Cliffs of Fundy Aspiring Geopark 

Cobequid Fault at West Advocate

Age: Late Triassic (circa 220 million years)

Age: Late Triassic-Early Jurassic (circa 200 million years)

Geological Formation: Various

Age: Carboniferous (350-320 Million years)

The cliffs west of Clarke Head bear witness to the tectonic power that brought continents together to form the “One Earth” called Pangea. The geological structures, which have drawn geologists to ponder their origin, look like they might have been imagined by Dr. Suess. Even for the non-specialist, a walk along the cliffs and sea stacks of Clarke Head is unforgettable.

The Cliffs of Fundy honours the ethical space of the Mi’kmaq people and their oral traditions of intangible cultural geoheritage. Cliffs of Fundy further aspires to serve as a model of best practice in its partnership and reconciliation with indigenous peoples, and honours the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Geological Formation: Kame fields

Directions: From Highway 209, take West Advocate Road to Cape Chignecto Provincial Park and park at Visitor Centre. A short hiking trail to the beach takes you to Red Rocks.

Age: Late Triassic (circa 210 million years)

Geological Formation: Cobequid Fault

Directions: Between Fraserville and Port Greville, Highway 209 crosses north of the Cobequid Fault into the Cobequid Highlands. The view distracts from the twisting road, so drive with caution.

Age: Post-early Jurassic (circa 200 million years)

One of the many wild and lesser known places awaiting discovery in the aspiring geopark is McGahey Brook, on the Fundy day hike trail of Cape Chignecto Provincial Park. The long descent to the shore and waterfalls at McGahey Brook takes the hiker to rocks of the early Carboniferous Period, twisted and folded by tectonic power of the Cobequid Fault system. 

Age: Devonian-Carboniferous (circa 360-320 million years)

Age: Devonian and Carboniferous (circa 350-300 million years)

Geological Formation: Blomidon and North Mountain formations

While visiting Cliffs of Fundy, be sure not to miss the Joggins Fossil Cliffs, a nearby UNESCO World Heritage Site and our partner in showcasing the “Big Volume” of Earth history. Here, explore the cliffs with interpreters of the Joggins Fossil Centre, and visit the Centre to learn more about the story of this unique place and its fossils. Joggins is the most outstanding example on Earth of the “Coal Age” world of 300 million years ago, and was featured in Darwin’s Origin of Species. Here, fossil trees stand erect in the cliffs, mute testimony to this lost world – inside the trees are found fossils of the oldest reptiles known on Earth! 

“Glooscap was the first human, created from three bolts of lightning. The first strike gave him the shape of a man. The second strike brought him to life but he was still connected to the land and could not move. All he could do was watch and learn. The third and final bolt of lightning set him free from the soil and he could travel among the people, the animals and the land of the Mi’kmaq. We were created from the soil of the Bay of Fundy and that’s why our skin is the colour of the Bay of Fundy mud.”

The wild cliffs that stretch from West Advocate to Cape Chignecto form a scarp of the Cobequid Fault, conjuring the power of ancient tectonic forces and the mystery of Kluscap. Here, you can lay your hand where continents collided!

Geological Formation: probable Horton Group

Geological Formation: Fountain Lake Group

The Debert “Paleo-Indian” site, more properly referred to as Mi’kmawey Debert, is one of the most significant indigenous archeological sites in North America. The site dates back to approximately 11,000 years before present, a time when the last vestiges of glaciers were waning from highland areas of Nova Scotia. Debert Mi’kmawey represents the earliest human settlement in eastern North America.

Geological Formation: Blomidon and Wolfville formations

Age: Carboniferous (probably Mississippian: circa 340 million years)

Age: Devonian to Triassic (circa 375 to 200 million years)

Directions: From Apple River, head south to Apple River Road through West Apple River. (Note that at extreme high tides the small bridge at Edgett Beach may be submerged.) Cross the bridge at Spicer Cove, and park on the left. Hike south towards |the cliffs.

East of Ottawa House, Crane Point looks across to the Parrsboro Light. The dark red and ochre coloured rocks are thought by geologists to be similar to the spectacular “flatirons” of East Bay. Although the rocks bear witness to strong deformation, they still hold a fossil record of life in the waters and on land before the “Coal Age”. 

Age: Carboniferous (circa 300 million years) and Quaternary (circa 10,000 years ago)

Geological Formation: Economy River Gneiss

Geological Formation: West Bay Formation

Equally significant to the geoscientific storyline of the Cliffs of Fundy is the rich history and deep significance of the aspiring Geopark for the Mi’kmaq, who have inhabited these shores for more than 11,000 years. The Cliffs of Fundy are the home of legendary figure Kluscap, and the stories of the creation of the geological and geomorphic features from Economy to Cape Chignecto lie at the heart of Mi’kmaw culture and identity. The Mi’kmaq were also the first geologists of the aspiring geopark, selecting rocks for their properties in fashioning points and tools, and for ceremonial use in sweat lodges. Pioneer geologists of European ancestry were guided in their first surveys by the Mi’kmaq, a partnership that lives on in the aspiring geopark.

Directions: Where Highway 2 crosses Carrs Brook, take the road to the left (east) of the brook. Park, and head right (west), crossing the brook, to the coastal cliffs beyond.

Pjila’si!&nbsp;Welcome to the Cliffs of Fundy

Joggins Fossil Cliffs UNESCO World Heritage Site

A walk to Red Head, at the far eastern corner of Five Islands Provincial Park takes the traveller to sand dunes blown by the arid winds of the Fundy rift valley during the Dinosaur era, now preserved in sandstone. The lines created by the ancient dunes, and Gaudi-like structures formed as the cliffs have weathered, are both fanciful and exquisite. 

Directions: Park at Ottawa House By the Sea, and follow the road to the right. The unpaved road soon splits: the left fork follows the gravel bar (a tombolo) to Partridge Island. The trailhead to the top of Partridge Island begins where the gravel road meets the island.

Directions: From Highway 209, take West Advocate Road to Cape Chignecto Provincial Park and park at Visitor Centre. Take the short hiking trail to the beach, and follow the cliffs to your immediate right.

Directions: Head north from Parrsboro on Highway 2 past the intersection with Highway 209 to Lakelands. The rolling, gravelly hills of blueberry fields on both sides of the road are glacial kames.

A hidden gem in the geological treasure house of Nova Scotia, remote Spicer Cove is a bookend in miniature to its more famous Joggins Fossil Cliffs, with fossils of the Coal Age in the low bluffs that give way to towering cliffs at the margin of the ancient Cumberland basin and Cobequid mountains, from which tumbled alluvial fans over the broken edges of lava flows.

Geological Formation: Clarke Head Mélange

The “flatirons” of East Bay, formed before the breakup of Pangea. Like an open book of Earth history, the beds of the West Bay Formation near Partridge Island stand waiting to be read, layer upon layer, telling a story of a playa lake some 325 million years ago. Exquisite ripple marks, mudcracks, and crossing the playa flats, footprints of early tetrapods – amphibian and reptile ancestors. 

 Global Geoparks also recognize the importance of sustainable economic development – geoparks are for people. UNESCO Global Geoparks reconnect humanity with the Earth in a time when understanding the importance of this connection has never been more pressing.&nbsp;

If you are not from the Cliffs of Fundy, you will not be used to how quickly the tide "comes in". Consult the <a href="https://www.waterlevels.gc.ca" target="_blank">tides for Parrsboro NS online.</a>

Today, more than 140 global geoparks are recognized in over 40&nbsp;countries.&nbsp;

The Fundy Rift was shaped by faults, and so too is the aspiring geopark today. An example of the magnitude of these faults in the Earth’s crust can be witnessed as you approach the Old Wife from the Five Islands Provincial Park picnic area. Here, brick-red rocks of the Jurassic Period on the left (north) have slid downward in relation to the dark basalts of the Triassic, to the right (south). 

Geological Formation: North Mountain Formation

300 million years ago&nbsp;in the Coal Age,&nbsp;the continents collided to form Pangea. 200 million years ago&nbsp;in the Age of Dinosaurs,&nbsp;it began to rip apart, and the modern world was born.

The brick-red colour of the late Triassic Wolfville Formation at West Advocate gives this site its local name: “Red Rocks”. Largescale cross bedding and trains of quartz grains record the flow of river systems coursing through the ancient valley of the Fundy Rift. 

Cliffs of Fundy Geopark Society 2019

Guide to 30 Geosites, Nova Scotia, Canada

Age: Devono-Carboniferous (350-320 Million years)

Directions: At Port Greville, on Highway 2, the Age of Sail Museum boardwalk leads along Wards Brook, with interpretive signage.

Directions: At Economy, turn north from Highway 2 on River Philip Road for 6 km. At the top of the hill take time to enjoy a panoramic view of the Minas Basin and its tide. Continue on this road for 6 km following signs. At 6 km, turn right at the sign and continue a short distance to the parking lot.

Age: Quaternary (circa 10,000 years ago)

This guide introduces 30&nbsp;geological and archeological site that are currently accessible within the Cliffs of Fundy aspiring geopark. We hope these geosites instill in you a sense of wonder for the Earth and how it shapes our lives.

Travel back to the “Dinosaur Era”. The rocks at Carrs Brook have yielded an important cross section of life in the Mesozoic Era, including fishes, whose descendants today find their way to traditional fishing weirs and to our table.

Geological Formation: Londonderry Formation

The geological and natural environment shaped the lives of the Mi’kmaq people. Many geosites are explained through Mi’kmaw stories passed down over thousands of years, and Cliffs of Fundy is committed to preserving these for future generations.

Geological Formation: McCoy Brook and North Mountain formations

The Fundy Geological Museum is the world centre for experiencing geological history interpreted from the unique features of Nova Scotia's Cliffs of Fundy region. Visitors can book guided beach or boat tours, horseback fossil tours, and participate in dinosaur digs with museum staff.&nbsp;Visit their website for an updated schedule of events

From the nature trails of Thomas Cove, experience soul-satisfying viewscapes of the Bay to Five Islands, Cape Split and beyond. The ecology of the woodlands and tidal creeks, and the geology of the Triassic rocks combine here to give one a true sense of all that the Geopark is. The Brick Kilns are offshore sentinels of basalt that have long served as a landmark to sailors and shore goers alike. 

Age: Carboniferous (350-300 million years)

The volcanic past of the Cape Chignecto coast leads to differential erosion of igneous intrusions and the formation of sea stacks. Here, the formation of a particularly memorable sea stack is interpreted from a lookoff of the Eatonville trail. 

Directions: On Highway 2 in Great Village at the WWII Cenotaph, turn north onto Station Road for 10 km, passing by Londonderry Provincial Park with cenotaph and mining artifacts to the “beehive” coke ovens. Local folk are happy to assist.

Geological Formation: Fountain Lake (volcanic) and Cumberland (sedimentary) groups

Across Anderson Cove, from the Eatonville day park of Cape Chignecto Provincial Park, a flat top cliff marks an ancient beach, now perched high above today’s Bay of Fundy. Following the melting of the ice cap some 10,000 years ago, the land rebounded, pushing upward as the great weight of glacial ice disappeared. The wild coastline of the Cliffs of Fundy is nowhere more breath-taking.

Age: Early Carboniferous/Mississippian (circa 325 million years)

End your day or take a break at the Roundhouse Café, and before you go, visit local shops and restaurants in this historic, former coal mining village. Find out more at <a href="https://jogginsfossilcliffs.net/" target="_blank">Jogginsfossilcliffs.net</a>

More sites  will soon be accessible  as the geopark develops. Plan to come back.

Age: Carboniferous to Triassic (350-200 million years)

Partridge Island, near historic Ottawa House, is one of the basalt headlands and islands that are a signature of the Aspiring Geopark. Partridge Island is sacred to the Mi’kmaq, who call it Wa’so’q – Heaven. Follow the gravel tombolo, hike to the top, walk by the fishing weir at low tide, hunt for agate, and feel Kluscap’s presence as the fog drifts by.

 If you choose, follow the steeply descending track to the lighthouse but stay back from the cliff edge at the bottom.

Note that parking is roadside only, for temporary viewing. Please respect local traffic and landowner access.

The Fundy Cliffs and indeed the landscape of Nova Scotia are shaped by the Cobequid Fault, running east-west from Cape Chignecto to Canso. From Diligent River to Fraserville, the fault intersects the shore and cliffs, weaving and cutting them and throwing rocks of different geologic age and character upon each other. Here the fault also brings the Cobequid highlands to the coast, creating a roller-coaster ride along the scenic drive, where each hill has its own name!

Directions: From the Visitor Centre at Cape Chignecto Provincial park, West Advocate, follow the Fundy Trail approximately 3 km to McGahey Brook.&nbsp;

Directions: The best way to experience the Three Sisters is by a sea kayaking expedition from Spicer Cove. To view them from land, continue past the bridge at Spicer Cove turning right towards Eatonville day use park (a well maintained trail system) of Cape Chignecto Provincial Park. From the parking area, hike the trail, bearing left at the trail junction.&nbsp;

It is always safer to time your excursion on the shore with a falling tide (after high tide), and to time your return at least 2 hours before the next high tide.

Story Map created by Sonya Cowper, Department of Energy and Mines, Geological Survey

Directions: Park at Ottawa House By the Sea, and follow the road to the right. The unpaved road soon splits: the left fork follows the gravel bar to Partridge Island, the right fork takes you to the shore to the right of Partridge Island. At the beach, head right towards the cliffs.

For more on Nova Scotia's Geoheritage click <a href="https://novascotia.ca/natr/meb/geoheritage-resources/" target="_blank">here</a>.

Directions: One of the interpreted look offs of the Eatonville loop.

Walk past basalt cliffs, cooled from the greatest ever outpouring of lava onto the Earth’s surface, and round to the “Dawn of the Dinosaurs” – here, staff of the Nova Scotia Museum oversee excavations of Canada’s oldest dinosaurs and the creatures that lived – and died – with them in the Fundy rift valley. “Wasson” is designated a Special Place by the Nova Scotia Museum and is protected under legislation in recognition of its importance.

Directions: From Apple River, continue north on Route 209 for 40 km to the village of Joggins. From Parrsboro, travel north on Highway 2 for 14 km to the Boars Back Road, turning left at River Hebert on Route 242 to Joggins. From Amherst, take either Exit 3 or 4 south from Trans Canada Highway 104 through Nappan to Maccan, turning right (west) on Route 242 to Joggins.

Directions: Wasson Bluff can be accessed at the Interpretive sign on Two Islands Road 9 km east of the Fundy Geological Museum. It is recommended to visit this protected site on a guided tour with the Fundy Geological Museum.

Directions: Follow Two Islands road east from the Fundy Geological Museum to Glooscap Campground. Check in at the office where you will be provided directions to beach parking. Head left (east), minding the “pinch point” where the rocks change from red to grey at the Clarke Head Fault. Give adequate time for your return before high tide.&nbsp;

“Flowerpots and Coves” – one of the most aesthetically pleasing stretches of our shoreline, Triassic sandstones carved by the power of the tides into “flowerpot” sea stacks, coves and caves. 

Directions: From Highway 2 at Crossroads, north of Parrsboro, travel west on Highway 209 for 4.7 km. Park on the gravel pulloff on the north side of the road.&nbsp;

Sea stacks, frozen in time by Kluscap, remnants of lava flows and magma intrusions from deep within the Earth underscore the wilderness of Cape Chignecto. Mi’kmaw legend tells another story of three mischievous sisters, turned to stone. Best experienced by sea kayak, a visit here is one of the great outdoor experiences in the Aspiring Geopark.

Geological Formation: McCoy Brook Formation

 A 10 minute walk takes to you the top of 186 steps to the Economy River and bottom of the falls. Explore the top of the falls and bridge across the gorge by turning right at top of stairs.&nbsp;

The two fault-bound basalt islands stand offshore at Wasson Bluff offer vivid lessons in geobiology. The near island, “Big Brother”, has sheer cliffs that offer nesting habitat for vulnerable Peregrine falcons. Between the islands and shore, threatened rock-boring clams (Barnea truncata) chose only the Jurassic red mudstones of the McCoy Brook Formation as their most northerly global habitat. 

Directions: From Exit 13 on Highway 104, take MacElmon Road east 1.5 km towards Debert, keeping left as it merges with Plains Road.

Photo: Confederacy of Mainland Mi'kmaq

Directions: On east side of the Economy River, turn south from Highway 2 onto Economy Pt. Road. Travel 2.3 km to a sign indicating a right turn and a 1 km drive to parking area. Trail signs point both right and left.

Directions: Five Islands Provincial Park is located 9 km west of Economy on Highway 2. Follow Bentley Branch Road approximately 3 km south to the Park office. Red Head can be accessed from a hiking trail atop the cliffs. On the beach, your hike must be timed carefully with the tides – check at the park office to see when the hike can be safely made.

Directions: In Lower Economy, at the foot of Economy Mountain, take Soley Cove Rd south for a 1.6 km picturesque drive to the “flowerpot”.

Geological Formation: Wolfville Formation

The rich ship building tradition of the Parrsboro shore was founded in safe harbours and waterways created by our geologic past. At Port Greville, protection was afforded the shipyards by the fault scarp on Ward’s Brook.

Global Geoparks have caught the imagination of people around the world. The idea of celebrating the connection between people’s culture and how it has been shaped by the history of the Earth began in Europe in 2000, and by 2004 had joined hands across the globe with China and neighbouring countries to become a Global Geopark Network. In 2015, the Global Geoparks Network became an official program of UNESCO.

Geological Formation: various

Directions: From Spicer Cove, continue past the bridge turning right towards Eatonville day use park of Cape Chignecto Provincial Park. From the parking area, hike the trail, bearing left at the trail junction. A well maintained loop takes you to several interpreted lookoffs.

Directions: Five Islands Provincial Park is located 9 km west of Economy on Highway 2. Follow Bentley Branch Road approximately 3 km to the Park office. Ask for tide times and directions to the day-use picnic park where you can access the beach.

Geological Formation: North Mountain and McCoy Brook formations

Our pathways and roads often follow the land that has been shaped by geology: so it is for the path of Highway&nbsp;2 north of Parrsboro, which follows a cleft in the Cobequid Hills formed by glaciers more than 10,000 years ago. At Lakelands, the landscape looks as if huge loads of gravel were dumped by the side of the Hebert River – and so it was. As the glacial ice melted, it left behind hummocks of gravel called kames, on which blueberries now grow.

The indigenous people of the region, the Mi’kmaq, have inhabited the area for thousands of years. Their traditional territory is Mi’gma’gi (Mi’kma’ki). The shore area was a rich fishing and hunting ground for the semi-nomadic people and is well known as the home of the legends of the great hero-god Glooscap or Kluscap, an Abenaki word for “man from nothing.” Mi’kmaw educator and artist Gerald Gloade relates the oral history of the creation of the Mi’kmaq:

Three events in Earth History that are showcased in our Geopark

Geological Formation: Fountain Lake Group (cliffs)

Cape Chignecto Trails: McGahey Brook&nbsp;

Uploaded by Cliffs of Fundy Aspiring Global Geopark on 2019-05-27.

Visit Cliffs of Fundy Aspiring Geopark

Directions: Isle Haute lies 8 km off Cape Chignecto in the Bay of Fundy, and can be accessed by boat tours out of Advocate Harbour. The island is a National Wildlife refuge; day hikers are welcome but be mindful of nesting herons, sea birds and seals.

From 1849 to 1908, iron deposits along the Cobequid Fault fed the brick kilns of Londonderry. Fully two million tons of iron ore were mined during the heyday of Londonderry when the town was a bustling centre of mining and steel making. Londonderry Provincial Park has mining artifacts, while historic slag heaps and “beehive” coke ovens occur just north of the park.

Be aware that parking may not be available during very high tides:  consult tide tables!

The Old Wife is one of the most striking coastal vistas in Nova Scotia, and one of the best exposures of a monumental event in Earth history – the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea 200 million years ago, and birth of the modern continents and Atlantic Ocean. As Pangea ripped apart, the greatest outpouring of lava in Earth history gave rise to one of the five (or six) mass extinction events in the history of life, wiping out the competitors of the dinosaurs and ushering in the true reign of the famous reptiles. The dark rocks are basalt – cooled lava – and the red rocks below are the sediments swept by rivers and winds in the rift valley.

We tell that story&nbsp;like nowhere else on earth. 

Age: (of deformation) Carboniferous (circa 330 million years)

Age: Deformation involves rocks of Devonian and Carboniferous age (circa 320 million years)

The hand of the Cobequid Fault in shaping the landscape of the cliffs and land is perhaps nowhere more evident than in waterfalls tumbling across its fault scarp, which forms the southern margin of the Cobequid highlands. Wards Brook is one such falls, carved through steep walls of granite. The trail has been maintained through the stewardship of Harrison &amp; Sons lumber mill and community volunteers. 

The Five Islands that lend themselves to the name of the community and Provincial Park form one of the iconic sites of the aspiring geopark. Legend holds that Kluscap, annoyed at mischievous Beaver, flung huge sods of Earth his way, forming the chain of islands: Moose, Diamond, Long, Egg and Pinnacle. Geologists see a story no less dramatic: a line of basalt in the Fundy rift valley, formed by outpouring of lava some 200 million years ago as Pangea ripped asunder. 

Long visited by geologists and hikers, Economy Falls is the star of the Kenomee Wilderness Area and trail system. The majestic rock face is the edge of Avalonia, one of the tectonic jigsaw pieces of the ancient Appalachians.

Geological Formation: uncertain

Directions: At Five Islands, Highway&nbsp;2, follow signs to Five Islands Lighthouse Park.

Distant enough to be somewhat mysterious, Isle Haute is shrouded in sea mist and legends of pirate Ned Low’s treasure, headless ghosts, and ghost ships. Known long ago to the Mi’kmaq as Maskusetkik, the island is in fact a rich sanctuary for sea birds and seals. Cliffs of columnar basalt tower 100 metres from the waters of the bay, giving rise to its name. 

Age: Early Jurassic (circa 195 million years)

Directions: From Highway 2 at Crossroads, north of Parrsboro, travel west on Highway 209 for 7 km. The signed road to the trailhead is located approx. 100 m east of Diligent River, on the north side of the highway. Drive approx. 1 km to the parking area.

Directions: See “Old Wife”. The fault is encountered approximately two-thirds of the way to the Old Wife.

The Cliffs of Fundy Aspiring Geopark acknowledges that we are in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People.

Geological Formation: North Mountain Basalt and Blomidon formations

Directions: Access the beach at Ottawa House By the Sea, turning left towards the Parrsboro lighthouse.

The Cobequid Fault that defines northern from southern Nova Scotia is so immense that it is difficult to see up close and personal. But along the roadside at Wharton, an exposure provides a close-up of the forces involved, where fine sedimentary rocks called siltstone have been changed under great pressure to shiny metamorphic phyllite, and deformed into sharp folds as the blocks of Pangea slid into place.

Cape D’Or and its lighthouse watch over the “Dory Rips”– powerful tidal currents. They also stand on towering basalt cliffs in which historic native copper mines can still be seen. Known to the Mi’kmaq for millenia, the copper deposits were rediscovered by Samuel de Champlain in the early 1600s, and mined in a boom period from 1900-1907. 

Directions: Same as for Wasson Bluff, from where the Brothers are safely viewed. Warning: the incoming tide rushes around the Brothers at surprising speed. Should you walk to the nearest of the Two Islands, be certain to return at least 3 hours before high tide!

Age: Neoproterozoic (Cryogenian: 734 million years)

Directions: Take Highway&nbsp;209 east of Advocate to Back Street. In about 0.5 km, turn onto Cape D’Or Road and go south 5.6 km to Cape d’Or lighthouse. Park at top where there is a viewing platform.