Between Montreal and Quebec City is the beginning of the St Lawrence Estuary, near the city of Trois-Rivières. (One of the dozen tributaries here has islands at its mouth, making it look like three rivers). The UNESCO Biosphere includes this large wetland lake and many islands in the seaway and tributaries, making it an excellent site for birds. Its great blue heron rookery is quite famous, but may be difficult to access. I chose to visit the Ecological Park of Anse du Port, because it has a very long boardwalk out through the wetland all the way to the lake, with a three story viewing platform to view container ships passing in the main channel. From the boardwalk, I saw several great blue heron, two beaver, a raccoon, a woodpecker, ducks (above), bittern, and a half dozen other types of birds. Binoculars or a telephoto lens camera would be helpful, but sometimes the birds come quite close.
Between Lake Champlain New York and Lac Saint-Pierre Quebec is tiny Lac Hertel (above) in the Gault Nature Reserve of McGill University in this UNESCO Biosphere. The hills are covered in Sugar Maple, Beech and Hemlock, some of which are hundreds of years old, plus some other species that have become quite rare recently. Being close to Montreal, the hiking trails were busy, so I didn’t see much wildlife besides ducks and geese. But there are bats, beavers, red foxes, grass snakes and turtles, among others. Advance, timed entry tickets are required, and there are well developed trails, boardwalks, picnic areas and camp sites. Very pretty nature reserve in the middle of a rural farming river valley.
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, the three provinces known as the Maritimes, have three world heritage sites and three biospheres recognized by UNESCO. Well, almost all the sites are in Nova Scotia, but I enjoyed driving around all three provinces.
With plenty of great seafood, hiking, Celtic & Acadian culture, wildlife, history and miles of picturesque coastline, this region is highly rewarding for travelers, especially an electric road tripper. With a CCS adapter and the ChargeHub app, it’s not difficult to explore the entire region and well worth the drive.
World Heritage Sites
Grand Pré conveys the tragic history of the British expulsion of the Acadians. The landscape is lovely, and be sure to try the Tidal Bay local wine in a coastal town like Wolfville home to Acadia University.
Joggins Fossil Cliffs reveals an impressive geologic record of the coal age. Take a hard hat tour at low tide and find fossils.
Lunenburg is a beautiful, well-preserved seafaring and fishing port. Spend the night and eat all the local seafood you can.
Biospheres
Bras d’Or Lake is open to the sea through small channels making it an important fish and bird habitat. Try a local restaurant and maybe listen to some Cape Breton fiddle at a céilidh (kay-lee).
Fundy has the world’s largest tides with dramatic coastline, shorebirds and forests. The biosphere is on the New Brunswick side of the bay around the eponymous national park.
Southwest Nova protects many species, including the piping plover and blanding’s turtle. The biosphere has both a coastal and a forest component with plenty of hiking.
Bonus: Green Gables is home to LM Montgomery and her beloved characters. Prince Edward Island is the smallest province but very charming.
New Brunswick also has Kouchibouguac and Fundy National Parks, plus Campobello. Nova Scotia has Kejimkujik and Cape Breton Highlands National Parks. And Prince Edward Island has the new Pituamkek and Prince Edward Island National Parks.
Bras d’Or Lake Biosphere Region is the brackish waters and surrounding land that takes up much of the middle of Cape Breton Island in northeast Nova Scotia. The ‘Golden Arm’ lake area is famed for beauty, boating and seafood. There are many narrow channels dividing the lake restricting the tides which are extreme in the surrounding area, and several rivers reduce the salt content. Above is the Little Narrows cable ferry.
Alexander Graham Bell lived and worked here for many years, and his family still own his beautiful home on the lake. Among many inventions, he designed a hydrofoil that broke the world speed record here in 1919, and it can be seen at his historic site in Baddeck. I enjoyed a day here exploring and admiring the views. Many folks venture up into the highlands on the Cabot Trail or attend ceilidhs (‘kayleez’) to listen to Gaelic music. I enjoyed a couple fine seafood meals and some good local music in Baddeck.
For 2026, I resolve to complete all UNESCO sites in half of Canada’s provinces, make a third road trip to Mexico, find even more national monuments and recreation areas in the US, and drive to southeast Alaska. Logistical challenges and new site designations may thwart my plans, but I will do my best.
Weekly Monday posts will continue to be a new visit. Thursdays will still be sporadic summaries and viewpoints. The first Saturday of each month will be park recommendations. And mid-month on Saturdays I will highlight a climate issue. Hope you have a happy New Year!
UNESCO recognized Lunenburg Nova Scotia for being a well-preserved example of a British planned town, including many lovely, colorful historic buildings. I think that’s missing the point. The town was a success due to its natural harbor, grew quickly and earned its fine buildings by fishing and trade during the age of sail. Plenty of other towns have grid streets and colorful Victorian architecture. But the beauty of the place is its harbor, where two large sailing ships were docked when I arrived. One, the Picton Castle, is a training ship (in background above), and the other is the Bluenose II (foreground), a replica of one of the fastest fishing sailboats in the world. The Bluenose won 5 consecutive world fishing ship races during the 1920s and 30s, before being lost in the Caribbean in the 40s.
If landlubbers come here to see an old church and some other old buildings, then they’re missing the best of Lunenburg. Sit by the harbor and watch the boats. Eat some locally caught seafood in one of the many harborside restaurants. Go to the maritime museum and learn about fishing during the age of sail. My hotel room had a view of tall ship masts to help me dream of adventures, and I caught the Bluenose II on its way out to sea early in the morning, below. This is one of my favorite places to visit.
UNESCO chose to emphasize the land reclaimed by the Acadians, but the emotional power of the place is conveyed in Longfellow’s epic poem, Evangeline. The British, often at war with their rivals the French, gathered up thousands of neutral Acadian civilians, many whose families had lived in Nova Scotia (and nearby areas) for a hundred years, loaded them on ships and forcibly deported them to France and various colonies. The Grand Dérangement began in 1755, lasted 9 years, deported over 80% of the 14,000 Acadians, and 5,000 of those died due to shipwrecks, disease and starvation. A cross marks the spot where families were loaded into small boats, often separated, and taken on the dramatic tides out to ships in the bay.
The land is important too. The British certainly wanted control of the productive farming land that the Acadians had reclaimed from the sea using a remarkable system of dykes and aboiteaux or sluice gates. Tens of thousands of acres of farmland lies below high tide here, drained by one way gates in massive 17th century dykes. The replacement English speaking settlers, many from New England, maintained the dykes, and today’s warming climate allows vineyards on the surrounding hills. My cousin kindly showed me a working sluice gate, now operated remotely, and we walked along one of the dykes, appreciating the innovation and contemplating the rich red mud cut in deep channels.
Through our inaction on carbon pollution, we cause the sea to rise and claim our productive land. We cause hundreds of millions to be displaced, forcing refugees to move inland. We cause huge economic costs and more deaths due to disease, heat, pollution, starvation and storms.
It is easy today to say that the British were wrong to deport the Acadians. Yes we must admit that we’re committing a far worse global atrocity through our indifference to our carbon emissions.
Much of southern Nova Scotia belongs to this UNESCO Biosphere, and the at the center is Kejimkujik Lake, historic site and national park above. My cousin was instrumental in gaining early recognition for the area’s exceptional starlight and dark skies, making it a great place to stargaze. The visitor center has a couple beautiful birchbark canoes and exhibits on the First Nation people who have lived in the area since time immemorial.
Due to extreme fire conditions, the backcountry was closed during my visit, but a few lakeside trails were open. The lake was low, the air and forest dry, but the day was lovely and quiet. The climate change is even more visible to the north, and there were many fires burning in Newfoundland in September. The national park includes a seaside section on the southeast coast with nesting piping plovers on a (closed) beach from April to September, but the biosphere covers far more land, outside the core park, from Yarmouth to both southwest and southeast Nova Scotia.
This UNESCO Biosphere Reserve is in New Brunswick Canada, although the Bay of Fundy is also formed by Nova Scotia to the east. The photo is from the north end at Fort Beauséjour looking south towards where the water comes rushing in with the highest tides in the world. The shape of the bay both funnels the water and creates oscillation that magnifies the tidal surge. The tide is fairly low at this time but already covering some of the vast mudflats that attract thousands of shorebirds, especially sandpipers in mid summer that bulk up on mud shrimp to fly to South America.
Due to the silty water, tidal power has not been harnessed here yet. The Acadians built aboiteaux or sluice gates and dykes here to reclaim some of the nutrient-rich salt marsh land for the fields below. The star fort was taken by the British during one of their conflicts with the French, played a role in the expulsion of the Acadians, and was successfully defended against the Patriots during the American Revolution. But I visited the Bay of Fundy mainly to see the tides, and one of the few places in the world that you can actually see the tide rising is where the rivers empty into the bay. I watched the tidal bore come in near Maitland Nova Scotia, creating waves as the tide forced its way up river.
This is a model of the Gemeinhaus or community house of the Moravians in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, built between 1741 and 1743. The model is inside the original building, the largest 18th century log structure in continuous use in the US. There are several Moravian buildings from the same period in the historic district in Bethlehem, including housing for men and women, a pump house—the first municipal water system in the US—, a chapel, and a tavern, and all are now recognized as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site that includes similar Moravian sites in the Denmark, Germany and the UK. Their school buildings are now part of Moravian University here.
The Moravians, a Protestant sect that predated Martin Luther, originally came from Moravia, now the Czech Republic, but their prime benefactor was a Saxon (German), Count von Zinzendorf, so their Bible is in old, low German. They created settlements around the world in order to do Missionary work, and in Pennsylvania, they were famous for their hospitality, music and for their early efforts to learn Native American languages and hold peaceful conferences with both native and colonial leaders.
The Gemeinhaus was multifunctional, especially before other buildings were finished, and one use was as an inn. The knowledgeable docent led me into the large simple chapel on the second floor, a music room with various instruments that predate the famed Bach Choir of Bethlehem, and explained various exhibits with original items, including fine silk needlework, kitchen items and more. While many of the later buildings are still in use by the University and as housing, the core building’s remarkable preservation makes this is an exceptional way to step back over 250 years into colonial, and early American history. But also walk around the fascinating historic town, which includes an 18th century Native American house.
But my favorite building is the Sun Inn tavern from 1758, where George & Martha Washington stayed, Sam Adams drank ale, and an impressively long list of revolutionaries met over many years. It seems likely to me that Ben Franklin would have met members of the Iroquois Confederacy here, along with Moravian translators, inspiring him to incorporate their ideas into his design of our US democracy which balanced the needs of both the states and the country. There’s no better way to experience history than to raise a glass to our founders in one of their favorite drinking establishments!
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