Roadtrip Home to Campbellton NB

I’ve heard New Brunswick called the “drive-through” province. That’s crazy! Unless your plan is to drive through it, making lots of stops along the way. Please don’t pass this untouched gem by.

Campbellton is a small city on the north coast of New Brunswick. It is connected to Pointe a la Croix, Quebec by the J. C. Van Horne Bridge. We moved from the city when I was very young, but would travel back every summer, usually by train, to visit my grandparents and aunts and uncles. Those trips make up some of the happiest memories of my childhood, so it’s with a lot of nostalgia that I hit the road. I haven’t been back for 16 years. That seems surreal to me. But for a place I haven’t lived in for so long, I still feel it is a part of me. I’m excited.

Lobster Shack on the Restigouche River

It’s a long drive. Google says 18 hours. I plan a couple of nights in Quebec City on the way. It’s more than half-way, but I think the extra hours will be worth it. One way to cut down on the hours is to take the toll highway through Toronto, and bypass Montreal altogether taking the new Highway 30. This has saved me nearly an hour in each city on other trips.

The Campbellton area of northern NB was first colonized by France and was populated by Acadians, who are descendants of colonists from France, not to be confused with the Quebecois. The two groups developed separate identities during colonization and have distinct cultures and languages, albeit both based on their motherland.

Sammy the Salmon

In the mid-1700s when the British began to rule, there was a mass deportation of Acadians called the Great Expulsion. Many of these same Acadians migrated to modern-day Louisiana and the Cajun culture was born! Years later, many Acadians moved back to New Brunswick, bringing with them a new culture and more importantly, food. I like to think my great love of New Orleans is due to the Acadian blood running through my veins. In fact, I’ll be heading back to New Orleans in a few weeks for a long weekend. Can never get enough jazz and southern food.

Canoes on the Restigouche River

Today, the language spoken in Campbellton is split, much like the whole province, but with a higher margin speaking French. There is no difficulty in travelling, however, if your only language is English. You’ll find New Brunswickers warm, friendly and probably more bilingual than any other place in Canada.

Tide Head Beach

New Brunswick is a stunning province. There is an abundance of undisturbed land and water. Over 80% of the land is forested. That’s amazing! Add to that the ocean, rivers, lakes and brooks and it really is an outdoor enthusiast’s dream. In Campbellton, Sugarloaf Park offers excellent camping, yurts, hiking, and fishing. There is a ski lift for skiing and snowboarding in the winter, and it’ll take you and your bike up for some adrenaline-fueled rides in the summer. And of course, no ski park would be complete without a restaurant/bar for some après cocktails and snacks. Their T-Bar fits the bill with some of the best mussels I’ve had in a long time.

Lobster traps

I had planned to take in a lot of activities at Sugarloaf, including the hike up the mountain, but I was waylaid by work commitments, and found I had much less time than I expected. Add in lots of visiting and some work on my family’s genealogy and the days went by in a flash. I know I won’t let another 16 years go by without a visit.

My next few posts will be about my time spent in this beautiful area. I hope you’ll join me as I gorge myself on seafood and hunt down my family’s history.

J. C. Van Horne Bridge over the Restigouche River