Alain Gagnon
Word by Alain Gagnon
@azimuth_overland; www.rawimage.ca
For the past few years, my spouse Tammi and I have been overlanding throughout the Midwestern and Southwestern United States where off-road opportunities abound. With all the challenges, discovery, and scenic passages, our time exploring these parts was enjoyed immensely, and we’ll more than likely return.
For our last extensive overlanding trip, however, we decided to stay closer to home in Eastern Canada given we’ve been out west the last couple of years. So, we settled on the Maritimes, mainly New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. This was also going to be our first run with an overland trailer I built in my spare time since October 2018, and were excited to try this new addition.
Alain Gagnon
There’s a maze of maintained and regularly patrolled logging roads near Plaster Rock, New Brunswick.
While doing some research on various overland opportunities in the Maritimes, I often found myself checking out North Bound Expeditions (NBX), a New Brunswick-based company that promotes overland and off-road type ventures. More specifically, it’s an adventure-driven organization that has mapped most off-road trails the province has to offer. Therefore it was a good place to start.
After few discussions we had via email, we met up with Virgil Dessouroux from NBX in Plaster Rock, NB, a small town approximately, 45 km (28 mi) Southeast of Edmunston. Plaster Rock is situated on the border of the Acadian Timber’s private lands, which offers approximately 2.4 million acres of land under management.
There are lots of maintained and regularly patrolled logging roads and 4x4 trails branching off the maintained roads. Anyone can access the logging road system, but you need to register and purchase a permit to go on the property, which is secured with automated gates. You can use the land for off-roading, fishing and enjoy the very nice lakeside, off-grid camp sites. The access fees, permits, regulations and various official maps are available at www.acadiantimber.nb.ca
Virgil wanted to take this opportunity to try some new roads and trails he hadn’t yet mapped for possible future expeditions, so off we went exploring. We purchased our Acadian Timberland access for two days plus a permit for one night of camping.
Alain Gagnon
Our guide during the first leg of our trip.
There’s a multitude of criss-crossing dirt roads, some better maintained than others. The “main” unpaved logging road was wide and well maintained, yet once you take a smaller trail, you’ll find various levels of off-road challenges. For the most part, they are very accessible. As we visited during a busy vacation period, it was nice to enter the Acadian Timber Lands and logging roads with very little traffic, and enjoying the sound of nature.
Early in the trip, I noticed my trailer was a little lower than when we started our trip. After a short inspection, we noticed the 2,000 lbs axle was slightly bent. This was basically caused by a combination of weight in the trailer and the bumpy roads. The decision from that point, given there was still about a 2.5 cm (1 in) gap before the wheel would rub the fender, was to continue and deal with it later (we blamed this incident on human error).
Virgil always documents his expedition for their future use and to post on the NBX website with photos and videos. Therefore, once in a while we would stop on a trail. During one of these filming/shooting sessions on the side of a main logging road, his jeep and trailer all of a sudden started rolling (with no one aboard) and veered to the right, and ascended down a deep ditch.
After it stopped, he immediately went to assess the damage and came back to confirm his front steel bumper must have absorbed most of the fall, and was sure it was okay to pull out. Following a bit of a struggle, we got it out of the ditch and following an inspection, he estimated the damage to his jeep was more “aesthetic” than mechanical.
Alain Gagnon
Our recovery skills also came in handy.
During this time, the weather was hot and humid so we stopped by a lake for lunch and to assess our situation. We decided to carry on and the remainder of our day was perfect with magical scenery and true Canadian nature at its best with trees, water, wildlife and most of all, pure tranquillity.
That night, we set up camp at the side of a lake, opened our RTT, had dinner and sat around the campfire reminiscing about the day we experienced. The next morning, we packed up and continued our Acadian Timber Lands expedition.
After riding all day on some fun trails without any incident, we left the Acadian Timber properties and just before parting ways with Virgil, he provided me with a trail file for New Brunswick, which he had previously mapped. Knowing we were going south towards the Bay of Fundy, he suggested we use one of his mapped trails and travel to Martin Head. His last words were, “you won’t regret it.”
Bay of Fundy from New Brunswick
We marked our track on the Gaia GPS and traveled to the Bay of Fundy. We used the main roads until just before the entry to Bay of Fundy National Park. We then turned right on a local dirt road and shortly after (while still following Virgil’s mapped trail), we went onto a rougher path called Goose Neck Trail. However, at a certain point it was washed out from rain and accessible only by ATVs or high clearance vehicles.
Approximately one hour from leaving road 114, we arrived at our destination, next to a large salt marsh and a beautiful beach, mixed with sand and coarse gravel, directly on the bay. There were only two other overland campers set up. However, the area is so vast that you can camp anywhere and not even hear or see other enthusiasts. By mid-morning the next day, they left and we were all alone for the remainder of our stay.
We were in Martin Head for four days, relaxing and enjoying the tranquillity. We were literally 10 m (33 ft) from our camp to the water’s edge at high tide. Six hours later, we were well over 200 m (656 ft) from the water’s edge during low tide. The whole area is very picturesque, a must-visit if overlanding in New Brunswick
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Alain Gagnon
Just one of our campsites after a long day of exploring.
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Alain Gagnon
The rustic shore side scenery of the Maritimes.
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Alain Gagnon
Our trip was the first for our custom-made trailer that stood up to the challenge.
Following our stay in Martin Head, we then traveled east to Hopewell Rocks Park where we camped at a regular campground with showers, and close proximity to shopping where I could refuel. We then hit the ocean, kayaking around Hopewell Rock (also called the Flower-pot rocks), which is a formation caused by tidal erosion. Some stand more than 15 m (50 ft) from the ground up. This was a wonderful experience and kayaking was a great way to observe this natural structure. We started as the tide was going down and when we returned, roughly two hours later, most of the rocks we had paddled around were no longer accessible by water – highly recommended.
Alain Gagnon
One of the stunning sunsets.
Overlanding in Prince Edward Island
We left New Brunswick via the Confederation Bridge, and arrived in PEI. We parked the trailer with our RTT, close to Brackley and Stanhope beaches, which were basically between Charlottetown and Cavendish, and visited the eastern part of the island, making it back to camp every night. This was not our preferred option, but it put less stress on the trailer’s axle.
We scouted various overlanding possibilities and there were many. PEI is composed of roughly 88 percent of private land and 12 percent of government land. I was told that if there isn’t a private sign with an interdiction to drive off-road or camp, you could access it.
From what we had seen, there were a lot of reddish dirt roads, mainly used by locals or smaller RVs (provided they are not too rough). They lead from the main road directly to the edge of the water. In fact, they all had names, which led us to believe they were public and one could camp as long as it was cleaned up the next day (as if you have never been there).
We discovered many of these overlanding possibilities and we will definitely return to PEI in the near future to tour around more and overland at the various trails around the island. The weather was on our side while in PEI with sunny and hot conditions. We even took advantage one day of simply just sitting on our beach chairs with our books and enjoyed beautiful Brackley Beach for a whole day of R&R.
We sadly left PEI and paid our $56 departure toll (for truck and trailer) to get off the island via the Confederation Bridge. We returned to New Brunswick where I took the opportunity to finally change the axle on the trailer. I removed the bent axle and replaced it with a new 3,500 lbs axle!
The Acadian Coast, New Brunswick
We arrived at Miscou Island, the most North Eastern point of New Brunswick, via the Acadian Coast. It was accessible by the Miscou Island Bridge, and had plenty of prime overlanding areas with great, untouched sand beaches.
It was really windy during our two-day stay so we settled for a camp spot hidden by trees rather than settling on the open beach. However, the beach it was less than a minute from our site, which made for great opportunities to witness the awesome sunsets.
Miscou Island is popular for birdwatching, kitesurfing, kayaking and fishing for striped-bass. After a few days on the Island and visiting the fishing town of Shippagan, which all offered beautiful wildlife, land and sea photo opportunities, we started on our journey home when we were already thinking more about our next overland trip, and a new adventure.
Alain Gagnon
You can’t pass up one of the local lobster rolls when visiting PEI.
My top 5 for this trip:
- The Lobster rolls from Richard’s Fish Shack on Wharf Rd, York, PEI, Absolutely the best Lobster roll I ever had.
- Overlanding in Northern New Brunswick with a very knowledgeable guide. There were superb logging areas and great off-road trails. For us, the beautiful sights we saw on this trip were exceptional.
- Overlanding directly on the Bay of Fundy at Martin Head. This was absolutely breathtaking and there’s no better tranquil spot to witness nature at its purest.
- Discovering the various overland opportunities throughout PEI with spectacular areas directly on beaches.
- Miscou Island was great area to experience and certainly worth the detour with nice overland trails on beautiful white sand beaches near the Miscou Lighthouse. Try the awesome fresh seafood.