scenic value. Although not beautiful to every eye, the flat and treeless dykelands near Amherst deserve special mention: their expanses of open prairie may either exhilarate or intimidate.