Our spring trip to Fundy National Park was an epic adventure. We were so excited to start hiking that when we arrived Friday evening we started hiking the Coppermine Trail at dusk. It was so dark that we had to get out our flashlights at about the halfway point. When we got to the lookout we could hear the waves below but couldn’t see much. We eventually made it back to the car and returned to our tent for the night.

We started our next day with a goal. I wanted to see Third Vault Falls. This is the largest waterfall in the park and for some reason is the only one I had yet to visit. We parked at the parking lot near the highway and had to walk to the trail from there. The road was still soft from the snowmelt. This added another kilometer to the trip both ways.

The trail itself was snow packed in places and running with water in other places. It wasn’t difficult to get around the snow and water, and the trail soon climbed to slightly higher ground where there was less snow and water. We passed several groups hiking on the trail.

The trail to Third Vault Falls is relatively flat until you start to climb down into the valley near the falls. We climbed down into the valley and soon came to a view of the stream below tumbling over many small waterfalls. At a deeper part of the valley we came to stairs climbing down to the stream. The trail seemed to end at this point.

There wasn’t many signs showing where the trail went from here. There was another couple having lunch at the top of the stairs. They figured they had seen everything and were going to start hiking back. We don’t give up that easy. We hadn’t yet seen the waterfall from the park brochures so we started to make our way down through the stream jumping from rock to rock. There were still deep patches of snow along the stream edge. There was even a small staircase that poked out from under a pile of snow.

We continued a short distance and soon could hear the roar of the falls. We turned a corner at a junction with another stream and there it was. Very impressive and very much worth the extra climb down through the stream. We felt bad for the couple who had turned back. The trail was nice but the waterfall was spectacular.

We took lots of pictures of the falls and then made our hike back to the car. It was still early afternoon. We took a drive into Alma for a bite to eat and then we returned to the park to hike the Matthews Head Trail. We passed many people enjoying the beautiful views. We met a large group of hikers and after a short conversation we found out they were the Moncton Outdoor Enthusiasts Club. The hike along the coast was amazing with lots of coastal views and old red spruce forest. The long climb on the old road back to the parking lot was a bit strenuous after a full day of hiking.

We had one more day after leaving the park so we decided to explore Mary’s Point Nature Preserve and the Crooked Creek Lookout Trails in Riverside Albert. It was another beautiful day and they were a nice way to wind down after our many adventures at the park.