I really began falling in love with hiking and spending time in National Parks during the time that I was living in Nova Scotia. I grew up going camping with my family in the summers and enjoyed being outside but living in Nova Scotia is when it really became a hobby and passion. When I moved there for a school co-op term I was living in a small town called Bear River that I highly recommend visiting if you are ever on the Bay of Fundy side of Nova Scotia! Soon after moving I met one of my now best friends who was also there for a co-op work term and we discovered that we both liked hiking. That was really all we needed to hit it off and soon we were spending every weekend we could hiking or exploring a new area. I have a lot of great spots to explore around Digby that I will share one day but for now I’ll just tell you about Kejimkujik National Park, or Keji for short.
My first visit to Keji was a couple of days after visiting Fundy National Park with my mom (you can read about Fundy here). I loved it! There were so many good trails to explore, I was set on hiking as many of them as I could! I ended up returning to Keji six more times and got to experience the end of summer, fall and winter in the park! Here are some of the highlights and ways to explore Kejimkujik!
Hiking is a must (obviously)
Hiking in Keji is great! There are a good number of trails to choose from with varying levels of difficulty and walking around the park is the best way to explore. As a quick overview here are the trails I hiked while visiting!
| Trail Name | Length (km) | Type | Difficulty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grafton Woods | 1.6/loop | Two Loops | Easy | Visited multiple times including in the winter, an easy trail with nice views and boardwalks. |
| Hemlocks and Hardwoods | 5 | Loop | Easy | Beautiful trail through a tall hardwood forest. Walk along a boardwalk for most of the trail which was built to protect the tree roots. Visit while you can as I was told that most of the trees could be gone in the next 15-20 years because of invasive insect species. |
| Mill Falls | 2 (return) | Linear | Easy | This was one of my favourite trails! I hiked it during late summer, fall and winter and the views at the waterfalls were always amazing. The trail can be connected with the Beech Grove trail for a longer hike. |
| Beech Grove | 2.2 | Loop | Moderate (on the easy side) | This trail offers alternative views of Mill Falls and loops through the forest. Another favourite that I did multiple times, even as a trail run once. |
| Mersey River | 3.3 (return) | Linear | Easy | The Mersey River trail follows along the rivers edge offering nice views along the way. It can be connected with the Slapfoot trail which is was I did to take you all the way to Merrymakedge beach! |
| Slapfoot | 6.8 (return) | Linear | Easy | The trail can be accessed from various points and passes by a number of campgrounds, parking lots and view points. |
| Rogers Brook | 1 | Loop | Easy | A quick loop through a maple floodplain. Some areas of the trail can be flooded at times, but this makes for plenty of good spots to look for turtles and waterfowl. |
Explore Kejimkujik at Night
Keji is a dark sky preserve so visiting at night is a must! Star gazing on a clear night is amazing. The park offers lots of great night time programs that are good for all ages. I attended two of them which I would highly recommend, the Dark Sky Experience, and a talk by a traditional Mi’kmaq storyteller. During the dark sky experience I got to look through the telescope and see Saturn which was super cool! They also offer a self guided tour if groups aren’t your thing.
You can find out about current program offerings here.
Water Activities
If hiking isn’t your thing there are plenty of other great ways to spend time in or explore the park! During my first visit we rented kayaks and went kayaking down the Mersey river. You can also rent canoes or stand up paddle boards. Being in the water is also an option! You can a swim at one of the beaches, personally we swam at Merrymakedge beach. We swam in mid September and the water wasn’t even very cold!
Explore Kejimkujik in the winter
Visiting in the winter is a unique experience that I would definitely recommend. The parks facilities (washrooms, visitor centre, campsites) are closed during the winter but you can still visit and go hiking, snowshoeing or cross country skiing! Be sure to check the road conditions before heading out and pack appropriately for the weather.
In the winter I hiked three trails – the Grafton Woods Trail, the Roger’s Brook Trail, and the Mill Falls Trail.
Land Acknowledgement
I would like to acknowledge that Kejimkujik National Park sits on the traditional territories of the Mi’kmaq peoples. I travel with respect in the National Parks knowing that these lands were stolen from those to whom they first and rightfully belonged.
Kejimkujik offers some programs to learn more about Mi’kmaq culture which you can find here.
