New Brunswick: Coast, Trails and National Parks

New Brunswick offers a range of nature and activity themes to help you plan your trip: beach access at Kellys Beach, coastal trails along the Bay of Fundy, landscapes in Fundy National Park and kayaking in Fredericton. If you’re looking for a hotel, it may help to start by asking what you want your days to revolve around: a beach and access to the Ocean Floor, a parkway with coastal views, a trail network with forests and waterfalls, or a river activity. Each place offers a different focus; specific lengths and the seasonal opening period of Fundy Trail Provincial Park provide practical guidance as you decide.

Beach access and the Ocean Floor

The approximately 500-metre-long Kellys Beach Boardwalk in Kouchibouguac National Park provides access to Kellys Beach. The length describes the boardwalk itself; its destination is explicitly the beach. This gives travelers looking for a beach experience during their stay a specific location rather than a general description of the coast. The national park and the named beach go together here: the boardwalk is the connection mentioned in the access information. When choosing a destination, you can therefore distinguish between beach access and a longer trail in a coastal setting.

Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park has three main access points to the Ocean Floor. The Ocean Floor (Low Tide) route there is 1.9 kilometres long. The three access points and the stated length answer different questions: Where can you access the Ocean Floor, and how long is the named route? The route name makes its connection to the Ocean Floor and low tide clear. Compared with the boardwalk at Kellys Beach, the focus shifts from access to a beach to designated access points and a specific route in Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park. When choosing coastal destinations, these are two clearly distinct ways to plan your stay.

Coastal views along the Fundy Trail

Another coastal highlight is Fundy Trail Provincial Park. It covers 2,559 hectares and has a 30-kilometre parkway along New Brunswick’s southern coast, offering impressive views of the Bay of Fundy. The area and parkway length describe different scales: one figure refers to the park, the other to the parkway. The park is one of New Brunswick’s Signature Trails.

Seasonal operation is important for planning: Fundy Trail Provincial Park is open from mid-May to mid-October. If the parkway is part of your plans, take this period into account and check the specific dates of your visit before you go.

Trail network and landscapes in Fundy National Park

Fundy National Park offers a different focus from Fundy Trail Provincial Park. Its trail network features coastal views and views of the highest tides in the world, along with Acadian forests, waterfalls, moss-covered river valleys and backcountry swimming pools. The coast and inland areas are distinct landscape themes. If you don’t want to limit yourself to coastal views, you can consider the forest, waterfall and river valley landscapes as a nature focus of their own.

Kayaking in Fredericton

For those interested in kayaking, another location is worth considering: you can kayak on the Saint John River in Fredericton. This activity is tied to the river in Fredericton, while the other examples mentioned are described in terms of beaches, provincial parks or national parks. This lets you weigh up a river activity against coastal or trail network themes without combining them into a single route.

Discover more destinations: Westmorland County, Northumberland County, Sunbury County, Albert County, Charlotte County, Restigouche County, Kings County, St John County, Madawaska County, Carleton County, Kent County, Victoria County, Gloucester County, York County, Queens County, Nauwigewauk.

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