5 Best Sights in The Fundy Coast, New Brunswick

This incredible 206-square-km (80-square-mile) park---New Brunswick's first national park---is a microcosm of New Brunswick's inland and coastal climates, and has been designated a Dark Sky Preserve by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. The park has 100 km (60 miles) of hiking and mountain-biking trails, plus a playground, a heated saltwater pool, tennis courts, and a 9-hole golf course. Among the most scenic of the trails is Laverty Falls, a 2½-km (1½-mile) trail that ascends through hardwood forests to the beautiful Laverty waterfall. At Third Vault Falls, a 3.7-km (2.3-mile) trail from the Laverty Auto Trail Parking Lot, hikers can take a refreshing dip in the pool. On the way to the Coppermine Trail, visitors wind around a steep curve and through a bright-red covered bridge, a favorite spot for photographers. At a dozen scenic spots around the park, two or more red Adirondack chairs have been placed for visitors to sit and admire the view. Park naturalists offer daily programs, including beach walks and hikes that explore the forests (and even find and enjoy nature's edibles along the way). In the evening there are interactive programs in the amphitheater and campfires. Campsites range from full-service to wilderness, and yurts and "oTENTik" accommodations.

These famous "giant flowerpots" have been carved by the Bay of Fundy tides, and though a major rockfall in 2016 robbed the one they call 'the elephant' of its distinctive profile, walking among them at low tide remains a remarkable experience. At high tide, all you see is the very top, crowned with vegetation and appearing as tiny islands. There are also trails, an interactive visitor center, a café-restaurant, a gift shop, and a children's play area. Guided tours are available. It's about a 15-minute walk from the visitor center to the rocks, but there's also a shuttle service (C$2 each way). The tide comes in very quickly, so check tide tables, keep an eye on your watch, and exit the beach with time to spare.

Horticulture and art combine in this spectacular public garden. Nearly 2,500 varieties of trees, shrubs, and plants cover the 27 acres, with woodland trails and many theme gardens, including one specially designed for touch and smell, a rose garden, a bird and butterfly garden, and a gravel garden. A children's fantasy garden offers child-centered activities, and there are daily programs for kids under 12 (1:30 pm in July and August). One of the oldest and rarest trees in the world, a Wollemi pine, named Pericles, is a big attraction, as is the opportunity to participate in a ladybug release program every morning at 10:30. The Sculpture Garden features works by Don Pell, exhibits on loan from the Beaverbrook collection, and many other established and emerging artists, including winners of the annual Kingsbrae Garden Canadian Sculpture Competition. Kingsbrae also has an art gallery, an artists-in-residence series, a café (with live music on Wednesday evenings in July and August), and the superb Savour in the Garden restaurant.

A bizarre optical illusion has been attracting visitors since the days of horse-drawn wagons. If you park your car in neutral at the designated spot, you seem to be coasting uphill without power. Don't be tempted to turn the vehicle around; the effect is most pronounced when you are going backward. Get out and try it on foot and it seems harder to walk downhill than up. There are shops and a restaurant within the attached Wharf Village, designed to resemble a traditional coastal village ( www.magnetichillwharfvillage.ca).

In a bright modern building, this imaginative and highly engaging museum relates the history of Moncton from its earliest settlement, through its various ups and downs (Resurgo, the city's motto, means "I rise again"), to the present day. Rather than just a collection of old stuff in glass cases, the museum seeks to conjure up a feeling of the age, and technology is used to involve visitors in their discoveries—in one of the Transportation Discovery Centre galleries, push-carts fitted with iPads connect with various points on the floor, allowing you to explore each subject on the screen before rolling along to the next. The museum also has a great area for kids, where learning through fun activities is taken to a new level to help develop their thought processes. The historic Free Meeting House, next door to the museum, can be visited by request at the museum's admissions desk. But before you leave the museum, ask if you can try the "Backward Brain Bicycle"---good luck!