Hiking Trails of New Brunswick. 3rd ed.

Randall White is the author of Voice of Region: On the Long Journey to
Senate Reform in Canada, Too Good to Be True: Toronto in the 1920s, and
Global Spin: Probing the Globalization Debate.

This is no coffee-table book, but an essential one for novice and experienced hikers alike to examine closely before they set out, and to have with them while sampling New Brunswick parks and trails. The Eiselts, in this, their updated and third edition, set the standards for such a manual. Their detailed descriptions of 116 trails range from the 15-minute jaunt on the tiny Sunbury Shores Nature Trail in St. Andrews to the 58.9-kilometre Dobson Trail, which runs from near Moncton clear to Fundy National Park. For this three-day overnighter they include seven detailed maps plus two photos. In fact, excellent photos are scattered throughout this 327-page gem, including one showing trees felled by beavers on Beaver Trail in Kouchibouguac National Park and a dozen or more of the spectacular scenery to be found along the many trails on Grand Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy. Besides detailed accounts of trails in six regions, the authors have included a 13-page general introduction about where (and why) to hike in New Brunswick and five pages detailing in tabular form the difficulty of each trail, along with the length.

As one who has hiked a few of these trails, I checked out the Eiselts’ description of one my wife and I have traversed many times—the Irving Nature Park—and I can attest, they have missed nothing. This is not to suggest that this study is just a booster for New Brunswick tourism. They tell it like it is, as in this comment about the province’s most remote and largest provincial park, Mount Carleton: “Recent cutbacks have resulted in neglect of some trails in the park, so that some route-finding ability may be required.” They add this warning: “Note that gas and groceries are not available in the park. The nearest services are obtainable in Riley Brook and Saint-Quentin.” A couple of paragraphs on, they describe how to find that lone gas station at Riley Brook.

In summary, this is the New Brunswick hiker’s bible. Don’t leave home without it.