You might think that the highest point in all of Nova Scotia, located in the scenic Cape Breton Highlands and in the center of a well-visited National Park, would be a prominent, famous, and popular peak. You would at least expect a well-marked hiking trail to the summit, perhaps crowded on weekends with families and dogs, and with interpretive signs at the trailhead or even at the top.
Well, if that is what you thought, then White Hill is almost the exact opposite of that picture. It is an extremely remote, lonely, low bump on a marshy, barren, windswept upland about 20 km/13 mi from the nearest road and 10 km/6 mi from any maintained hiking trails. When I talked to National Park rangers about access to the peak in 1994, they discouraged me and were not sure the last time anyone was up in that area. I don't think the situation has changed much since then.
The remoteness of White Hill, to me, makes it a special peak whose ascent is more of an adventure than a basic half-day hike to a high point. Depite its very low elevation, the central Cape Breton Highlands is a treeless expanse of bushes and lakes remininscent of the moors and heaths of Scotland (the original Scotia), and exploring into the heart of this area can be a great way to really get away from it all.
The standard route these days appears to be from the south, via the Cheticamp Flowage lake, but it involves some bushwhacking and routefinding. This route has been done by fit trail-runners in 4 hours round trip, but most mortals will require a full day. The route with the least bushwhacking uses the Branch Pond Lookoff Trail and then the unmaintained fire roads beyond to Lake of the Islands and finally the summit, but that is a 27 mile hike round trip. Travel in the backcountry here is often very swampy and boggy and keeping your feet dry can be challenging.
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