Our second big adventure, while in New Brunswick, was a visit to the Hopewell Rocks. It. Was. Awesome!
Before leaving home we had strapped our kayaks to the car, and it was time to get them in the water.
The Hopewell Rocks are found in the Bay of Fundy near Hopewell Cape. There is a huge difference between high tide and low tide there. The tides have resulted in some really beautiful and unique rock formations, and we couldn’t wait to see them. Water levels are so different between high tide and low tide in this area that we were able to kayak AND walk among The Rocks all on the same day. Very cool!
The beautiful Hopewell Rocks, with a small human for comparison’s sake.
Getting There
You can use these coordinates to get there: 45.818018, -64.578344.
We chose to pay to get into the Hopewell Rocks Park, which cost us $10.00 each, because we wanted to drive our kayaks as close to the water as we could.
After paying, we entered the interpretive centre, which has a restaurant (expensive but they made a pretty good breakfast bagel), a gift shop, washrooms, and a reception. We stopped at the reception because we knew that we had to sign a waiver. They also wanted to know that we had the proper safety equipment- bailing buckets, lifejackets, and “manual propulsion devices,” a.k.a paddles. The woman working there called down to the kayak tour guides for us to get a sense of the conditions on the Bay. She also called a staff member to open the gate for us. The road to North Beach, where you can put your kayaks in, is normally locked. You could park outside this gate and enter the park, but it would be a bit of a walk with your kayak (about .65 kilometres).
We picked up a free map and then headed for the beach. These coordinates are where the beach is located: 45.825984, -64.573081.
We were able to drive up right next to the beach, offload our kayaks, and then go park in the lot that was about 50 metres away. There are guided kayak tours that are run off of the same beach so it’s a good idea to check the sign outside of the office of the tour company. It will tell you what time the tours are and then you can decide if you’d like to avoid them or not.
The Route
We went out for our first paddle ahead of high tide. We have small kayaks (9’6’’ and 11.5’’), so when it’s choppy we get tossed around quite a bit. It was really choppy! The waves coming in were about three feet high, so being the amateur paddlers we are, we decided to turn around about three quarters of a kilometre into the paddle.
Fortunately for us, a tour came in not long after us and we sat and chatted with one of the guides for a bit. He let us in on a great tip- when the tide starts to turn and go out, it pushes the waves out into the Bay, leaving the water near The Rocks really calm.
We kept an eye on the Bay, and when we noticed that the waves appeared to be moving towards the centre of the Bay, we hopped back in and set off! From the beach we paddled to the south, taking in the beautiful views. Because of the tricks the tide were playing, at certain points we were paddling in totally calm water RIGHT NEXT TO three foot waves. It was really neat.
One of my favorite formations- check out the picture at the end to compare when the tide is out.
Getting Back
It is only 1.2 kilometres from North Beach to the “hazard zone,” at which point there are no other rock formations to see. The hazard zone is a section where there are a lot of rocks just under the surface. This entire route is only about 2.5 kilometres long there and back, and took us a leisurely 45 minutes.
We knew we wanted to come back and walk along the ocean floor as well, so we headed to a nearby restaurant for lunch and checked out some of the art galleries between the Hopewell Rocks and the town of Hillsborough. We also stumbled across an ice cream shop at the side of the road on Main Street in Hillsborough (with over fifty flavours) so you can bet we stopped there too.
Walking along the ocean floor was an amazing experience, made even better by our adventure that morning. The big difference though, was the number of people around. When we were kayaking among The Rocks, there was no one else in sight. It was surreal having such a beautiful place to ourselves. When the tide goes out, the area becomes much more crowded with people wanting to enjoy The Rocks. But it’s definitely still worth checking it out both ways.
The Hopewell Rocks when the tide is out.
If you’re planning a road trip to New Brunswick, make sure you think about hiking from Mount Sagamook to Mount Carleton or biking along the Fundy Trail Parkway!
I hope this trip report has enough info to get you there too. Let me know in the comments, or share and tag a friend to start planning your next adventure!
Map
Our map of the route at the Hopewell Rocks.
Gear We Brought
- Kayaks
- Bailing buckets (with rope and whistle)
- Life jackets
- 2 x 1 litre water bottles
- Sunscreen
- Sunglasses
- Hats
- Cell phones
- Waterproof phone cases
- Waterproof camera
You can also access the water via a farm service road that takes you to the dykes, that way you don’t have to pay. As I recall, it’s right beside a church.