Recreation and Places to Visit

New Brunswick offers numerous recreational opportunities related to its natural environment and cultural traditions. Many visitors are attracted to the province’s forests, rivers, beaches, and many parks. All seasons have something to offer vacationers. The fishing season opens in spring, and the province’s salmon streams—especially the Miramichi—are particularly well known. In summer, resorts flourish along the beaches of the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, while hikers and campers explore the northern woods. Autumn brings hunters to the province’s acres of game country, where deer is the principal quarry. In winter ski enthusiasts flock to northern resorts such as Sugarloaf, located in Campbellton.

New Brunswick has two national parks. Fundy National Park, opened in 1948, is located between Saint John and Moncton on the Bay of Fundy. It offers camping facilities and cottages for visitors who come to enjoy its forests, lakes, streams, and ocean beaches. Kouchibouguac National Park on Northumberland Strait, established in 1969, offers campsites, trails, windswept dunes and beaches, and waters rich with fish.

New Brunswick is home to many historic sites and museums. Fort Beauséjour, near Sackville, includes the site of a fort built by the French in the 18th century and later used by the Acadians when they were under British attack. The Village Historique Acadien (Acadian Historic Village), at Caraquet, re-creates the Acadian way of life in northeast New Brunswick. Kings Landing Historical Settlement, near Fredericton, focuses on pioneer life in the Saint John River Valley. Also in the valley, at Hartland, is the world’s longest covered bridge, which was built in 1901 and spans 391 m (1,282 ft) over the Saint John River. Popular museums include the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John; the forestry and woods museums at Kedgwick in the north and at Boiestown in central New Brunswick; and marine museums at Saint Andrews in the south and Shippagan in the northeast. There are also many local museums throughout the province.

On Campobello Island, in the Bay of Fundy, is the summer home of U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945). It is maintained as Roosevelt Campobello International Park by the Canadian and U.S. governments and includes facilities for small conferences. Other popular attractions include the Trappist monastery at Rogersville; Magnetic Hill near Moncton, where vehicles appear to roll uphill because of an optical illusion; and the rocks at Hopewell Cape, fantastic shapes of sandstone carved by the tides of the Bay of Fundy.

The New Brunswick Museum at Saint John includes collections dedicated to heritage, history, fine arts, humanities, and natural science. Founded in 1842 as a private museum, it is the oldest continuing museum in Canada. It became the provincial museum in 1930. The Miramichi Natural History Museum in Chatham is devoted to wildlife and local history. At the Village Historique Acadien, in Caraquet, visitors can view the culture and life of early Acadian settlers. Fredericton is home to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, which was donated by Lord William Beaverbrook, a noted British statesman and newspaper publisher. One of Canada’s major galleries, the museum includes many important works by British and Canadian painters.

Source: MSN Encarta: Online Encyclopedia