New River Beach PP

Another day another shoreline.

The beach at New River Beach Provincial Park is supposed to be one of the favorites on the Bay of Fundy, and we can see why.  At low tide the beach is very wide, remember the tides are very large here (18 feet), and a gorgeous soft tan colored sand. The rocks are draped with thick seaweed — the kind you can pop and an occasional wide leaf of kelp is washed up on the sand.

If you can figure out the maps given you at the registration kiosk, there is a marvelous nature trail, the Chittick’s Beach Trail – named for an Irish family who settled her in 1845 when they left Ireland during the potato famine.  I can’t imagine living out here on the bay at that point in time even if lots of good seafood was available. In order to “get to town” (a small settlement) they had to row or walk two miles.

The trail parallels the coast with boardwalks and stairs over difficult areas, then just after 1/2 mile turns back through the spruce and birch woods and bog.  One could walk an additional loop to Barnaby’s Head, but we were running out of time as it was getting late.  (We had stopped to shop today in St John and did a last wash of the trip at the laundry here in the campground.  Most of the campgrounds we have visited have laundry facilities, but most are not exactly spacious.  The one here is one washer and one dryer — worked well.)

Tomorrow we will cross into the USA for a while.

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)