The Hopewell Rocks
Coordinates: Lat 45.820918°N, Long 64.576970°W
Description: A well-known Provincial Park showcasing the world famous “flower pot” rocks and the Ocean Tidal Exploration site. The site is located 47 km south of Moncton along route 114.
Nature Notes: The Hopewell Rocks has long been a local tourist attraction and a provincial park, but in the late 1990s, the province decided to “up the ante” and make it the flagship of their provincial parks network and market it as one of the crown jewels of the Bay of Fundy tourism destination. With its monolithic and picturesque “flower pot” rocks, it is certainly a scenic and impressive place. Add into the mix some of the highest tides in the world at 14 m or 46 ft between low and high tide during the highest tides of the year and you have a winning combination! The monoliths or Flower Pot rock, whose bases are covered at high tide, are explorable up close on foot at low tide, and uniquely explorable by kayak at high tide. The rock formations are made of conglomerate cemented together by gypsum and limestone and were formed in river deltas from raging torrents flowing down from the ancient Caledonia Mountains over 300 million years ago. Amazingly, they were built up as sediments in monsoon climates, when what is now this part of New Brunswick was at the equator! Stromatolite (Blue-green algae) fossils at the far end of the beach can also be found here. More recently, the beach at the Rocks is also being used by migrating Semipalmated Sandpipers, sometimes in excess of 50 000 at a time, in late July or early August. Coincidentally, it is almost directly across Shepody Bay from the shorebird site at Johnsons Mills.
Links: The Hopewell Rocks
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