New Brunswick

Exploring what lies beyond Canada’s Ocean Playground & uncovering it’s hidden stories, histories, and geology.

Shaped by years of industry and resource exploitation, it’s people have always had a close connection to its land and waterways. Extensive forests, beautiful river valleys, and a jagged and diverse coastline have long supported the livelihoods of it’s resident while dictating settlement patterns and the movement of people. Long before the first European settlers arrived, the Wolastoqiyik, Mi’kmaq, and Peskotomuhkati peoples lived along it’s rivers and coasts which today, remain central to the province’s identity and the way it manages it’s land and waters. From the seventeenth century onward, waves of European immigrants transformed the landscape with trade and industry, that seeked to reek the benefit of exporting and trading it’s natural resources. Being the most connected province of the Martimes Province, this industry thrived as it became an important corridor linking inland resources to Canadian and International markets.

Our Stories & Adventures

Our stories, adventures, & favorite destinations in New Brunswick

Scenic view of Cocagne Island shoreline with grassy banks and calm water.

Cocagne Island Paddle

Found in the shallow waters of the Northumberland Strait, Cocagne Island is a low-lying landform measuring just 4.5 kilometres long and no more than 1.0 kilometre at its widest. Composed of ancient sandstone eroded over time, the island contains many secluded beaches and striking rock formations. Throughout its long history, the island bore witness to Mi’kmaq, Acadian, and English settlement, and later became one of the last islands in New Brunswick to be abandoned.

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In our opinions, the province’s dramatic scenery and historically significant places are far to frequently overlooked. Iconic sites such as the tidal formations of the Bay of Fundy, the port city of Saint John, the forested highlands of Mount Carleton, and the farmland of the Saint John River Valley offer a broad view of New Brunswick’s natural and cultural character. Along the Bay of Fundy and Passamaquoddy Bay, historic fishing communities and former shipbuilding centres reflect centuries of economic life tied to the sea. Together, these places continue to attract visitors drawn to the province’s sense of scale, history, and relative quiet.

Beyond these well-known destinations lies New Brunswick’s vast interior, rolling hills and river valleys, and its rugged shoreline hide an unknown number of waterfalls, caves, rock formations, and landscapes that have been shaped by rivers, tides, and glaciers. Interwoven with these natural wonders are remnants of its early industrial history. Abandoned rail corridors, pulp, paper, and saw mills, dams and canals, former mine sites, and even military defense structures and fortifications.

As a result of this, New Brunswick is a province of countless outdoor adventures, offering incredible geologic history and scenery, interwoven with some of the Maritime province’s most incredible natural wonders, abandoned structures and lost landmarks.  

Hidden New Brunswick & PEI

100+ abandoned mills, dams, mines, wreck sites, and other off-the-beaten-path destinations

Building off the best-selling guidebook Hidden Newfoundland & Hidden Nova Scotia, Hidden New Brunswick & PEI explores the historic province describing some of the province’s s most incredible places, how to find them, and how they came to be hidden or forgotten. New Brunswick and PEI welcome tens of thousands of visitors a year—but how many of those sightseers look beyond the typical tourist guidebooks? This book is your invitation to step off the beaten path and visit fascinating, mysterious, and little-known sites that are too often overlooked. 

Exploring New Brunswick

Our Adventures

Five Fathom Hole & Gagetown Island, New Brunswick

In the third installment of a three-part series, we delve into the mysteries of the ghost ships at Five Fathom Hole, examine the stone foundations on an island near Gagetown, and bid farewell to summer weather with a wintry walk through the abandoned minefields of Minto.

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Scenic view of Cocagne Island shoreline with grassy banks and calm water.
Destinations

Cocagne Island Paddle

Found in the shallow waters of the Northumberland Strait, Cocagne Island is a low-lying landform measuring just 4.5 kilometres long and no more than 1.0 kilometre at its widest. Composed of ancient sandstone eroded over time, the island contains many secluded beaches and striking rock formations. Throughout its long history, the island bore witness to Mi’kmaq, Acadian, and English settlement, and later became one of the last islands in New Brunswick to be abandoned.

Read More Here ...