Fundy National Park is a stunning park about an hour away from Moncton, New Brunswick. It sees some of Canada’s highest tides and has an abundance of waterfalls. Fundy was established in 1948 and most of the current trails were created at that time. We focused on White Tail, the only trail that connects Chignecto Campground to the main visitor activity area (playground, golf course, outdoor theatre). White Tail is currently a hiking only trail but sees the most ‘poached’ bicycle use in the park. Overall the trail runs along old forestry or ox cart roads, has many steep sections and the connecting pieces are showing their age. The hope is that with a little bit of work the trail will be officially opened to bikes.
Our visit started with sitting in on a visioning exercise led by Mark Schmidt for the Fundy Park staff to determine some priorities for the trails within the park. 20 potential projects were presented for prioritization to Parks staff and community members. A common theme that surfaced was the allocation of more trails for mountain bike use. We did two trailbuilding schools while we were in Fundy. One for Parks staff and a second for volunteer groups who work on trails just outside of the park.
Nestled right next to the park is the small village of Alma, which has a population of about 300. Alma is home to one gem of a trail called Green Snake. Unfortunately this trail currently does not have an easily accessible entrance or exit. Built in 2003 after an IMBA workshop Green Snake hasn’t seen a lick of maintenance since it was built. It is a perfect example of sustainably built rolling contour trail and only needs a few small knicks to make it completely dry and ride smoothly again. We helped a few of the keen local mountain bikers locate a suitable entrance and hopefully soon the Green Snake trail will be accessible right from town.
We’d like to thank Matt Smith and his family for hosting us, the Parks Canada staff who came out to get their hands dirty and we can’t forget a special thanks to Vernon and the crew at the Octopus’s Garden for making the most amazing lunches and coffee in town.