Date of hike: 2016/05/20
In this post, I will describe the Foster Brook trail and backcountry campsites in Fundy National Park.
This trail had been a subject of great interest for us for years. We had always wanted to hike it and scope out the camp, but were always deterred because oftentimes we were travelling with people who would not have easily handled the more strenuous parts of the trail. Accounts of the trail describe it as very steep and strenuous; the trail leads down a valley wall to reach the Point Wolfe River before continuing upriver towards the campsites. It then continues to a river ford, after which the valley wall must be climbed to reach the western terminus of the trail, which is located along the Marven Lake trail, 3.4 kilometres (2.1 miles) from the parking lot at Point Wolfe, where you will find several trailheads, an expansive beach, a large but mainly unserviced campground, a picnic area, and what is perhaps the signature feature of the area, the Point Wolfe covered bridge.
The trailhead is located along the Point Wolfe Road; the driveway is about 180 metres (200 yards) before the Herring Cove Road and about 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) from the Headquarters area. A short incline leads past an old house and follows a sign to a small parking lot; the trailhead is here, along with a descriptive sign and map, as well as two rubbish bins.
The Foster Brook trailhead.
There is a small sign a few paces from the trailhead; this sign is for the purpose of indicating whether the trail's river ford is passable or not. If the ford is impassable, the sign will state the closure; otherwise, it will be blank.
The trail begins with a ~200 metre (~220 yard) steep incline through a softwood stand; after this, the trail goes uphill at a gentler grade for some distance, and then goes up and down until the crest of the first hill. There are several brooks along the trail, most of which are bridged. One is not bridged, but is rocky, very shallow, and very narrow, so fording is not required. The hiking is typical Fundy upland forest; mixed forest with birch glades at intervals. The birch trees along this trail are very impressive; they are so large and so old that the bark is nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding softwoods.
After hiking through the forest for about 1.6 km (1 mile), you will reach the aforementioned steep descent down the valley wall. The coarse stone trail goes straight down the hill; there are no switchbacks. The hillside section is said to be about 300 metres (330 yd) long; it did not come across as being this long to me, possibly due to the fast, steep descent. The pitch of the hill is about 50%; this is comparable to an alpine ski slope of advanced to expert difficulty.
A metal stake along the trailside; when you reach this marker, you are no more than 50 metres (55 yards) from the crest of the hill.
This trail marker is beyond the metal stake; when you pass this and walk around the bend, you are at the crest of the hill.
The hill, taken from about halfway down.
The hill from near the bottom.
Foster Brook is visible from the hill.
Once you reach the base of the hill, you will find yourself in a forest glade. The Point Wolfe River will be a few paces ahead of you, and Foster Brook a few paces to the right of you. Signs posted here tell you that you are at the Point Wolfe River, 1.9 kilometres (1.2 miles) from the parking lot and 1.3 kilometres from the backcountry campsites. For about the next kilometre (0.6 mile) from this point, you will hike on the floodplain beside the river. The river is always visible, and the hiking is easy, with a few smaller up's and down's along the way. A short distance before reaching the campsites, you will begin to move away from the river and deeper into the forest. There is a small hill along the way.
The campsites are located along a short side trail, on the banks of the river. The side trail is clearly marked by campground signs coming in from both sides.
This sign, placed along the main trail, directs the overnight hiker down the side trail to his forest abode.
Walking down the side trail, you will first walk past the outhouse on the right-hand side; the trail continues toward the river, and after a short distance, you will follow the direction of a sign and make a sharp left turn towards the campsites.
At Foster Brook, only one campsite is reservable; number 10. In previous years, there were three reservable sites; recently, park management reduced the number of reservable sites to give the overnight hiker more privacy. However, sites 8 and 9, while no longer maintained or monitored, are still marked, and may be useful if, for instance, a large crowd were to go out, and more than one tent site were desirable. I only have a photograph of site number 10 due to limited battery life of my cellphone, which I used to take photos. However, I will describe all three sites.
Site 8 is on the side of the trail opposite the river. This site would only hold a very small tent; in my opinion, it barely qualifies as a tent site. It is very small and very uneven. Also, being on the opposite side of the river, one would have to walk a longer distance to get water.
Site 9 is better; there is a lot more space for a tent, but the ground is still uneven. A small stone firepit has been constructed by campers; a few years ago, Parks Canada stopped permitting fires at Foster Brook, and removed the firepits and woodshed that the camp was once furnished with. Another such rudimentary firepit exists at site 10. Sites 9 and 10 are on the side of the trail adjacent the river, and have water access directly behind them.
Site 10 is ideal. It is very flat, and very spacious; it could hold at least 3 small tents. As previously mentioned, it has another small stone firepit, with small benches surrounding it, unlike the other site. The only potential issue with this site is that it is at least 50 metres (55 yards) from the outhouse. This is the only issue in general with the area, is that the outhouse is a considerable distance from any of the three sites. However, all in all, it is a very pleasant, peaceful area to spend a night.
Campsite number 10. Very flat, very spacious, and right on the riverbank. Benches right next to the river. An ideal backcountry campsite.
The outhouse, across the gully from the campsites.
After exploring the campsites for a while, we walked out of the camp and continued west on the trail toward Rat Tail Bar and the Point Wolfe River. While hiking between the campsites and the ford, you will encounter a sharp left turn; if you look straight ahead, perpendicular to the bend, you will notice a very faint trail going up the hill. We went up this faint trail a short distance, and further up the hill, found a clear, unmarked trail heading up the hill and into the woods. This is the Rat Tail trail. Named for the brook of the same name, in past decades, this hiking trail led through the woodland out to the Hastings Road. The campsites were originally called the Rat Tail campsites, and this trail was the only way to access them. However, the trail had some very boggy sections, and eventually fell into disuse. The Foster Brook trail, which originally was a one-way trail that only went as far as Foster Brook, was extended to the campsites, and the campsites were renamed the Foster Brook campsites, despite their closer proximity to Rat Tail Brook and Rat Tail Bar. The extension was completed, and the Rat Tail trail was closed in 1986. The section of the modern-day Foster Brook trail that goes from the river ford to the Marven Lake trail is part of the original Rat Tail trail.
After hiking a short distance, you will come down a short, steep embankment down to a sandbar on the edge of the river. This is where you must ford. The river is typically very shallow; where we forded it, it was no more than knee deep, with a smooth stone riverbed. The ford was very easy, albeit very cold; by the time I made it across, my toes hurt because of the water temperature. On the other end, you will find a sandy shore to stand and dry off. At this point, a sign indicates that you are 4.9 kilometres (3 miles) from Point Wolfe and 6.2 kilometres (3.9 miles) from Marven Lake and its nearby campsites. After drying off, we continued down the trail towards the Marven Lake trail.
This next section is the most strenuous part of the whole hike. For roughly the next kilometre (0.6-0.7 mile) the trail is relentlessly uphill; the first 500 metres (550 yards) are very steep climbing, with occasional deadfall across the entire trail. The trail is very narrow at this point, as well. Physical fitness, copious hydration, and copious nourishment are imperative for this section. The trail goes up the valley wall for a long distance and eventually reaches some relatively flat areas, but then goes uphill again. At the top of the valley, the grade is not as intense, but still challenging after tiring out from the initial climb.
When nearing the Marven Lake trail, more flat spots will be encountered. Eventually, you will come out to a cart road with two signs at the junction. This cart road is the Marven Lake trail. From here, you can walk to Point Wolfe, or to Marven Lake, and spend a night. The Marven Lake trail also connects to the Bennett Brook trail, which will be another story for another day.
Western terminus of the Foster Brook trail.
Slightly outdated distance board from the days of the Rat Tail trail, which must have crossed Foster Brook 6.9 kilometres from the Marven Lake junction. Today, Foster Brook would be crossed about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 miles) from this sign.
Heading towards Point Wolfe, we encountered yet another half kilometre (500-550 yards) of gradual incline, which was an unwelcome sight after the climb out of the river valley. Thankfully, after this incline, the trail is mostly downhill all the way to Point Wolfe. The hiking is very pleasant, and the cart road made for an easy hike.
Marven Lake trail scenery; an old cart path through a very dense mixed forest.
After 2.2 kilometres (1.4 miles), we encountered a junction with a sign; this is the junction with the Goose River trail. We will be hiking this trail in the near future, and I will be writing about the journey. We turned left, and continued towards Point Wolfe. The trail is rocky and all downhill from this point. Along the way, we stopped to admire a waterfall that fell down off the side of the trail. We climbed down the hill and took a nice rest. Some hikers walked by while we were in the ravine with stuffed overnight packs; they were obviously looking forward to a night out at Goose River or Marven Lake.
After a rest, we continued our hike, and arrived at Point Wolfe a short time later. We were hiking a loop that would take us back to the car at the Foster Brook parking lot. We hiked out of Point Wolfe via the Shiphaven trail. This interpretive trail leads from the parking lot to the covered bridge, offering magnificent cliff-top views of the Point Wolfe beach and the cliffs of the point. Along this trail, atop a cliff offering a particularly terrific view, you will find two of Parks Canada's red chairs. These chairs are placed throughout the park at especially stunning locations. Some are placed along main roads, and are obvious; others take more of a quest to find. Parks Canada challenges visitors to find these chairs, take pictures of themselves and their family and friends sitting in them, and share them with Parks Canada on social media. I highly recommend this for an adventure, or for something to do on a camping trip.
At the end of the Shiphaven trail, we went down the stairs to look out over the river near the covered bridge and the old logging dam. After spending a few minutes here, we climbed the stairs to the road, crossed over the covered bridge, and began the walk on the Point Wolfe Road back to the Foster Brook parking lot. We passed a small lookout with more red chairs and interpretive panels. We also passed the western terminus of the Coastal trail. We walked up the gently inclining road up past the Herring Cove Road to the Foster Brook driveway. After walking up the hill to the lot, we arrived back at the car, concluding our hike.
This hike took us a little under four hours to complete, and we were on the road back to Riverview by 8:00 pm. Overall, this was a strenuous hike, but absolutely worthwhile. I would advise this as a day hike or as an overnight hike for any physically fit individual. The Foster Brook campsites can be reserved in advance by phone or online; because fires are not permitted, campers must present a camp stove when registering.
This summer, we will be spending two nights in the backcountry of Fundy National Park; the first night at Foster Brook, the second night at Goose River. I will write about this trip, and about the Goose River trail and campsites, upon my return.
We are hoping to do several backcountry camping trips and day hikes this summer; there will be writeups about these trips, as well.
Get out there, log some miles, see some places, and live some stories.
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