New Brunswick is an easy weekend road trip from Montréal. For this particular journey, our destination was Nova Scotia, but we meandered through New Brunswick and spread the drive out over two days. [Journey Map] [Blog Posts]
This road trip almost completes our coast-to-coast-Canada drive. It does complete the “coast to coast” portion but doesn’t cover the Canada portion. We still have two provinces to visit (PEI and Newfoundland) and two territories (Northwest Territories and Nunavut). PEI is already planned.
The TransCanada highway portion of the drive is rather easy. The road is twinned for the entire province and drivers cooperate with each other (from our experience). We deviated from the highway on a couple of occasions to visit small towns and iconic sights. The back roads are slower but much less travelled.
One thing to note: at the end of New Brunswick, as you pass into Nova Scotia, there is a toll of $4 for use of the Cobequid Pass Highway. This is easily avoided, which we accidentally discovered because I have my default maps setting set to “avoid tolls” because they often catch me off guard in new places (like during this trip).
It’s a Beautiful Province
Travelling along the backroads is a real treat because it’s a glimpse into a raw, untouched, natural part of Canada.
One thing that’s immediately noticeable is that old man’s beard grows on many of the trees. This is a good sign because usnea does not grow well in places where there is pollution; seeing usnea means the air is really clean.
GPS Fails from the Trip
The biggest GPS fail of the trip was Magnetic Hill. This visit was a bust because “Magnetic Hill” is now a theme park; one that is closed for the winter. We weren’t the only ones who were lured to the area… at least three other befuddled visitors arrived at the same time as us.
I’m not sure where the real magnetic hill is located but I remember that at one point in time you could park at the bottom of the hill and your car would be pulled up the hill.
The other GPS fail was trying to find the world’s longest covered bridge. The Google maps GPS location for the “bridge” takes you to a golf course in the middle of nowhere. The bridge is actually in the centre of town. Simply head to Hartland and you’ll have to cross it.