Top Things to do in St. Martins
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The 5 Best Sights & Landmarks in St. Martins, St. Martins
Discover the best top things to do in St. Martins, New Brunswick including Fundy Trail Parkway, St. Martins Harbour, Quaco Head Lighthouse, Hardscrabble Covered Bridge, Vaughan Creek Covered Bridge.
1. Fundy Trail Parkway
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 606 reviews
The ultimate Bay of Fundy eco-adventure. Drive the paved parkway that hugs the coastal cliffs. Lace up your hiking boots and hop on your mountain bike and explore the trails. These connect to paths and stairways which lead to pristine beaches and tumbling waterfalls, Precambrian rocks, 250m cliffs that tower at the water's edge. If that doesn't take your breath away, just check out the view - the spectacular, stunning Bay of Fundy. The trail has been carved out of the Fundy Escarpment, one of the last remaining coastal wilderness areas between Florida and Labrador. Most of the elements of the Fundy ecosystem exist within this area including the dramatic Fundy tides. At the Interpretive Centre you'll find original artifacts and old photos from a bygone era, when logging, fishing and shipbuilding were an economic mainstay of this region. Guided tours to Hearst Lodge and Great Day Experiences for the family or groups are available. The Interpretive Centre also provides a snack bar, restroom facilities and a small retail outlet. Above the Centre, there is a suspension bridge across the sparkling waters of the Big Salmon River and the beginning of the wilderness Fundy Footpath.
Reviewed By maritimeexplorer - Nova Scotia, Canada
New Brunswick's Fundy Trail Parkway joins Nova Scotia's Cabot Trail and Newfoundland and Labrador's Viking Trail as one of the great scenic drives, not just in Atlantic Canada, but in all of North America. Here's why you must drive it, bike it or hike it soon. I first visited the parkway in 2013 on an RV trip, but at that time it ended just past Big Salmon River and you had to return to St. Martins the western entrance to the parkway. I knew that the plans were to eventually make the Fundy Trail Parkway a through route from St. Martins to just outside Fundy National Park, but was not aware that in 2020 the parkway had opened an eastern entrance which was connected by an almost entirely new route to the town of Sussex. This is not to be confused with the final completion to Fundy National Park which is slated to open in 2021 and will provide another reason to return to experience this world class drive. It is important to know exactly what a parkway is in contrast to other types of highways. Essentially parkways are routes from which commercial traffic is prohibited, maximum speeds are limited and which are meant to provide an enjoyable experience traversing them by looking at great scenery. Many also include numerous lookoffs, trailheads and interpretation centres. They predate the automobile, but really came into prominence during the Depression when a number of famous parkways such as the Blue Ridge Parkway, Skyline Drive and Natchez Trace were constructed as part of the infrastructure programs of the New Deal. Parkways are expensive to build and have their critics who always think the money could be better spent on more 'practical things' like public housing. It took political courage and foresight for former premier Frank McKenna to press ahead with the Fundy Trail Parkway and now that it is a reality almost everyone agrees it was a great idea. We decided to drive the Fundy Trail Parkway from the eastern end to the western. Starting in Sussex would make for an approximately 110 km. (68 mile) circular loop from where we could then reach Alma just outside Fundy National Park in another half hour or so. From Sussex the signage to the parkway is quite good, taking you past Poley Mountain Ski Resort and the road into Adair's Wilderness Lodge which used to be as far as you could go. Now you'll find brand spanking new blacktop that at this time of year was flanked by fall colours and a prelude of what was to come. There is a kiosk at the eastern entrance where you buy your entry pass - $10.00 for adults, $9.00 for seniors, $32.00 for a family. Considering what this gives you access to, it is a bargain. There are twenty-one lookouts, seven beaches, nine special points of interest, sixteen observation decks, four waterfalls and no less than twenty hiking trails including the rugged multi-day Fundy Footpath which connects Fundy National Park to the Interpretive Centre at Big Salmon River. The newly opened eastern section of the Fundy Trail Parkway starts off well away from the coastline, but offers instead of ocean views, easy to moderate trails overlooking Walton Glen Gorge aka The Grand Canyon of New Brunswick, McLeod Brook Falls and McCumber Brook wetlands. There are observation decks at Walton Glen and McCumber Brook. If you actually want to descend into Walton Glen Gorge rather than just see it from the observation deck, be prepared for a very tough slog on the only trail in the system that is marked as a double black diamond. These trails are all accessed from the parking lot at the small interpretive centre near the eastern gate. From the eastern entrance it is about ten kilometres to the first of the twenty-one lookouts, each seemingly more spectacular than the last. One could easily do a photo essay just using pictures taken from these lookouts, but for now I'll settle on posting just a few with this review. The Bay of Fundy is one of the great natural wonders of the world and it is incredible and praiseworthy that New Brunswick has preserved a huge swath of it from St. Martins to Alma for future generations to enjoy and appreciate.
2. St. Martins Harbour
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 21 reviews
Reviewed By 525billr - Tampa, United States
This is one of the most dramatic visuals of the Bay of Fundy tides. Boats sitting in the mud 15 below the dock at low tide and riding high dockside at high tide. Don’t miss it. See our trip in my blog ... just click my picture and select the address below it.
3. Quaco Head Lighthouse
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 51 reviews
Reviewed By 91skid - Saint John, Canada
This is a great place to go if you just wanna sit and think the view is fantastic the only downfall is if it’s foggy out you’re going to get the fog horn blowing so try to visit on a sunny day. I go here every time I visit as it has special meaning to me
4. Hardscrabble Covered Bridge
5. Vaughan Creek Covered Bridge
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
