Local Attractions
Beaubears Island Interpretive Centre features a community collection of memorabilia, artifacts and photographs pertaining to original and European settlement and shipbuilding in the Miramichi, particularly Beaubear's Island. Guided historic tours are launched by boat to nearby Beaubear's Island National Historic Site.
Experience the ancient Mi'Kmaq culture at Metepenagiag Heritage Park where you can hear music, stories and view historic Mi'kmaq ceramic pottery and archeological finds presented from the Augustine Mound and Oxbow National Historic Sites.
The Miramichi Folk Song Festival is the longest standing festival in Canada celebrating authentic, traditional and contemporary music, starting on New Brunswick Day each year. Breakfast, open air concert, noon luncheons with live music and children's shows. Days of wonderful folk music and a special multicultural night.
Enjoy natural wonder as you stroll along one of many walking trails of French Fort Cove. The site includes nature, cultural and industrial interpretation and outdoor recreation, including the "Dare the Dark for the Headless Nun" interpretative walking tour. Not to be missed!
Ritchie Wharf Park is the location of the tourist information center, historic Murray House, shops and restaurants along with a nautically themed playground and boardwalk. Local entertainment is featured in the amphitheatre.
Boishébert and Beaubears Island Shipbuilding National Historic Sites of Canada, J. Leonard O'Brien Memorial is a truly remarkable, untouched treasure of early settlement and shipbuilding in the 18th and 19th centuries. The island features a forest trail system, historic ruins, monuments and picnic facilities that allow visitors to experience the natural beauty of the island. Beaubear's Island is accessible only by boat.
Canada's Irish Festival is an annual celebration of music, culture, heritage and family through song, dance and cultural workshops. From open-air concerts, to music workshops, to family reunions, it is a premiere event that is not to be missed. Workshops are conducted dancing, genealogy, folklore, history, literature and the New Brunswick Archives.
Visit the Miramichi's heritage houses including Beaverbrook House, MacDonald Farm Historic Site and WS Loggie Cultural Centre. Plan a tour of MacDonald Farm Historic Site for a look back to life in the early 1820's.
Middle Island was the gateway of Irish immigration to the region in the early 19th century. Now a causeway-connected Historical Park, this beautiful island has walking trails and a popular swimming beach.
Seamen's Hospital National Historic Site was built in 1830 to service the needs of mariners from abroad. Events range from "fiddle-do's" every Wednesday night, the annual Strawberry Festival, to piano recitals.
Regional Attractions
Acadian Historical Village (Village Historique Acadien), on Hwy 11, 130 kilometres (83 miles) and an hour and a quarter drive north of Governor's Mansion, re-creates settlements of French-speaking Acadians, New Brunswick's "marsh settlers", from 1770 to 1937. Some 50 buildings, transported to the site and restored, are authentic Acadian structures including houses, a chapel, a school, a general store, a printing house, a cobbler's shop, a smithy, a gristmill, a tavern, a cooper's shop and a tinsmith's shop. Demonstrations of Acadian lifestyle and crafts are presented by interpreters in period costumes and many customs of early day are re-enacted.
The Irving Eco-Centre "La dune de Bouctouche" was developed to preserve and restore one of the few remaining great sand dunes on the northeastern coastline of North America. At the same time the centre provides opportunities for visitors to learn more about the dune and its ecology. Located on Hwy 11, 100 kilometers (60 miles) and a one-hour drive south of Governors's Mansion.
Kouchibouguac National Park, is a unique ecosystem of sandy barrier islands on the Northumberland Strait, off Hwy 11, 70 kilometres (42 miles) and a 45-minute drive south of Governor's Mansion. The park is an intricate blend of coastal barrier islands and inland habitats where beaches, sand dunes, salt marshes, shallow lagoons, bogs, rivers, forests and fields all help shape the way of life in this corner of "l'Acadie".