Hike Location: Roosevelt Campobello International Park
Geographic Location: on Campobello Island, New Brunswick,
Canada (44.86279, -66.97436)
Length: 6.1 kilometers (or 3.8 miles)
Difficulty: 4/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: July 2019
Overview: A lollipop loop on the west side of Campobello
Island.
Park Information: https://www.rooseveltcampobello.org/
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=759920
Photo Highlight:
Directions to the trailhead: This hike starts at the Campobello
Island Tourist Information Centre located on the east side of the FDR Memorial
Bridge linking New Brunswick’s Campobello Island and Lubec, Maine. Note that although this park is called an
international park, it technically lies in Canada. Thus, Americans coming over the bridge from Lubec
will need a passport to get to the park.
The hike: Located
at the entrance to Passamaquoddy Bay just east of the United States-Canada
border, Campobello Island is best known as the summer retreat of American
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Roosevelt’s family started coming to Campobello Island in 1883 when he
was 1 year old. After he grew up, Roosevelt
continued bringing his own family to this island, and he bought a 34-room
cottage that he visited on occasional summers until 1939. Roosevelt’s cottage still stands on the
northwest corner of the island near the park’s Visitor Centre (NOT the Tourist
Information Centre at this hike’s start), and the cottage is open for tours
daily during the summer. Admission to
the cottage is free, and I found the cottage surprisingly accessible and
interactive when I toured it after my hike.
 |
| Roosevelt's Cottage |
Roosevelt Campobello
International Park was established in 1964, and Roosevelt’s cottage still forms
the park’s centerpiece. Nevertheless,
the park contains 2800 acres of natural areas laced with 11 hiking trails totaling
nearly 14 kilometers. The park’s best
trails lie on its eastern side, which features rocky cliffs along the Atlantic
Ocean. I had done a rocky coastal hike
the previous day at Maine’s Quoddy Head State Park just across the bay from here, so I chose to explore the
park’s lesser-used trails on Campobello’s western side. I had an excellent hike, and I only saw 2
other people on these trails.
 |
| Trailhead at Tourist Information Centre |
The signed
trailhead at the Tourist Information Centre is located downhill from the Centre
in the grassy area between the Centre and the road. The mowed-grass trail heads downhill and to
the west through a meadow area that features some nice wildflowers in the
summer. The trail map calls this route
Trail #7, but no signs on the ground indicate such.
At 0.4
kilometers, you reach the coast of Cobscook Bay at an area called Deep
Cove. The trail curves left to begin
paralleling the bay through a moist environment that features many birch and
pine trees. Some two-plank boardwalk
carries you over the softest ground, but the planks are old. Some of the planks snapped under my substantial weight,
and this boardwalk will need to be rebuilt in the near future.
 |
| Two-plank boardwalk |
The trail
meanders through several steep ravines and crosses the creeks on wooden
footbridges. Unlike the boardwalk, the
bridges seemed brand new: they were probably built the same year I came here. At 1.5 kilometers, a gradual climb brings you
to a meadow area called Fox Farm, the end of Trail #7, and an intersection with
a paved park road. Some restrooms and
picnic tables stand at Fox Farm.
 |
| Entering Fox Farm |
Fox Farm
marks the beginning of the loop portion of this hike. I intended to continue straight on a wide
gravel trail the park map calls Trail #5, thus hiking the loop clockwise. Unfortunately, Trail #5 was closed for
construction on my visit, so I had to walk to the other (south) end of Trail #5
on the park road. From what I have read,
Trail #5 offers a fairly easy woodland walk that also passes along a wetland
area for part of its route.
The south
end of Trail #5 comes out at the park road near the parking lot for the Duck
Islands Trail. This short, narrow spur
trail leads to a bench that offers a fantastic view of Duck Island, a tiny,
rocky, pine tree-covered island that separates Duck Pond from the main waters
of Cobscook Bay. This bench makes a
great place to sit, rest, and have a trail snack near the midpoint of this
hike.
|
| Duck Island |
Continuing west
on the park road, you pass a picnic table at Cranberry Point before reaching
the signed start of the return trail to Fox Farm. Exit the road to the left to begin this
trail, which the park map calls Trail #6.
Trail #6 offers a fairly flat and easy course that stays close to the
shore of Cobscook Bay. Views of the FDR
Memorial Bridge and Lubec, Maine on its other side appear across the bay.
 |
| Looking across Cobscook Bay |
At 4.3
kilometers, the trail comes out at a small picnic area. Walk the gravel picnic area access road
uphill to reach the paved park road, then turn left on the paved park road to
return to Fox Farm and close the loop.
Retrace your steps along Trail #7 to return to the Tourist Information
Centre and complete the hike.
Alternatively, you could walk back on the paved park road, which sees
very little traffic. Make sure you stop
by the park’s Visitor Centre to tour the cottage after your hike if you did not
do so before.
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