A big draw here on the Roadtreking blog are posts about RV travels -places to visit and things to see. Since other reporters were already writing super travel articles we never tried. Like many, we've created scrapbooks about our travels. We can think of lots of favorite places we have been, some of which we are reluctant to write about – because we go back regularly – and we don't want them to be overrun when we return!
One of the beautiful places we have visited is the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick. It is truly an amazing place with a remote beauty all its own. The Bay of Fundy claims the world's highest tides (at Hopewell Rocks you can see tides over 45 feet) and there are multiple places you can watch the bore tide (with or without surfers). There are many colorful things to see, but a not-to-miss place to travel in your Class B is the Fundy Trail. It is a cliff hugging road with bike paths and hiking trails that provide spectacular views of the coast and cliffs. The kayaking is excellent as well.
You get there by going through St.Martins (up the coast from Saint John), a little fishing village where we saw many grounded fishing boats. We are not used to seeing boats grounded or hull-down on their sides, but it's a common sight in the Bay of Fundy. The town also boasted a lighthouse, a covered bridge, and sea caves! That has got to be unique. The tide was out. Near a restaurant on the shore (we had some fine chowder there later) we could see the sea caves. Being cavers we just had to explore and investigate close up.
We crossed a large gravel area and waded a swift but shallow stream to reach the caves. They were more impressive from farther away. The caves were large but not very deep. We took some photos to share with a friend doing research on sea caves and hiked back across the gravel to our Roadtrek. On up the coast from St.Martins is the entrance to the Fundy Trail Parkway.
The Parkway was perfect for everyone, the bicyclist, the hiker or the driver could enjoy the trail. The bike / hiking trail had branches to waterfalls and additional overlooks, but many views can be seen from the road and the various turnouts and overlooks. The frequent intersections of road and trail make it possible for the casual hiker or cyclist to cover short sections of the trail if desired. The entire trail was 10 miles and the road was unusually steep near the Big Salmon River.
There is an entrance fee or $5.50 for adults, $4.50 for seniors, $3.50 for kids. A family pass is $20. A detailed colored map is provided at the entrance so you you can select the places to stop if you don't have the time for all of them. We made many stops to see many of the sights. Lynn and the Poodles hiked one section of the trail. Roger rode another section on his bike. The main trail was fairly level so bicycling was not challenging.
Some of the trail spurs could get rather interesting. The terrain could get steep. Fuller Falls was one of those places. The path was too steep for normal stairs, so the result was a cross between a ladder, stairs and a swinging bridge.
Roger and the Poodles waited for Lynn to negotiate the steep “steps” to a waterfall overlook. Only Tate wanted to try to follow her (he's a real mama's boy).
There is a fine visitor center at the Big Salmon River which has comprehensive exhibits on the logging, fishing, and ship building history of this remote area. You can take a 4 hour guided hike or spend the night at the Hearst Lodge, built by J. Randolph Hearst as a fishing lodge above the Big Salmon River. So if you want an interesting change from your camper accommodations, this would be a great experience. Next time!
There are plans to continue construction of the Fundy Trail beyond its current termination point. The footpath does continue on, but we turned back at the end of the road. We headed back to St. Martins for a late lunch. There we were impressed with the changes that had occurred since we left just hours before. The tide had come back in. The sea caves had 6 feet of turbulent water in them across what had been a large dry harbor. The area were we had walked and looked at rocks was under many feet of water.
The boats that had been lying on the rocks now floated. This area is truly unusual and spectacular. And this is only one of the interesting places we visited along the Bay of Fundy. You could enjoy a week's adventures in the area. Put it on your bucket list!
For more details click here for the Fundy Trail website.
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