Getting to know Fredericton by water and trail
by Darcy Rhyno
It’s said that Fredericton has a wild side. To fully appreciate it, I head to Second Nature Outdoors (secondnatureoutdoors.com), the riverside outlet that rents bicycles, ebikes, kayaks, canoes, and stand-up paddleboards. Alexi Roy is assigned to take me on a bike tour this morning. He’s one of their customer experience officers. “The abbreviation is CEO, so it’s a big role,” he jokes. He does take on pretty well anything thrown at him. Canoe outings are his favourite, but today, he’s perfectly happy to lead a 15-kilometre bicycle tour.
With big parks and endless trails beside the Wolastoq (Saint John) River, Fredericton is renowned for its outdoor activities. Some 45 kilometres of bike lanes and 39 kilometres of bike routes criss-cross the city. Fredericton’s 120-kilometre trail system extends on both sides of the river. Of those, 21 kilometres are paved and accessible for wheelchairs and all bicycles. The river, meandering past the downtown, is a scenic and watery playground for paddlers.
We set off along the paved trail between the Wolastoq River and the urban core, eventually crossing the river on the old Fredericton Railway Bridge, now the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge. It’s a stately, old truss bridge with new decking and great views of the downtown framed through its steel struts. On the far side, we follow the trail beside the Nashwaak River, a tributary of the Wolastoq River. When I stop to take photos, I spot a couple of deer. Roy fills me in on the animals and birds that live along these trails. “We have eagles and osprey,” he says. “We had one eagle flying around yesterday. He did a few laps. In the water, we have beavers, and I see river otters quite frequently.”
Five kilometres inland, we emerge from riverside forest into Marysville, a fascinating national historic site. It was once an entirely self-contained mill town that businessman Alexander Gibson, AKA Boss Gibson, bought and greatly expanded in the mid 19th century. He named his mill town after his wife and daughter who shared the same first name. We ride past the four-storey, former cotton mill, now an office building, shops, and dozens of workers’ homes, almost all of them made of brick, giving the now-residential area a neighbourhood feel.
We head down the Nashwaak, along the Wolastoq and back to Second Nature. I’m almost ready for my next adventure, but before I set out again, I need refreshment. Roy recommends the coffee at the onsite Lady Dipper Cafe, but he adds that he tries something different every day. I go for the tropical twist smoothie and take a seat on a bench until it’s time to paddle.
Photo Credit: Darcy Rhyno
Danika Bridgeman fits me with lifejacket and paddle. We carry the canoe to the water and set off across the river, the guide navigating from the stern. She points us into a smaller tributary than the Nashwaak. It’s called the Nashwaaksis Stream and enters the Wolastoq River at a wide wetland, then squeezes through a residential area before winding its way into a park. It’s narrow enough that huge, old trees lean over it, their upper branches sometimes forming a canopy, dappling light across the still waters.
As we paddle those waters, a movement catches my eye. A bald eagle lifts from a branch and glides upstream away from us. It takes me a moment to mouth words of astonishment to Bridgeman. She’s less surprised, saying that eagles are common along the stream where they fish. I think of what Alexi Roy told me about all the wildlife he spots in Fredericton’s wild places. When we round the next bend, there’s the eagle again, and once again it lifts and glides out of sight. We spot the eagle three times before it tires of the game and disappears above the canopy.
We paddle deeper, reaching further into Fredericton’s north shore. This feels nothing like a city, even when we drift past backyards of residents lucky enough to live beside this shaded, little stream. By the time we head back downstream, I’m ready to claim status as an honourary local. After cycling and paddling into the heart of Fredericton, I might even buy one of those “I heart” T-shirts and refer to the city by its nickname: I heart Freddy!
