Massachusetts to Newfoundland Road Trip (Spring/Summer 2024)

[DailyMoparGuy]

This is probably a shot in the dark, but this thread aimed at any forum members from Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, or Newfoundland….or if you have travel experience in these locations in general.

My wife and I are planning an epic 2 week(ish) road trip from Massachusetts to Newfoundland next year. Right now, the trip is being planned based on ChatGPT and google recommendations. Currently, we have plans to stop at the following locations:

1) Acadia National Park, Maine (US)

2) Baxter State Park. Specifically Mt. Katahdin, Maine (US)

3) Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Nova Scotia (CA)

4) Gros Morne National Park of Canada, Newfoundland (CA)

Bonus spot, as a solid maybe is Gaspesie National Park, Quebec (CA)

In summary, what am I missing? What are some MUST SEE spots near this route that could be recommended, if any?

Edit: Forgot to add that I’m a bit of a history buff. I love English-American history, so any cool museums/memorials/monuments/landmarks would be greatly appreciated.

cheers and thanks in advance ?

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[toddarama]

Visit St John's while you are in Newfoundland. Quaint seaside area with outstanding views, historic lighthouses, Signal Hill ...lots of stuff along those lines. The trip advisor page actually has some decent recommendations: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...7-Newfoundland_Newfoundland_and_Labrador.html

and here is the official Newfoundland and Labrador tourism site bucket list: https://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/trip-ideas/travel-stories/top-10-bucket-list-items-nl

 

[DailyMoparGuy]

Visit St John's while you are in Newfoundland. Quaint seaside area with outstanding views, historic lighthouses, Signal Hill ...lots of stuff along those lines. The trip advisor page actually has some decent recommendations: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...7-Newfoundland_Newfoundland_and_Labrador.html

and here is the official Newfoundland and Labrador tourism site bucket list: https://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/trip-ideas/travel-stories/top-10-bucket-list-items-nl

Thank you very much. We’re definitely adding these to the list!

 

[Cape taco12]

Hi from MA myself!

We vacation to Maine a couple times a year. Your right Acadia is a #1 must see spot! Catch the sunrise on Cadillac mountain. Beehive & precipice trails are cliff scaling with incredible views but prone to closures during peak times due to bird nesting (check before you go.)

If you’re already planning on going to Baxter it could be worth the trip to the trains in the woods. It’s a couple hours down logging roads in the great northern wilderness to the parking area. On the way in we saw a black bear, moose and tons of other wildlife. Then bushwhack to the trains. Really cool they are miles from the nearest sign of civilization. I can give you more info if you need it. Good Jeep trip. Drive slow or make sure your spare tire is ready.

Also the B52 crash site near Moosehead Lake is very interesting. The logging roads do connect to the area of Baxter. that was part of our loop home from a trip from the trains. Probably 3-4hrs from the trains however.

For any of those trips download googlemaps to offline mode as there is no service at all. (If that’s your usual navigation system.) Also buy a hard copy up to date Maine Gazetteer and Atlas that should have the best maps including logging roads on it.

LL Bean in Freeport is 24-7 if you’re a late night road tripper like me. Always stop there and walk the Dog around the store at 3am after leaving the cape

Moosehead Lake in general is cool. Highlights are Mt. Kineo is a fun easy hike with a ferry ride and bar/golf course at the bottom.

It’s not near your trip outline but the Flagstaff lake area has awesome history (Benedict Arnold and a flooded town) and some of the best hiking in Maine along the bigelow range. The free state campsites at round barn is my favorite. Most sites are in the lake. One of the sites is an island you can walk to depending on the water level it’s usually waist high. It’s at one of the trailheads to Avery mountain which is a one of the 4K footers.

 

[Cape taco12]

Be sure to update this with your findings. I would love to see new places to go!

 

[Cape taco12]

Based on your map routing hard to tell in the photo looks like your ending at Baxter? If that’s so traveling home from Baxter via the logging roads to B-52 Memorial and out thru Greenville Moosehead would probably only add an hour to travel time not including stopping at the site depending where home is for you. A bit bumpy but great scenery.

 

[DailyMoparGuy]

Be sure to update this with your findings. I would love to see new places to go!

Will do. Thank you for all of the recommendations!

 

[460Cobra]

Try the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath Maine. Very interesting place and exhibits.

 

[balakachai]

Baxter likely out of the route
Start from MA - Acadia NP
Winslow Memorial Park, Maine - fantastic location for an overnight camp on the water and very close the border
Border crossing at Calais, ME
From here - the major area on your way to Cape Breton is the Bay of Fundy and Fundy National Park - Quaco / St Martin's in New Brunswick would be very good places to camp and explore
A wonderful detour (from Fundy, before Cape Breton) is to Prince Edward Island - Cavendish Campground is a wonderful place (many others by the water on the island generally) - spectacular seafood (particularly Richard's Seafood in York PEI for the best lobster sandwich you're going to find anywhere)
In Cape Breton, camping is plentiful - the NP campgrounds fill out faster but Cheticamp is a good base of operations on the West; do not miss going to Meat Cove on the northern part of the island (where you can also find hard-to-get camping on the water)


This video highlights many of the goodies

Good luck - New Brunswick, PEI, and Cape Breton are wonderful places and you can't go wrong generally speaking; take it slow

 

[Enduro800]

Don't forget the Hopewell Rocks
If you are near Sussex New Brunswick there's a little town north called Knightsville, there's a restaurant there called Giermindl's Old Bavarian really good food.

 

[smlobx]

If you like history consider going to The Citadel in Halifax. A lot of history and a great view of the town and Harbor. They have period reanactors (sp?) that bring history to life. There is a section in the building dedicated to Canadian efforts in WW2 that was very interesting to me.

https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/ns/halifax/visit

The harbor in Halifax has several old ships that have been restored and you can go on. Very neat.

 

[DailyMoparGuy]

Baxter likely out of the route
Start from MA - Acadia NP
Winslow Memorial Park, Maine - fantastic location for an overnight camp on the water and very close the border
Border crossing at Calais, ME
From here - the major area on your way to Cape Breton is the Bay of Fundy and Fundy National Park - Quaco / St Martin's in New Brunswick would be very good places to camp and explore
A wonderful detour (from Fundy, before Cape Breton) is to Prince Edward Island - Cavendish Campground is a wonderful place (many others by the water on the island generally) - spectacular seafood (particularly Richard's Seafood in York PEI for the best lobster sandwich you're going to find anywhere)
In Cape Breton, camping is plentiful - the NP campgrounds fill out faster but Cheticamp is a good base of operations on the West; do not miss going to Meat Cove on the northern part of the island (where you can also find hard-to-get camping on the water)


This video highlights many of the goodies

Good luck - New Brunswick, PEI, and Cape Breton are wonderful places and you can't go wrong generally speaking; take it slow

Thank you! We’ll definitely be considering these.

 

[DailyMoparGuy]

Try the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath Maine. Very interesting place and exhibits.

Thank you!

 

[DailyMoparGuy]

Don't forget the Hopewell Rocks
If you are near Sussex New Brunswick there's a little town north called Knightsville, there's a restaurant there called Giermindl's Old Bavarian really good food.

Ah yes, I saw Hopewell Rocks recommended by a travel site.

Thanks for the restaurant recommendation as well!

 

[DailyMoparGuy]

If you like history consider going to The Citadel in Halifax. A lot of history and a great view of the town and Harbor. They have period reanactors (sp?) that bring history to life. There is a section in the building dedicated to Canadian efforts in WW2 that was very interesting to me.

https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/ns/halifax/visit

The harbor in Halifax has several old ships that have been restored and you can go on. Very neat.

Sweet, thank you. This all looks very interesting, especially going into the restored ships.

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