Moncton's Tidal Bore: A Self-Guided Walking Tour

The Petitcodiac River has shaped Moncton for at least 2,000 years, and its story is far stranger than most visitors expect. On this walking tour, you'll follow the river from Indigenous portage routes and Acadian rebellion to shipbuilding boomtowns and a causeway that nearly killed the river entirely. Starting at Bore Park, you'll learn how the Bay of Fundy pushes 100 billion tons of water twice daily into the Petitcodiac, sending a visible wave rolling upstream at 13 kilometres an hour. From there, walk riverbanks where Acadian rebels ambushed British soldiers, hear how Mi'kmaq travellers rode the tidal bore in birch bark canoes, and meet Molly Kool North America's first licensed female sea captain, who fought prejudice occasionally by brandishing a lumber log as a weapon. The tour ends back at Bore Park, where the last stand of the tragic Acadian rebel leader Beausoleil comes to a fitting but melancholy end.