The Parkway was conceived in the early 1990’s by businessman Mitchell Franklin. He lobbied for the construction of an accessible trail system along the Bay of Fundy. His daughter recalls how her father took New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna for a sightseeing tour of the area in 1994, “I knew he was important because the dogs got into the back seat, Frank sat in the front seat, and we drove up some rocky old roads.” Shortly after that tour, the Province committed resources to the project.

The Fundy Project started in 1995 and took 26 years to finish. The eastern entrance, near Saint Martins, first opened in 1998 and the western entrance near Alma, opened in 2020.

The Fundy Trail Parkway initially began as a not-for-profit and, as of 2024, was incorporated into the New Brunswick Provincial Park System. It is easy to see why the Parkway is now considered the “crown jewel” of the New Brunswick park system.

The Parkway contains a 18.5 mile scenic highway extending along the Fundy Bay coastline. The Fundy Parkway contains more than 6,000 acres of protected forests, with 29 hiking trails and a 6-mile hiking/biking trail, 21 lookouts, 7 beaches, 16 observation decks and 4 waterfalls!

It is difficult to convey how stunning we found the drive and views. We were fortunate to have clear weather for both days of our visit but even with two full days, we left a tremendous number of trails, lookouts and beaches unexplored.

We visited Long Beach which housed one of the three interpretive centers on the Parkway. Much like the rest of the Fundy Bay coast, this area experiences extreme tides. It was low tide at Long Beach which gave us an opportunity to walk on the exposed ocean floor.

We visited Fullers Falls and the overlook to Walton Glen Gorge where we could hear the falls but were too high to observe it directly. Fullers falls was easily observable.

While hiking some of the trails we were impressed by the densely wooded forest areas and lack of vehicle or air traffic noise.

We seldom encountered other visitors on the hiking trails. It was still early June, schools were still in session and visitors were scarce. We did surprise a Spruce Grouse on the trail who appeared annoyed that we were there. He waited on the trail as we approached him before flying away with a big honk.

It is easy to find a place for lunch when there are 21 scenic lookouts to choose from.

The Salmon River Suspension Bridge was built in 1974 to replace an old covered bridge that was by-passed during the construction of the Funday Parkway. The suspension bridge allows hikers to safely cross the Salmon River.

Joe learned a lot about the dangers of changing lens filters while crossing a suspension bridge.

The waters below are crystal clear so it’s possible to recover fallen items if the water level is low and you saw approximately where it landed.

If you visit Fundy Trail Parkway, and we highly recommend it, allow at least two full days. Allow more time if you want to explore the many short trails in the park. Biking the multi-use path appears best done with a mountain bike as there are many loose stones and frequent elevation changes on this trail. The park is open from roughly dawn to dusk and the gates close to prevent entry during closed hours. We found Saint Martins to be a great place to camp, and it’s just minutes from the western entrance to the parkway.

Hopewell Rocks is next on our agenda.

We are both slowly recovering from our untimely COVID illnesses. Thanks for staying in touch.