New Brunswick

I haven’t started research on Canada yet, but have been able to visit New Brunswick.   Please send me ideas of other places with easy and also wheelchair accessible trails in New Brunswick.  With your help, we can share our knowledge with disabled people everywhere and also increase awareness of the need for more accessibility. Please e-mail me with your suggestions using the form in the sidebar.

Federal
Provincial
Local
Private
Miscellaneous

Federal

• Kouchibouguac National Park
  Kouchibouguac National Park lies on “New Brunswick’s Acadian Coast where lush mixed-wood forests lead to colorful salt marshes and warm ocean beaches. Offshore, golden sand dunes foster calm seas. At night, this Dark Sky Preserve is a celestial masterpiece…”  Nine of the Park’s 10 trails are described as “easy”.  Call or check with the visitor center to be sure they are easy for you.
  Thank you to Josée Owen for letting me know about this park and its trails!
  Phone  506-876-2443   Here is their website.
  Beaver Trail 1.4 km  “easy, flat terrain”

  Bog Trail 1.8 km “easy flat terrain”

  Kelly’s Beach Boardwalk 1.2 km

  Mi’gmaq Cedar Trail 0.9 km “easy flat terrain”

  Osprey Trail 5.3 km  “easy flat terrain”

  Pines Trail 0.9 mile loop  “easy flat terrain”

  Tweedie Trail  1.1 km “easy flat terrain”

  Salt Marsh Trail 0.9 km “easy flat terrain”

• Roosevelt Campobello International Park
  This park is on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada and can be accessed  via the FDR Memorial Bridge at Lubec, Maine.   In the summer you used to be able to get there by car ferry from L’Etete or St. Andrews, New Brunswick or Eastport, Maine (via Deer Island). The ferry is currently (2018) not available.    This is a good place for birding – it is on the Atlantic Flyway – and wildflowers on the many drives and trails.  Habitats include fields, marsh, sphagnum bogs, ponds, cobble beaches, and coniferous, deciduous and mixed forest.
  Phones for the park are  (506)-752-2922 or the toll-free 1-877-851-6663.   
  Here is their website and page on accessibility.
  There are numerous trails and drives including the wheelchair accessible 0.3 mile Eagle Hill Bog boardwalk and the “flat and easy” Lower Duck Pond to Raccoon Beach trail.  A few others sound pretty easy too.  Call first.

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Provincial

• Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park
  The Hopewell Rocks, “Flowerpot Rocks”, are on the shores of the Bay of Fundy 47 km from Moncton.     At low tide, you can walk on the muddy surface which will be  covered by up to 50 feet of water in just a few hours at high tide.  The rocks stand 40 to 70 feet above the sea floor.

  From Tourism New Brunswick, “Walk on the ocean floor in the shadows of the majestic flower-pot rocks, unique formations carved by erosion over thousands of years. Time and tide have carved from the cliffs and coves distinctive sandstone formations topped with trees. During periods of low tide, you can walk 2 km of beach and explore several coves.”   Here is the Park’s website.  Phone 877-734-3429
  Until recently the only way down to the sea floor was via 121 steps, but now a wheelchair accessible 60 metre ramp lets you ride to the North Beach.  The “beach” itself is not negotiable by wheelchairs but there are plans to enlarge the concrete platform at the base of the ramp.  Here is the CBC article and video describing the ramp.

  

  

• Lepreau Falls Provincial Park  45°10’09” North and 66°27’44” West.   My sister visited the park and says there are boardwalks to good viewing platforms for the falls.    Here is a video.  Lepreau is part of the newly formed Stonehammer Geopark.   To learn more about the geopark, call 506-643-2300.  Reviews of Stonehammer on TripAdvisor.

• Here is the description, taken from the website,  of the “Great Canadian Beaver Pond Voyage” wheelchair accessible trail in Mactaquac Provincial Park : “This interpretive, guided walk takes you through a pristine nature reserve with a chain of beaver ponds. Examine dams and lodges built by beavers and see for yourself the architectural abilities of these remarkable animals. Join in hands-on activities that will introduce you to a variety of wetland wonders found in the Acadian forest. Gentle, wheelchair-accessible trails allow for people of all ages and abilities to enjoy this experience. The tour begins at the Park Administration Building, across from the main entrance to the park. ”   Call 506-363-4747 for information.

• Mount Carleton Provincial Park has a 0.3 km wheelchair accessible trail to Williams Falls.  Map and description.

• University of New Brunswick Woodlot
  From UNB Woodlot Watch , “The UNB Woodlot is over 3,500 acres of wild woods home to herons, blue bead lilies and lady slippers, old-growth red spruce stands, mature forest and wetlands.”   Thank you Lisa Dalton, for taking me there.
   The map shows numerous parking spots with access to the trails.  However on a visit September 2017, most of these were cordoned off and we had to park behind Costco. Map

  

  

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Local

• 

  City of Fredericton
  Fredericton Trail Guide
  Guides to trails — City of Fredericton     The Fredericton Trails Coalition

  Paperback:  Trails of Fredericton by Bill Thorpe, Goose Lane Editions, 1999;   New/Nouveau Brunswick Backroad Mapbook   by Backroad Mapbooks

  The Gibson Trail  is a 5.3 km flat, crusher fines-surfaced trail that “travels through urban and rural settings with secluded woodland and scenic views of the Nashwaak River.”

  

  

  Odell Park   Some of the 16 km of trails in the forested park are accessible or at least easy walking.  We walked east from Montgomery and Smythe by the water tanks, GPS:  N45° 56.974′   W66° 39.843′.  This part is level and wheelchair accessible but then intersects the still easy, but steep, Main Woods Trail, which might be challenging in a wheelchair.  On foot, we turned down hill till we came to path on the right to come back up and complete our loop.    From the website: “The trail near the main entrance has a smooth and level crusher dust surface which makes it easily accessible to all users. As you head up into the wooded areas, the trail becomes steeper in grade and is a more difficult climb. “

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  City of Sackville

  The Waterfowl Park at Sackville is a beautiful wetland with extensive boardwalks.  In places, the start of the boardwalk is several inches above the path.

  

  

   

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Private

• Irving Eco Center: La dune de Bouctouch
  The Eco Center was created to “preserve and restore one of the few remaining great sand dunes on the northeastern coastline of North America. Located on the Northumberland Strait of New Brunswick, just minutes north of the town of Bouctouche, the dune offers a blend of recreational opportunities and learning experiences for anyone who wants to enjoy its special beauty.”
  Electric vehicle tours are available to accommodate those with disabilities.
  Phone 506-743-2600 or 1-888-640-3300   Here is their website.   Thank you to Josée Owen for writing about the nature center.
  The Boardwalk 0.5 mile (800 m) with ramps and stairs to the beaches.

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Miscellaneous

• Nature Trust of New Brunswick   The Nature Trust of New Brunswick is a “charitable land conservation organization that is responsible for conserving over 6000 acres (2400 hectares) in more than 40 beautiful and diverse nature preserves throughout the province.”
  Ferris Street Forest and Wetland Nature Preserve  40 acres of easy trails. The Preserve is “…home to a wide range of amphibians, insects, birds and mammals. In particular, there are many species of birds to be found in the area, including bald eagle, olive-sided flycatcher, …. and great horned owl.”  “The northern edge of the preserve borders the Nashwaakis Stream which feeds into the Saint John River.”

    

     

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