Park #3 of our Canada trip (and the last part that was actually in Canada)!
Fundy National Park
Part of the Canadian National Park System
~ 1 hour Southwest of Moncton, NB
After our hotel stay the night before, we got up, enjoyed our free breakfast, and were on our way to the next adventure – Fundy National Park! We would actually be leaving Nova Scotia and heading back to New Brunswick. As we crossed the border we had to get pictures of both province signs (for the BF), since we didn’t get an opportunity the first time since we came into Nova Scotia from a ferry.
Our first stop before getting to Fundy was Hopewell Rocks, which is an attraction along the Bay of Fundy. The Bay of Fundy has an extreme tidal range, so depending on the time of day it looks like either you’re driving next to water or pits of dirt and mud. Hopewell Rocks is quite unusual that there are flowerpot shaped rocks along the coast that get exposed and covered with water twice a day. The tidal change is so large, that you can actually walk on the floor of the bay. It was interesting to experience and the rocks themselves were pretty cool. The admission fee was ~$10 CAD and felt reasonable for the small hike, break from driving, and cool experience we got.
The last stop before the park was Cape Enrage, about 20 minutes from Fundy. There were two things that drew us to Cape Enrage – a lighthouse and the views of cliffs. Although, if the visit wasn’t free we likely would not have made the stop. We only stopped for a brief bit at the lighthouse, since it was close,d but spent more time wandering on the beach that had views of the lighthouse and surrounding cliffs. Eager to get to the park and settled for the day, we quickly headed onto the park.
We were staying in Chignecto Northcampground and this was one of the best campsites of the trip, tied with our site at Acadia National Park. The campground provides you with recycling and trash bags to encourage everyone to put their trash in the right spot, something I really liked. Our site was in the middle of the woods and it had good separation from the sites around it. The campground also had a washing station. I wish I could just permanently camp with the amenities provided in Canadian campgrounds. It started getting dark soon after we got there, so we quickly got our fire going and dinner made.
We got up early the next morning, we only had one day in the park, but didn’t have to be to our next destination until late in the day. There were a few hikes on the agenda for that day, specifically Dickson Falls trail and Caribou Plain trail. Both hikes were pretty short, only a couple miles each, but they give a different taste of what the park has to offer – waterfalls, woods, and bogs. We didn’t get a chance to drive down the coast to experience those views in the park, but that means we’ll just have to be back another time.
We went to Dickson Falls first because it was closest to our campground. It was good that we did this trail right away in the morning because it is one of the more popular trails in the park because of the shorter length with multiple cascades along the trail. The trail is a loop, so you can go either direction, we went clockwise. The trail leads you down a hill to get to the cascades and then you walk along them until you start ascending the hill again on the other side. None of the waterfalls are particularly large, but beautiful in a meandering way.
On our way out of the park and back towards Maine, we stopped at Caribou Plain trail to hike and eat lunch in the picnic area by the trailhead. Like I mentioned earlier, this trail was very different than Dickson Falls trail. There were bogs, which reminded me of Minnesota, and plenty of pine trees and moss. The trail is a relatively flat loop and there are patches of boardwalk to get you over marshy areas. The pinnacle of the hike is the platform next to Caribou Lake, it overlooks the lake and you can imagine caribou, or nowadays moose, watering here.
We looped back towards the car, going over a few slight inclines, enjoying our last moments in the park. We decided to eat lunch at the trailhead before continuing on with our drive. The picnic area is nothing special, but it was in the shade and there weren’t any bugs, so that was a winner for me.
We left Fundy National Park, much in the same way we did Cape Breton National Park, already talking about what we would do when we come back next time. There was so much left unseen and hiked because of our short time in the park.
Until next time!
Just a few more pictures I have to include 🙂
average girl's adventures 
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