Amusement Park Fun In New Brunswick

New Brunswick is home to a plethora of provincial parks, offering a range of outdoor activities and natural wonders. From coastal trails and unsupervised saltwater beaches to mountain biking trails and hiking paths, there's something for everyone looking to explore the natural beauty of the region. One of the most recent additions to the list of provincial parks is the Fundy Trail Parkway, boasting 30 kilometres of winding roads, rugged coastline, and sweeping ocean views. New Brunswick's parks offer freedom and adventure, allowing visitors to lounge on beaches, camp under starry skies, hike to hidden waterfalls, or bike through forests. With a variety of accommodation options, from tents to rustic shelters, visitors can choose their own adventure, be it peaceful relaxation or thrilling exploration.

New River Beach Provincial Park

One of the main attractions of the park is its beach, which stretches for miles at low tide, revealing tidal pools teeming with marine life such as crabs, periwinkles, whelks, and starfish. The fine, sandy beach offers a leisurely experience for those looking to relax and enjoy the sun. The park also features two circuits of hiking trails, including the Barnaby Head trail, which takes hikers along the sweeping cliffs and through a unique bog ecosystem. This trail provides an opportunity to discover bug-eating plants and 90-year-old dwarfed Black spruces.

For those looking for a more active experience, the park offers volleyball courts, a playground, and trails for walking and kayaking. The kayaking enthusiasts can explore the nearby coastal islands and admire the fishing boats from the beach. The park also features an annual Sand Sculpture Competition, providing a creative outlet for visitors. Additionally, there is a friendly family restaurant, New River Take Out, located within the park.

The New River Beach Provincial Park campground offers a range of accommodation options, including 99 campsites and 4 rustic shelters. The campsites are spacious and well-shaded, with some offering electrical hookups and others being non-serviced. The park also features three campgrounds, each with its own unique benefits and drawbacks. Campground A is ideal for tent or van camping, while Campground B can accommodate larger RVs and motorhomes. Campground C is a smaller, more intimate option offering greater privacy.

The park is a popular destination during the summer months, offering grass and picnic areas, as well as bathrooms and change rooms. It is a great place to spend a fun-filled day with family and friends, enjoying the beauty of nature and the joy of beach activities.

Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park

The Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park is one of New Brunswick's top attractions. Located on the shores of the upper reaches of the Bay of Fundy, the park is home to the famous flowerpot rocks, unique formations carved by erosion over thousands of years. The massive tides of the Bay of Fundy have patiently sculpted the landscape, creating over twenty free-standing sea stacks along two kilometres of shoreline.

At low tide, visitors can walk on the ocean floor, explore several coves, and admire the distinctive sandstone formations topped with trees. The ocean floor can be accessed via the Main Deck, which offers a large metal staircase with a spacious viewing platform, or a ramp that is suitable for wheelchairs. There is also a trail leading south from behind the Interpretive Centre that gently descends to sea level. The park's network of well-groomed, wheelchair-friendly trails offers stunning lookoffs, secluded vistas, ocean floor access, and natural forests, all just a short walk from the main building.

The Interpretive Centre features a multimedia exhibit, a café, and a gift shop. The park also offers guided tours, and admission tickets are valid for two consecutive days, allowing visitors to experience both high and low tides. The best time to visit the park is during the summer months when the facilities are fully open, and the tides are most dramatic.

The Hopewell Rocks are a result of tidal erosion in the Hopewell Rocks Ocean Tidal Exploration Site. The formations consist of red-brown sedimentary conglomerate, sandstone, and minor mudstone rock. The large volume of water flowing in and out of the Bay of Fundy modifies the landscape surrounding it, and the advancing and retreating tides have eroded the base of the rocks, resulting in their unusual shapes.

The Bay of Fundy is home to the world's highest tides, with the highest recorded tidal difference of over 16 metres (52-53 feet). The unique shape of the bay, like a huge funnel, causes the tide to rise progressively higher, and the vast sediment planes in the basin support a variety of biological productivity, including various shorebirds.

Herring Cove Provincial Park

Located on Campobello Island, in New Brunswick's Bay of Fundy, Herring Cove Provincial Park is a nature lover's paradise. The park offers a variety of unique hiking trails of varying lengths, a 1.6-km beach, and a 9-hole golf course. With its ancient spruce forests, bogs, and sheer cliffs, Herring Cove is a hiker's delight. The Carriage Road trail takes hikers through a forest of ancient spruce trees, across log bridges, and around a small pond. The park is also home to a diverse range of wildlife and birdlife, including bald eagles, osprey, and beavers.

Camping at Herring Cove is a popular option, with 88 campsites (40 with electrical hookups) and 5 rustic shelters. The campground provides fire pits, washrooms, picnic tables, kitchen shelters, and playgrounds. The park is also a great place for a quiet getaway, offering meditative spots with fantastic coastal views.

The park has a rich history, with the Roosevelt family having spent time in the area. The old carriage and logging road, now a hiking trail, lead to a tea house on Glensevern Lake, where the Roosevelt family would often picnic. The beach at Herring Cove was a favourite spot for vacationing families in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and it was here that Franklin D. Roosevelt experienced swimming difficulties, which later led to his polio diagnosis.

With its combination of natural beauty, diverse wildlife, and historical significance, Herring Cove Provincial Park is a must-visit destination for anyone exploring New Brunswick's Provincial Parks.

Roosevelt-Campobello International Park

Roosevelt Campobello International Park is a memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt and a symbol of cooperation between the U.S. and Canada. The park is jointly administered, staffed, and funded by both countries. It is located on Campobello Island in the Canadian province of New Brunswick and is connected to the U.S. mainland by the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Bridge at Lubec, Maine.

The park preserves the house and surrounding landscape of the Roosevelt family's summer retreat. The cottage, built in the Shingle Style and completed in 1897, was designed by Willard T. Sears and given as a wedding gift to Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in 1908 by Franklin's mother, Sara Roosevelt. The 34-room cottage has been preserved as a museum, showcasing the early life of Franklin D. Roosevelt before he became the 32nd President of the United States.

In addition to the cottage, the park features related outbuildings, gardens, and hiking trails. Visitors can also enjoy a visitor centre with a gift shop and a bilingual display on the open Canada-U.S. border. The park offers free admission and is open daily through Canadian Labour Day.

The history of the park is closely tied to Franklin D. Roosevelt, who spent many summers on Campobello Island as a child and later as an adult with his own family. Roosevelt contracted polio, which left him permanently paralysed from the waist down, and as a result, he visited the island less frequently. However, Campobello remained important to him, and he sailed there in 1933 and made brief visits in 1936 and 1939.

After Eleanor Roosevelt's death in 1962, the cottage and surrounding land were deeded to the U.S. and Canadian governments by Armand Hammer, who had acquired the property in 1952. The Roosevelt Campobello International Park was established in 1964 through an agreement signed by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. The park covers 2,800 acres (11 km2) and is jointly managed and equally financed by both countries.

Fundy Trail Parkway Provincial Park

The Fundy Trail Provincial Park is a 2,559-hectare park with 30 kilometres of winding roads, rugged coastline, and sweeping ocean views. It is located along the southern coast of New Brunswick, hugging the Bay of Fundy coast, and has been a staple of the province for decades. The park offers stunning views of the world-renowned bay, with its high tides and rugged coastal cliffs.

The park features a variety of trails and over 20 lookout locations, including a 10-kilometre pedestrian and bicycle trail, and the Big Salmon River Suspension Bridge. Visitors can also explore the Walton Glen Gorge Trail, a challenging and technical trail that descends into the gorge, as well as numerous other hiking and biking trails of varying difficulty. The park is also home to several waterfalls, such as the 15-metre McLeod Brook Falls, and ancient rock formations dating back 600 million years.

The Fundy Trail Provincial Park is part of two UNESCO-designated sites: the Fundy Biosphere Reserve and the Stonehammer Global Geopark. It is also the starting point for the famous 64-kilometre Fundy Footpath, one of the top 50 hiking trails in the world. The park has a new visitor centre and a campground with 50 sites, which opened in July 2024.

The park offers a range of activities for visitors, including kayaking, hiking, biking, and driving the paved parkway. It is accessible through both the west and east entrances, and the road connecting the park to Sussex and Alma was completed in 2022, making it easily reachable from nearby towns such as St. Martins, Sussex, and Saint John.

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