Grand Falls, New Brunswick, Canada
My wife, stepson and I visited New Brunswick in 2017 to attend a friends wedding. The intention was to camp for the first night before heading into Saint John to save some money.
Shortly after arriving in New Brunswick the weather turned nasty and plans changed from camping to hoteling. It just seemed safer in the middle of a relentless thunderstorm. Later on that evening the clouds broke and the sun came out and with a little prompting from the hotel attendant we decided a quick trip to Grand Falls would be fun. We weren't disappointed. The river was fast moving black water that contrasted beautifully against the rapids and the 80 foot cliffs that towered up on either side. As we worked our way along this incredible gorge we reached the falls that seemed small in comparison to the massive walls that surrounding the river and above that the dam that held back the St. John River and diverted the water through the power generation station.
Later we were told by a local resident that in the spring the dam is opened up to let the winter thaw flow freely down river to Saint John and the Bay of Fundy filling the gorge up with water making this one of the most powerful displays of nature in Canada second only to Niagara Falls.
I did return for a brief visit the following spring when the St. John River was at its highest and I wasn't disappoint. 80 feet of swirling waters that wasn't going to let anything get in the way of reaching the ocean. Enough water to break the banks of the St. John River flooding Fredricton and other small towns along the way.
Absolutely incredible and well worth another visit.
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