Bluffed in Bay of Fundy, St. John

St. John Sign

I am camping high up on a cliff in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. There are swallows, swifts and seagulls playing tag in the air currents out my front door. And the city of St. John is on full display, spread out below me, at my feet. The views are endless. Out front I see the bridges tic-tac-toe, back and forth, across the Bay of Fundy connecting the community of St. John together. At night…  in the distance the horizon glows a sharp orange, the illuminated temples and domes of city churches poke into the dark skies and the lights bounce off of the glass-like surface of the Bay of Fundy.

Everyone knows I like elevation. I think it is because of my youth living on the west coast of Canada where mountains breed like rabbits. St. Johns provided me plenty of opportunity for elevation which was a good score for moi. In town there were two sites perched up on hills with great views of the city and the Bay of Fundy – Fort Howe and the Carleton Martello Tower. The hill of Fort Howe is also the location of the giant St. John sign. I could not resist a photo moment.

St. John surprised me and satisfied many of my adventure needs. There were plenty of old buildings and history to uncover and learn. Many downtown buildings were built in stone and red brick dating way back. There was the amazing Irvin Nature Park.. it was big, loaded with sightseeing hiking trails, beaches and rocky shorelines.. and it was free!

Cruise Liner in Port

There were lookouts providing far reaching views of the city, wetlands and rocky shorelines. Some lookouts were historic others were natural. And I was surprised to learn that St. John had such a developed port for servicing cruise ships. On my stay I saw three different cruise liners pull into the port downtown.  Good for them and tourism.

I started my visit poking around in the downtown core of St. John. The waterfront street is centre stage, as far as population growth is concerned… lots of people, especially if a cruise ship is in town.

The downtown core is home to patio restaurants, the port, Market Square, churches, boutiques and restaurants… and it connects to the Harbour Passage (code to me until I found out it was another way of saying a waterfront promenade walkway) .. and a good one at that.

Leaving the cement behind, I moved onto bigger and better things the next few days like parks and trails. In town I visited many parks and lookouts. The biggest and most popular park is Rockwood Park. It is up on a cliff overlooking the city. Throughout the park are a series of manicured and wilderness trails connecting to many lakes, beaches and viewpoints. Rockwood is (do not quote me on this) the largest municipal park in Canada?!? But nothing turned my crank more than the Irving Nature Park. (Main BLOG photo)

The Gorge in Irvin Nature Park

What a score of a park. It is propped up by cliffs, bluffs, beaches and marshlands with views overlooking the Bay of Fundy. The point of the park is at the end of a long penunsula. I set my eye on the point. I wanted bluffs big time. It took forever to get there though. Every stop along the way was another beach, picnic site, bluff, or lookout with a sightseeing opportunity. There were private beaches and busy beaches – private cliffs and busy lookouts. I had to make tough decisions.

I also noticed young and old enjoying the park. Irving Nature Ppark is ideal for all ages as it is accessed by road and trail. There are kilometres of hiking trails connecting to wetlands, mud flats, cliffs, coves, bluffs and lookouts. And there is a 6.5 kilometre gravel loop road which explores the park through the forest connecting to the many lookouts, beaches and picnic sites.