Rarely do I get to start a vacation day overlooking the ocean, while watching an awe-inspiring sunrise. But, thanks to a fortunate (and reasonably priced) motel find, that’s exactly how Day 2 of this trip began. I was on the Bay of Fundy coast, in a community called Pocologan, southwest of Saint John, on beachfront property. And not far away from there, a nice waterfall awaited.
Location
Pocologan, New Brunswick is located about 70 kilometers from the U.S. border, and about 50 kilometers from Saint John. I stayed at the Clipper Shipp Motel, on Route 175 — a secondary route that parallels New Brunswick Route 1.
My Visit
Because I rolled my clocks forward as I crossed the international border and into the Atlantic time zone, I was somewhat confused about what time the sun would actually rise. I awoke in my motel room to see plenty of light streaming in around the curtains. I figured the sun was already up, so I took my time getting out of bed. When I finally did, I discovered that the sun hadn’t come up yet! I quickly scrambled to get dressed and head down to the beach behind my motel.
It looked like it was going to be a nice day! Already, there were blue skies overhead. As it turned out, I was blessed with very good weather on all but a couple of days of this trip.
The Bay of Fundy is known for having some of the highest tides in the world, and this beach showed the evidence of it. Seaweed was piled several feet high on the rocks, which must have meant that it was currently low tide. This area would have looked much different, a few hours later.
That’s the view from the beach, looking back at my motel. It was a quirky property with an unusual room layout, but it did have its own patio and easy access to the Bay of Fundy, so I can’t complain.
After enjoying the beach for a few minutes, I headed back up to my room to pack and get ready for a long day of driving, that would take me all the way to Halifax. You can see how that drive started in the Drivelapse video, below.
Lepreau Falls
As I headed east towards Saint John on Route 175, I hadn’t even made it back to Route 1 before finding an excuse to stop. A sign promised Lepreau Falls was just a short drive away, so I detoured to check it out.
There are a couple of well-developed spots that offer a good view of Lepreau Falls. The best is at the end of a boardwalk that begins near the restrooms. It’s just a short walk to the view you see above.
If you head down to the second viewpoint, there’s a small deck that offers a so-so view. From there, it’s not too difficult to climb down to the water. But, once I was there, I realized that I was essentially at sea-level with the Bay of Fundy. Since it was low tide, all the exposed rock was covered with a muddy, slippery slime, that was just about impossible to walk upon. I managed to stay upright, somehow, but I quickly abandoned my efforts to get any closer to the falls than what you see in the photo above.
Once I had checked out the falls, I got back on the road and continued on to Saint John.
Drivelapse Video
Here’s a look at the drive from Pocologan into Saint John, New Brunswick:
The Bottom Line
Spending the night on the Fundy Coast is a great idea, and visiting any part of this coastline will likely provide you with some nice scenery. If you have time, take the short detour out to Lepreau Falls, but avoid the slippery rocks by staying on the viewing platforms.
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