With Saturday being National Parks Day in Canada, a new trail opened along the Bay of Fundy.
Catherine McKenna, Canada’s minister responsible for national parks, cut the ribbon to officially mark the opening of the new pathway leading down Point Wolf Beach in Alma, N.B.
“I know Canadians and visitors from around the world are really excited about visiting our parks, as well as our national historic site,” says McKenna.
Tammy Hollands says hiking the Fundy Park trail system was always on her bucket list. The visitor from Denver, CO, can now scratch it off her list.
“I love to hike. Being from the Rocky Mountains, I hike all the time and I have found that this park is the perfect combination of seeming like I'm hiking still in the Rockies but being next to the ocean and water so it's a perfect mix,” says Hollands.
The request for park passes far exceeded the government’s expectations.
“I think we we're over 4 million discovery passes requested. It's a historic program,” says McKenna. “It's a great way to celebrate Canada 150.”
Visitation is up 30 per cent for Parks Canada, putting them on track for a visitation record that could reach 400,000 by the end of the season.
Visitor experience manager Andrew Fry says most projects need to be completed this year.
“Of these projects need to be completed between March and December. Unfortunately, the construction season is the same as the tourist season,” Fry says.
There are more than 20 trails within the park covering more than 120 kilometres. Within the next three to four years, a third of the trails will undergo a similar ecofriendly transformation.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Jonathan MacInnis.
