Hiking Great Falls, New Brunswick

Great Falls, New Brunswick is an impressive waterfall on the St John River which carves out a large gorge in the center of the city. The falls and gorge are often featured in photography of New Brunswick

Grand Falls, New Brunswick

Before traveling all the way back to Portland, Maine, there was one other thing I've wanted to see in New Brunswick. As I travel, I love to pick up tourist brochures and maps because they usually do a great job of pointing out places all across a country, state or province which would normally be passed over in a road map. Grand Falls, in particular, is just a town on a road map but the falls and gorge were on 3 of my New Brunswick tourism maps and they looked like something worth seeing. The Saint John River Valley is, for the most part, as flat as the midwest. Other than a few hills and outcroppings, its a bunch of flat, fertile land, perfect for growing potatoes. The Great Falls are an interesting contrast to this bucolic scene with steep canyon walls and a roaring waterfall. At first I couldn't believe there was such a deep gorge in an otherwise flat landscape. 

So, once again I crossed the border!

The Saint John River Gorge

Grand Falls lies just a few kilometers across the border and within minutes I was downtown. I parked the car in a free parking lot and walked. The falls are very easily accessible and it was a nice walk. Both the Falls and Gorge can be seen in less than a kilometer. During the "tourist season" it is possible to walk all the way down to the bottom of the gorge. Here is the website with all the interesting ways you can see the falls and gorge, from zip-lining to rock climbing. I wish I had more time to zip-line across- that looked like fun. 

For today, it was just a little hike and I was glad I made it out here. It was like New Brunswick's Grand Canyon. I had to head back to Portland now, but this whole adventure through Maine, New Brunswick and Quebec certainly has been one to be told around the campfire circle.

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