The world’s highest tides, more than 25 waterfalls, and some of the darkest skies in eastern Canada. Here’s everything families need to know about visiting Fundy National Park.
I have been to Fundy National Park more than a half dozen times in the last decade, and until my last visit, I don’t think I ever really understood it.
Fundy is one of Canada’s national parks that most people put aside an afternoon to explore on their road trips to Saint John, Moncton, or Fredericton. You drive in one side, take a photograph on the iconic red chairs, eat a lobster roll in Alma, maybe hit the beach or Dickson Falls, and drive out again convinced you’ve seen it all. I did exactly that, more than once.
What finally changed my opinion of Fundy NP was a four-day visit to Moncton that gave me enough time for the park to show me how incredible it actually is. Fundy National Park is not just a pretty stop on a coastal drive. It’s a place where the Atlantic Ocean rises and falls by the height of a four-story building twice a day, every day, and where the entire landscape- the forest, the rivers, the wildlife, the fishing village at its gate- has adapted to one of the wildest and most extreme tides on the planet.
Sure, you can do a quick visit to Fundy, hike a trail, canoe on Bennett Lake, or drive through the covered bridge. But if you stay a couple of nights, this park will unveil so much more. You can walk out onto a seabed that will be under 40 feet of water by dinner, and you start to understand why it ranks among the most awe-inspiring national parks in Canada.
Here’s everything you need to know to experience Fundy National Park properly.
Table of Contents
About Fundy National Park
Fundy National Park lies on the southernmost shores of New Brunswick. The park protects 80 square miles (207 sq km) of Acadian forest, river valley, and rugged coastline along the Bay of Fundy in southern New Brunswick. The park was established in 1948 and officially opened in 1950, making it one of the older parks in the Canadian National Parks system. Fundy is well-situated for those traveling in New Brunswick, sitting about 90 minutes from the province’s two largest cities, Moncton and Saint John.
The park’s most famous features are its tides. The Bay of Fundy funnels an unimaginable volume of water into an ever-narrowing channel twice a day, producing the highest tides on the planet. At Fundy National Park, the water can rise and fall as much as 40 feet (12 m) between low and high tide, and further up the bay at the Minas Basin the range climbs even higher. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 billion tons of seawater move in and out of the Bay of Fundy twice a day, every day. This is more than the flow of every freshwater river on earth combined.
All that moving water has transformed the landscape around Fundy National Park completely between high tide and low tide. At low tide, the harbor at Alma empties out, and fishing boats sit, stranded on the mud. Six hours later, they’re floating with dozens of feet of water beneath them. You can walk out across the exposed ocean floor, stand somewhere that will be deep underwater by evening, and then come back to watch it disappear.
Inland, the park’s landscape climbs quickly from sea level into the Caledonia Highlands, a plateau of dense Acadian forest carved by steep river valleys. That elevation change is what gives Fundy its depth of experiences. People initially come for the tides, but also for its waterfalls- more than 25 of them- and its network of over 100 km of hiking trails, which keeps people coming back for more. That elevation change is also what produces what locals call the ‘Fundy Effect’, a dramatic temperature drop that occurs as you move from the warm inland forest down toward the cooler coast. It’s entirely normal to leave your campsite sweating and arrive at the shore ten minutes later wishing you’d brought a jacket.
Fundy National Park is also a designated Dark Sky Preserve and sits at the heart of the UNESCO-designated Fundy Biosphere Reserve. The park is home to moose, black bear, white-tailed deer, beaver, peregrine falcons, and an ongoing conservation effort to restore the endangered inner Bay of Fundy Atlantic salmon population.
The land here is the traditional territory of the Mi’kmaq, who have lived along this coast for thousands of years and whose relationship with the Crown is governed by the Peace and Friendship Treaties, agreements that never surrendered land or resources.
How To Get To Fundy National Park
Fundy National Park sits on the New Brunswick coast roughly equidistant between the province’s two largest cities, Moncton and Saint John, and the drive to get there is as much a part of Fundy the experience as what’s inside the park itself.
From Moncton (About 90 Minutes)
Moncton is the city most visitors base themselves in when exploring Fundy National Park. If you’re basing yourself in the city, you have two different options for making the Moncton to Fundy drive.
The fastest route runs south on Route 114 through Hillsborough, and it’s the one I’d take if time is tight. Hillsborough is a nice stopping point if you’re making that journey. The Hillsborough Market is a cute small-town market, and it’s where I met Brian Townsend, who runs a small operation called Fundy Flutes. He walks the Bay of Fundy shoreline collecting driftwood and hand-carves it into Indigenous-style flutes, and by his own estimate, only about one piece of wood in a hundred is usable, because the rest is too cracked or warped to hold a true note. Cinnamon Soul Café in the village serves coffee and baked goods as well as the best sandwiches in town, if you’re looking for a lunch break.
I recommend taking the scenic route, preferably later in the day when the sun is dropping. This route swings out along the coast and turns the drive into a half-day tour of its own. The Fundy Trail Parkway takes you past Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park and out to Cape Enrage, where a lighthouse that has been operating since 1839 stands above one of the narrowest points of the Bay of Fundy. It turns the water below violent, turning with the tidal changes, and is also one of the best sunset stops in the province. Cape Enrage is also an adventure park with ziplining, rappelling, and a restaurant with a view that is good enough on its own to justify a side trip. From Cape Enrage, the road continues down into Alma and Fundy National Park’s east gate.
From Saint John (About 90 Minutes)
From Saint John, the fastest route runs northeast on Route 1 to Sussex, then south on Route 114 into the park’s west entrance near Wolfe Lake. It’s a straightforward highway drive through rolling farm country, and Sussex itself is worth a stop for its covered bridges and painted murals.
But like all great road trip destinations, there’s a scenic route from Saint John to Fundy National Park as well. If you head down through St. Martins, you’ll be greeted by a stop with sea caves and a pretty fishing village. From there, you’ll hit the Fundy Trail Parkway. Give this route between two to four hours to stop at the many lookouts along the way. Some of the most popular stops are Pangburn/Melvin Beach, which features dramatic cliffs and great views of the Bay of Fundy; Fuller Falls, which is a quick stop with a pretty waterfall; and Walton Glen Gorge, which is one of the most dramatic viewpoints along New Brunswick’s southern shore.
From there, hop on the connector toward Fundy National Park and continue toward Alma.
From Further Afield
Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport is the closest airport to Fundy National Park. It’s about 90 minutes away. Saint John Airport is a similar distance. Halifax Stanfield is roughly three and a half hours away and often has more international connections, which makes it a solid option if you’re combining New Brunswick with popular Nova Scotia destinations like Halifax and the Cape Breton Highlands.
What To See And Do In Fundy National Park
Walk On The Ocean Floor
This is the reason most people visit Fundy National Park, and it costs nothing outside of park admission. At low tide, the seabed at Alma Beach and along the park’s southern shoreline is exposed for hundreds of yards, and you can simply walk out onto it. What you’re standing on is the floor of the Bay of Fundy, complete with rippled mud and sand, tidal pools filled with periwinkles and crabs, seaweed draped over rocks, and that unmistakable scent of the sea. A lot of kids lose their minds over this, and honestly, I do too every time I’m here.
The trick to experiencing the tidal shift at Fundy NP is timing. Check the tide tables the night before, aim to arrive an hour or so on either side of low tide, and give yourself a concrete turnaround time. The tidewater comes in faster than most people expect, and the Bay of Fundy has no interest in adapting itself to your schedule. I recommend wearing boots or sandals that you don’t mind ruining, because the mud can be thick.
Once you’ve experienced low tide, come back six hours later and look at the same spot. When the water rolls in, the immensity of these tides really lands.
Explore The Sea Caves At Herring Cove
Herring Cove was the highlight of my last visit to Fundy National Park. It was a trip where just my son, Dylan, and I were exploring New Brunswick. This is the place I’d send anyone who wants the full Fundy experience in one stop.
There’s a short 0.75-mile (1.2 km) trail that drops from the parking area down to a pebble beach hemmed in by towering red and black cliffs. Time it for low tide, and the bay pulls back far enough to let you walk out across the exposed floor and explore the sea caves carved into the base of those cliffs.
The beach itself is mostly covered in smooth stones rather than sand, which makes it a superb picnic spot and an even better stone-skipping destination. Because of this, I’d recommend that you wear proper footwear rather than go barefoot. The rocks are slick with seaweed. Make sure to keep an eye on the water for the tidal shift. It comes back faster than most people expect.
Herring Cove also has a small, two-tiered waterfall surrounded by green moss located near the start of the trail. The hike, the tides, the caves, the waterfall all come together as a microcosm of what makes Fundy NP one of the best places to visit in New Brunswick.
Hike To Dickson Falls
Dickson Falls is the most photographed waterfall in the Fundy National Park and, at least in my opinion, the single best short hike for families. It’s also the trail that made me realize how much I’d underrated Fundy prior to my last visit.
The Dickson Falls hiking route is a 1-mile (1.5 km) loop that drops from a coastal lookout down into a deep, mossy ravine on a system of boardwalks and stairs. The change in atmosphere as you descend is surprising, and a great example of that ‘Fundy effect’ that I mentioned earlier. You leave a windy Atlantic overlook, and within a few minutes you’re in a humid canyon packed with lush green moss that’s dripping with water. It feels closer to a rainforest than a Maritime forest.
Walking it, I kept thinking of Watkins Glen State Park in New York’s Finger Lakes, another place where a canyon hike threads through a narrow gorge past falling water with walls of wet stone closing in on either side. Fundy’s version is smaller and wilder, and it ends at a 25-foot (7 m) waterfall dropping into a pool at the base of the ravine. Interpretive panels along the way explain the ecology, which gives kids something to do between staircases.
It’s rated moderate, mostly because of the stairs, but it’s relatively easy for most families who can handle a bit of climbing. Go early or late if you want it to yourself, because this is the busiest trail in the park.
Chase The Park’s Other Waterfalls
Fundy has more than 25 waterfalls, and Dickson is just the most popular one. Third Vault Falls is the tallest in the park at 52 feet (16 m), reached by a 4.6-mile (7.4 km) return hike that Parks Canada rates as difficult. The trail runs mostly flat through forest before dropping steeply into the gorge at the end, and the payoff is a cathedral of a waterfall that rarely attracts a crowd. Laverty Falls is the other favorite, a 3-mile (5 km) return hike to a wide falls with a pool at the base that people swim in on hot days. The water is cold enough to shock your system, but it’s worth it.
Cross The Point Wolfe Covered Bridge
The red covered bridge at Point Wolfe is the park’s most recognizable landmark and one of the most photographed structures in all of New Brunswick. The bridge spans the Point Wolfe River near the park’s southern shore, and Parks Canada red chairs are positioned to look straight at it. The surrounding area was once a busy shipbuilding and lumber settlement, and the Shiphaven Trail, an easy sub-1-mile loop from the Point Wolfe campground, walks you through what remains of that history along a boardwalk, along with views over the estuary.
Note for RV drivers: the approach to Point Wolfe Campground requires crossing the bridge itself after making a sharp turn. If you’re in a large vehicle, one of the other campgrounds will be a considerably less stressful and potentially safer option.
Hike The Coastal Trail To Matthews Head
If you love longer hikes, but only have time for one, the Coastal Trail is the one I’d recommend. The Matthews Head loop runs about 2.8 miles (4.5 km) through spruce forest before opening onto grassy coastal meadows and cliff-top views over the Bay of Fundy. You can extend it considerably by picking up the Coastal Trail from the Herring Cove area, which turns it into a half-day outing along some of the most dramatic shoreline in the park.
The views here are the kind that stay with you, especially if you time your hike for a sunset viewpoint. Expect to see dark spruce, red cliffs, and that enormous expanse of brown-gray water moving in or out below you.
Swim In A Heated Saltwater Pool
The Bay of Fundy is cold. Swimming in those murky, muddy waters is not comfortable. The water hovers around 50°F (10°C) even at the height of summer, which makes swimming in it more of a character-building exercise than a leisurely activity.
But Parks Canada and Fundy National Park have you covered with a heated saltwater pool near the Headquarters area. It’s filled with water from the bay, cleaned, and heated to a civilized temperature. It has a splash zone, lifeguards, and a pretty incredible view.
Snap A Photo In The Parks Canada Red Chairs
Fundy National Park has 12 sets of Parks Canada red chairs placed at scenic spots across the park, and finding them, for many families, is a fun viewpoint scavenger hunt. Some are roadside; some require embarking on a proper hike. You can find the red chairs in Fundy here:
- Butland Lookout (includes kids’ chairs)
- Laverty Lake (includes kids’ chairs)
- Cannontown Beach
- Headquarters Bluff (includes kids’ chairs)
- MacLaren Pond (includes kids’ chairs)
- Wolfe Lake (includes kids’ chairs)
- Matthews Head Loop
- Herring Cove
- Matthews Head Lookout
- Coppermine Trail
- Shiphaven Trail
- Hueston Brook (includes kids’ chairs)
Paddle Bennett Lake Or Wolfe Lake
Not everything in Fundy has to involve the ocean. The Chignecto area, where Bennett Lake sits up in the highlands, has canoe, kayak, and rowboat rentals running through the summer. It’s a small lake, with calm, fresh water that is considerably warmer than the Bay of Fundy. Bennett Lake is ringed by forested hills, which makes it a very pretty spot for a paddle. When we arrived, half the campground seemed to be out on the water, paddling in loose circles against a backdrop that looked like a postcard for the Canadian Shield. It’s about as gentle and pleasant an afternoon as the park offers.
Wolfe Lake, at the park’s western end, offers a quieter version of the same, with front-country camping right beside it.
For paddlers who want the Bay of Fundy experience, local outfitters, including Fresh Air Adventure (you can check out their Facebook page here), run guided sea kayak tours out onto the Bay of Fundy itself, which is a unique way to see stretches of the park’s shoreline that can’t be reached on foot. Watch for bald eagles and peregrine falcons.
Walk The Caribou Plains Boardwalk
The Caribou Plains trail is a short, flat loop with a boardwalk section through a peat bog and past a beaver pond, and it’s one of the most underrated family-friendly hikes in the park.
Bogs are strange environments filled with fascinating insects, cool microcosms, and interesting animals. Kids often find them fascinating once someone explains what they’re looking at: carnivorous pitcher plants, sphagnum moss thick enough to walk on, water stained the color of tea. It’s easy, it’s short, and it’s a completely different ecosystem from the coast a few miles away.
Stargaze In A Dark Sky Preserve
Fundy’s designation as a Dark Sky Preserve means the park actively limits artificial light, and on a clear, moonless night the skies erupt with stars.
The Milky Way is visible to the naked eye from most of the park’s open spaces, and Parks Canada runs interpretive astronomy programming through the summer months. Point Wolfe and the coastal areas away from Alma’s town lights give the best viewing. Bring a red flashlight, let your eyes adjust for twenty minutes, and give your kids the sky. You can also connect with Cliff Valley Astronomy, a local New Brunswick astrotourism guide program that runs stargazing experiences in Fundy National Park and across New Brunswick.
Play A Round Or Take On The Fundy Circuit
Fundy National Park is one of just seven Canadian national parks with golf courses. Fundy National Park has a small 9-hole golf course, tennis courts, lawn bowling, and a natural playground near Headquarters, which is set up more like a built-in recreation area than most Canadian National Parks offer.
Tackle On The Fundy Circuit
If your family is into hiking experiences, Fundy National Park’s trail system is one of the top, and for older kids, the Fundy Circuit is the park’s headline challenge.
It’s a roughly 30-mile (48 km) loop that stitches together most of the park’s major trail systems into a multi-day backcountry hiking route, with wilderness campsites spaced along the way. You climb from the coast into the Caledonia Highlands, cross river valleys, pass waterfalls that most day visitors never see, and drop back down to the bay. Most people take three or four days over it.
This is proper backcountry hiking, not a long day walk. You’ll need to reserve backcountry sites through the Parks Canada reservation system, carry everything in, leave no trace, and be comfortable with river crossings and steep, root-laced descents. Done properly, it’s one of the best multi-day hikes in Atlantic Canada, and it shows you a version of Fundy that almost nobody driving through Alma ever sees. IF you’re interested in getting into hiking as a family, you can check out my complete guide to hiking with kids here.
The Fundy Footpath
If the Fundy Circuit isn’t enough, the Fundy Footpath is the real deal. This 25-mile (41 km) wilderness trek runs west from the park boundary along the longest undeveloped stretch of coastline remaining on the eastern seaboard of North America, ending at the Big Salmon River in Fundy Trail Provincial Park. Explore Magazine has ranked it among the top 50 hikes in the world, and it is not a casual undertaking. Expect steep river valleys, tidal crossings that have to be timed correctly, and total elevation gain well over 10,000 feet across the route.
Most people take three to five days. From the Fundy National Park end, the Goose River Trail, an 8-mile (13 km) coastal hike, is your access point, and Goose River is one of the park’s backcountry campsites. This is for experienced backcountry hikers with older teens at minimum. But if that’s your family, it’s one of the great wilderness treks in Canada.
Ride The Fundy National Park Mountain Bike Trails
Fundy is a legitimately good mountain biking park and is one of the best places for mountain biking in New Brunswick. It’s also the activity most day visitors have no idea exists.
A number of the park’s backcountry trails are open to bikes, and they range from gentle to genuinely demanding. Whitetail is the one most riders start with, a 3.5-mile (5.7 km) route through forest with several small brook crossings. Marven Lake runs 5.3 miles (8.5 km) one way through moose and beaver country. Tippen Lot North is the short option at under 2 miles (3 km) through a beech grove, and the Black Horse Trail offers a 2.7-mile (4.4 km) loop with bay views.
For families with younger kids, Chignecto Campground has a dedicated bike trail circling the campground itself, which is about as low-stakes an introduction as you’ll find. Check the current trail map at the visitor center, because not every trail is open to bikes and the designations do change.
The Best Viewpoints In Fundy National Park
My favorite part of Fundy National Park has always been the views. This park has world-class overlooks that compare with anywhere else in the Maritimes. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Matthews Head is the best of them. The lookouts along this hiking loop stare straight out over the bay, and on a clear day you can pick out the Hopewell Conglomerate, the same red rock formation that produces the flowerpot stacks up the coast at Hopewell Rocks. Standing on a Fundy clifftop looking at the geology behind the province’s most famous attraction is a good way to understand how connected this whole coastline is.
- The Coastal Trail between Herring Cove and Point Wolfe strings together several lookouts across its length. The trail climbs steeply at both ends with a mostly flat middle, so you can hike in from either side, collect a few views, and turn back without committing to the whole thing.
- Point Wolfe gives you the estuary and the covered bridge from the Shiphaven Trail boardwalk, which is about as easy as a good view gets in this park.
- Herring Cove Beach looks back up at the cliffs rather than out to sea, and it changes completely depending on the tide. Come at both ends of the cycle if you can.
The single best piece of advice that I can offer for anyone chasing viewpoints in Fundy National Park is to time any of these for the last hour of light. The Bay of Fundy is glorious at sunset.
Winter In Fundy National Park
Almost nobody thinks of Fundy as a winter park, which is exactly why you should. The Chignecto Recreation Area is winter headquarters. A network of color-coded groomed trails leaves from the parking lot there, shared out between cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and fat biking, with coloured stakes marking each route. The park asks that snowshoers and fat bikers stay off the set ski tracks, which is basic courtesy but worth knowing before you set out.
The Chignecto Pavilion is the detail that makes it work. It’s heated, and it has toilets, showers, tables, wifi, and wood-fired cooking stoves. Being able to ski or ride for a few hours and then thaw out beside a wood stove with a hot lunch is a considerably better winter day than most parks can offer.
Fat biking deserves particular attention here, because Fundy has leaned into it. The park has run fat bike festivals with free demos, guided rides, and on-site rentals, and the expanded multi-use trail network is genuinely fun on wide tires. If you’ve never ridden a fat bike, this is a good place to try one.
There’s also tobogganing and winter camping at Headquarters in yurts, oTENTiks, or your own tent, with the three rustic cabins staying accessible through the season.
One important note if you’re traveling with a dog: dogs are not permitted on any of the groomed winter trails, with the exception of the white and purple trails in the Chignecto Campground area.
Alma: The Fishing Village At The Park Gates
You cannot write about Fundy National Park without writing about Alma, because for most visitors who aren’t camping, Alma is where they’ll spend a lot of time.
This is a working fishing village of a few hundred people wedged between the park boundary and the Bay of Fundy, and it’s the only settlement of any size for a considerable distance in any direction. Alma has evolved into a proper tourist community with a good selection of restaurants, accommodation, markets, and gas stations tucked around its scenic harbor. If you need something during your stay, Alma either has it, or you’re going to have to drive 45 minutes to Sussex.
Like everywhere else in the Bay of Fundy, the tide sets the pace of the village. Watching how it affects a living community is quite powerful. At low tide, the harbor drains to a broad mudflat and the fishing boats sit flat on the bottom, propped on their keels, looking permanently abandoned. Six hours later they’re floating at the top of the wharf.
Why Base Yourself In Alma
For families who don’t camp and don’t want to road trip on a multi-day visit from Moncton or Saint John, staying in Alma is the obvious choice. You’re a two-minute drive from the park gate, within walking distance of the Headquarters area, and surrounded by places to eat. You also get the harbor and the beach on your doorstep, which means you can catch the tidal change at both ends of the day without working too hard.
The village has a collection of small inns, motels, and cottage rentals, most of them family-run and most of them modest rather than luxurious. Book early for July and August, because the supply is genuinely limited and the whole region fills up.
Where To Stay and Eat in Alma
The Parkland Village Inn is the best option for a stay and eat combo. The property is on the water side of town and features 15 rooms on 200 feet of ocean frontage right beside the Fishermen’s Wharf, just five minutes from the entrance to Fundy National Park. Book an ocean-view balcony room and watch the world’s highest tides come and go from bed.
A good backup in case the Parkland is booked (which it probably will be if you don’t book well ahead of time) is the Alpine Motor Inn on the edge of town.
Kelly’s Bake Shop has been an Alma institution for more than 50 years, and its sticky buns are always flying out the door. Tipsy Tails has the best patio in the village, overlooking the wharf, and Holy Whale Brewing Co. and Buddha Bear Coffee Roaster are great places to start or finish your day.
Supplies And Practicalities
Alma has a general store for groceries and camping basics, a gas station, and enough shops to cover most gaps. That said, this is a small village with small-village prices and small-village hours. If you’re camping for several days, stock up in Moncton or Sussex on your way in and treat Alma as your top-up rather than your main shop.
Cell service is reasonable in the village and drops off quickly once you’re inside the park, so handle anything that needs data before you head for the trails.
Visiting Fundy National Park With Kids
Fundy is one of the more family-friendly national parks in Canada, largely because so much of what makes it special requires no hiking ability whatsoever. Walking on the ocean floor is free, flat, and unforgettable. The heated pool, the playground, the golf course, and the amphitheater are all clustered near Headquarters. And most of the best short trails are under 2 miles.
A few things worth knowing before you go.
Build your day around the tide chart, not the clock. Pick up a tide table at the visitor center or check online, and schedule your beach time and ocean floor walks around them. Getting the timing wrong means standing on a shoreline looking at water rather than sea caves.
Ask about the Parks Canada Xplorers program. Kids can get a booklet of activities to complete around the park and earn a souvenir when they finish. It gives children a mission, which changes their entire relationship with a place, and it’s free. You can find out more about the Xplorers program here.
One of the key things about visiting Fundy National Park is that you need to dress for two climates. Because of the Fundy Effect, the coast can be 15 degrees colder than the interior at any given moment. Pack layers and a windbreaker even on hot days, and expect to use them within minutes of reaching the shore. I also recommend you bring water shoes or rain boots. Expect mud. The intertidal zone is glorious and filthy. The footwear you bring should be a pair that you’re willing to sacrifice, paired with a bag to store them in for the drive home.
Camping, Yurts, and Where To Stay In Fundy National Park
Fundy deserves at least two nights to see properly, three if you want to truly understand the park. There’s more than enough things to do here to fill that time, and staying inside the park means you can be on the shore at the right point in the tidal cycle rather than driving in and hoping. It also opens up the incredible dark sky opportunities that Fundy NP offers.
Fundy National Park Camping
There are several front-country campgrounds in Fundy National Park; each one has its own unique personality.
Headquarters Campground is the busiest and the most convenient to access. It has 154 sites, showers and laundry, a natural playground, and it’s within walking distance of the town of Alma. It also sits next to the pool, the golf course, and the amphitheater. If you want camping with amenities and easy access to town, this is the one that I recommend. It’s also the one that books up the fastest.
Important Note: Personal campfires aren’t permitted at the Headquarters campground, and you’ll likely hear some road noise coming from traffic moving through Alma.
Chignecto North campground sits about 2.5 miles (4 km) inland at a higher elevation from Headquarters, which makes it noticeably warmer than the coast. It has a bike trail circling the campground and an excellent playground, and it’s a strong pick for families with kids who need somewhere to burn energy.
Point Wolfe is the most scenic and the most rustic. This Fundy campground is reached by crossing the iconic covered bridge. Sites there are mostly unserviced, with individual fire pits and hiking trails that start right from the campground. Point Wolfe is in the heart of the park’s best coastal wilderness, so it’s also the best campground to base yourself if you hope to see wildlife. The season for Point Wolfe is shorter than the other Fundy campgrounds. It typically closes after Labor Day.
Cannontown is near the east entrance. It’s roughly a ten-minute walk from the bay, with a mix of serviced and unserviced sites. Lakeview sits at the west entrance near Wolfe Lake, about 12 miles (20 km) from Headquarters, and is the quietest campground in the park.
Yurts, oTENTiks, Ôasis, and Rustic Cabins
Parks Canada’s roofed accommodations are part of what makes Fundy National Park accessible to families who don’t own their own camping gear, and the park has an unusually good range of them. oTENTiks are the most classic and have been a Parks Canada staple for more than 13 years. I’ve had the pleasure of staying in these cabin and tent hybrids in the Thousand Islands National Park and along the Ontario locks system.
The oTENTiks sit on a raised floor, sleeping up to six, with heating, beds, a table and chairs, and a lockable door. They’re available at the Headquarters, Chignecto, and Point Wolfe campgrounds.
Yurts are another popular Parks Canada roofed accommodation. There are five available to rent at the Headquarters campground. The yurts are insulated circular domes roughly 20 feet (6 m) across with a propane stove and sleeping for six to eight people. They’re warm, they’re novel, and they’re very comfortable.
Ôasis units are the strangest and most charming luxury accommodation in Fundy National Park. These teardrop-shaped pods have a convertible bed downstairs and a suspended hammock-style sleeping area above, reached by ladder. My family had a blast sleeping in one on Île de Mingan during our visit to Mingan National Park in northeastern Quebec. The Oasis pods can be rented at the Point Wolfe and Lakeview campgrounds.
Rustic cabins are the quiet accommodation option. There are three insulated wood cabins with views overlooking the Bay of Fundy, located along Hastings Road, Maple Grove Trail, and the Black Horse and McKinley trails. Each is a short walk from parking and surrounded by nothing at all except fabulous Fundy nature.
Important note: If you are thinking of booking any kind of accommodation, whether it be camping or roofed accommodations, book them early. They’re the first things to sell out, particularly for July and August weekends.
Backcountry Camping
For families who want to dive into Fundy National Park’s epic natural beauty, the park has eight backcountry campsites spread across five wilderness areas: Goose River, Marven Lake, Foster Brook, Tracey Lake, and Chambers Lake. These are hike-in only, and reaching them takes anywhere from a couple of hours to the better part of a day, depending on which one you choose.
Each site gives you a tent pad, a fire pit, a picnic table, and a pit privy. There’s no potable water, so you need to carry your own in or bring a filtered water bottle, and you’ll also need a backpacking stove because you can’t rely on cooking over the fire. Garbage bags are provided by the park on request, and everything you bring in needs to come back out with you. You can read my complete guide to camping with kids here.
Backcountry camping permits are required, and they need to be arranged at least 48 hours ahead of your arrival. Check in at the Fundy National Park Visitor Reception Center as well so that they know you’re there and can track your arrival and departure for safety. The backcountry season runs roughly mid-May through early November. There are only eight sites in the entire park, so they book out fast for summer weekends.
Hotels And Cabins Near Fundy National Park
If camping isn’t your thing, the Fundy Highlands Inn and Chalets operates inside the park between the visitor center and Chignecto, offering motel rooms and cabins without needing to leave the gates.
The village of Alma has several small inns, motels, and cottage rentals within walking distance of the park entrance. Staying in Alma gives you access to restaurants and the harbor on your doorstep, which is a fair trade for being a few minutes outside the park boundary.
Food and Restaurants Inside Fundy National Park
Fundy is not a park with a lot of food service. There’s a seasonal canteen and clubhouse at the golf course near Headquarters, and that’s basically it for prepared food inside the park boundaries.
Alma is the best place for prepared meals and supplies, and it’s close enough that it’s not a trek to get there. The village has a general store for groceries and camping basics, a fish market, restaurants, a bakery, and a brewery, all within a couple of minutes of the Headquarters campground.
If you’re camping for more than a couple of nights, do your main shopping in Moncton or Sussex on the way in. Alma’s general store covers gaps and emergencies, but it’s a small village store with small village prices and hours, and it isn’t built to provision a week of family meals.
Family Programs and Special Events in Fundy National Park
Fundy runs one of the more active interpretive programs in the Atlantic parks, and most of it is free or close to it (with park admission).
Evening ranger programs run at the outdoor amphitheater near Headquarters through the summer, covering everything from tides and geology to the park’s endangered salmon restoration work. There’s guided astronomy programming tied to the Dark Sky Preserve designation, and rotating family activities throughout July and August.
The Xplorers program gives kids a booklet of activities to complete around the park in exchange for a souvenir at the end. It’s free, and it transforms children from passengers into participants, which is worth more than it sounds.
The Molly Kool Center, near the Alma gate, hosts kitchen parties, and this is the one I’d tell you to plan around. Molly Kool was born in Alma and became the first registered female sea captain in North America, a genuinely remarkable story that most Canadians have never heard. The kitchen parties are held in her restored house with live East Coast music, and tickets are picked up at the Fundy Park information center. Space is limited, and they go quickly, so ask on your first day rather than your last.
The park also hosts the Rising Tide Music Festival and other live music events through the season. Check what’s running when you book.
The Best Time To Visit Fundy National Park
If you’re planning your travels around a visit to Fundy National Park, timing is everything. Summer, from late June through August, is peak season for good reason. Everything is open, the interpretive programs are running, the pool is operating, and the weather is at its most cooperative. It’s also the busiest, and campgrounds during high season book out months ahead of time. You can book as much as six months in advance, and I recommend that you try to do the same.
September and early October are my favorite months here. The crowds thin dramatically, the Acadian forest starts cycling through its magnificent autumn shades, the weather is often still excellent, and the whole park feels calmer. If your family isn’t locked to a school schedule, go in September.
Spring brings meltwater, which means the waterfalls are at their most dramatic. In the spring, the trails can be muddy, and blackflies arrive in force from late May to mid July, so pack accordingly.
Winter transforms Fundy into a cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and tobogganing park. Winter camping is available at Headquarters as well as in the yurts, oTENTiks, or, for the brave, your own tent. The three rustic cabins stay accessible as well. Far fewer people know that Fundy is operational in the winter, and the coast in winter is genuinely spectacular.
Tips for Visiting Fundy National Park
- Getting there: Fundy National Park is about 90 minutes from Moncton and 90 minutes from Saint John, with Route 114 running through the park and connecting both entrances. The east entrance at Alma is the main one and where you’ll find the visitor center.
- Park fees: A Parks Canada entry pass is required. If you’re visiting more than one national park on your trip, run the numbers on a Discovery Pass, which covers the whole national system for a year and usually pays for itself after a few visits.
- Tide tables: Tide information is available at the visitor center, posted around the park, and online. Consult them before you plan anything involving the shoreline.
- Cell service: Patchy at best inside the park. Download offline maps before you arrive.
- Wildlife: Moose and black bear are both present within the park. Keep a respectful distance, store food properly at your campsite, and make noise on quieter trails.
- Dogs: Pets are welcome on leash throughout the park. In winter, they’re restricted from all groomed trails except the white and purple routes at Chignecto Campground.
- Accessibility: The park has accessible parking, toilets, and services at the main visitor areas. Contact the visitor center in advance if you need specifics on individual trails or facilities.
- EV charging: There’s an electric vehicle charging station in the park, which is worth knowing if you’re road tripping the Maritimes in an EV where chargers can be sparse.
- Rentals: Canoe, kayak, and bicycle rentals are all available in the park, so you don’t necessarily need to haul your own gear from Moncton or Saint John. Confirm availability for your dates.
- Tide safety: The specific danger at Herring Cove and along the shoreline isn’t getting wet; it’s getting cut off. The water fills in behind you as well as in front. Know your turnaround time and keep it.
More Things To See and Do Near Fundy, National Park
Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park sits about 40 minutes northeast of Fundy National Park and is a natural pairing with a visit to Fundy. The iconic flowerpot rocks give you the clearest demonstration anywhere of what the Bay of Fundy tides are capable of. Like a visit to Fundy NP, you can walk the ocean floor among the rocks, but rather than sea caves, you’re surrounded by 70-foot-tall sea stacks at low tide.
You can book an outing with Baymount Adventures and kayak through the holes in those same rocks at high tide. I’ve written a full guide to visiting Hopewell Rocks with everything on timing it around the tide tables.
Cape Enrage, between Alma and Hopewell, has a lighthouse that has been operating since 1839, plus ziplining, rappelling, and a restaurant with an exceptional view. And Moncton makes an excellent base for the entire region, putting Fundy National Park, Hopewell, Kouchibouguac National Park, and the Acadian Coast all within reach of a single hotel. Moncton is also a short 20-minute drive from Shediac, the self-declared “lobster capital of the world.”
The Fundy Trail Parkway is a separate provincial park that’s often mistaken for being a part of Fundy National Park, and it has its own admission fee of roughly $12 per adult, with reduced rates for seniors and youth. Your Parks Canada pass does not cover it.
It’s also seasonal, generally operating from around Victoria Day in May to mid or late October, with gate hours around 9 am to 5 pm. If you’re planning to use the connector road as your route between St. Martins and Alma, confirm the dates and hours first, because outside the season you’ll be driving a long way around.
Inside, it’s excellent: a 19-mile (30 km) coastal drive with more than 20 lookouts, 22 miles (35 km) of hiking and biking trails, the Walton Glen Gorge observation deck, and a suspension footbridge over the Big Salmon River. Give it three to five hours if you’re stopping properly.
Final Thoughts On Visiting Fundy National Park
The Canadian Maritimes run at their own pace, and Fundy National Park is a park that is worth slowing down to that level. Give it an afternoon, and you’ll get a nice waterfall view, a photograph of a covered bridge, and a proper seafood chowder for lunch. Give it three days, and you’ll have the chance to watch an ocean disappear and come back twice a day, hike to waterfalls nobody else is standing at, sleep in a yurt under some of the darkest skies in eastern Canada, and eat a sticky bun that will live in your dreams for years.
It took me several visits to work that out, which is slightly embarrassing for someone who writes about travel for a living. Don’t take as long as I did.
Have you been to Fundy National Park? Drop a comment below and tell me your favorite trail, or tag us on Instagram in your photos. We’d love to see them.
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