I’ve always seen the signs for different scenic drives around New Brunswick, but hadn’t really been intentional about ever actually doing one. With Canada Day coming, I thought it would be a good opportunity to drive up the coast and see an area of NB that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. The most north-eastern point - Miscou Island. I didn’t really know what to expect, and the only thing I really wanted to see at the outset was a pretty church I’d heard about. I was really happy with the outcome. We pretty much just followed the signs!

We didn’t get a very early start and left Moncton around 11:00am. Had to make one pit stop in Shediac to pick up a mug that I’d left at an Air BnB the week before. (Had the chance to practice my French and try to explain myself to a nice family from Montreal :) ). This is the beginning of the Coastal route and the beginning of my day of practicing my French.

I’d driven this section lots before and loved driving by the coast between Shediac and Bouctouche, especially the sections that just have some huge rocks between you and the ocean, like this spot.

PS - GREAT beach at the Dunes in Bouctouche. Check it out!

And so many other beautiful coastal views along the way:

We hit Bouctouche, but didn’t have the time to stop at Le Pays de la Sagouin on our drive, but you could definitely make that a stop! I haven’t been there since my grade 5 field trip! 

After gassing up, we continued up toward Miscou and enjoyed more sights of beautiful “cottages”, little towns and Acadian flags. 

We made a quick pit stop at a beach at Camping de la Dune. It was pretty unpopulated and really pretty. This was really a driving trip and we didn’t stay long at all. 

We searched on Trip Advisor for what would make the best supper stop and then asked a local in Tracadie what she would recommend. By this point we were getting pretty hungry as all we’d eaten were gas station taquitos and gatorade. lol. She suggested Au P’tit Mousse which was a great suggestion, but we will get to that later. 

From Tracadie, we started our hunt for the Church that was my first priority of seeing, but all we had was a map from Instagram. This started our mini “church tour” where we saw three beautiful churches . . .

Thankfully, Miscou is a pretty small place and the second church we looked at was actually the “right” one! 

So cool! The story is pretty cool too and I think they could make a pretty great indie movie out of it. With age, the church started to deteriorate and instead of spending thousands and thousands of dollars to reapair it, the priest who worked there at the time (Reverend Gérard d’Astous) took it upon himself to transform the aging wood into a beautiful and eclectic work of art. 

Each section speaks to a different part of the story between God and humanity. The priest’s work of redemption on the church mirrors the work of God’s redemption in humanity. 

From here, we quickly stopped at our third church to grab a pic, before heading out to grab some supper! 

It was clear this was a favourite spot as the place was hopping! I loved the combo options and we got a couple combos to share. It was pretty delicious and the price was pretty great too. I’d definitely go back. Listen, can you get more east coast than this? Poutine, garlic fingers (did you know Pizza Delight “invented” them?), and fresh clams!

 It looks like there are a few other cool places around too. I wish we could have checked out La Terrasse a Steve or the Guardian Cafe at the lighthouse. If you have a favourite spot, share it in the comments! 

After eating, we headed out to the lighthouse! 

By the time we got here, it was around 6:30, so things were starting to shut down, but they have a cafe and a gift shop there and there’s a nice beach with frigid water that a couple people were brave enough to swim in. 

The day was closing in on us at this point, but we wanted to make two more stops! We went for a quick walk on Miscou Island Beach and then headed out to try to catch Pokeshaw Rock before it got too dark. I was getting scared to travel back at dusk and sure enough, we saw two moose behind the highway fence!

And we actually made it there for sunset!  

There’s a nice lookout to get a good shot. We were a little jealous of the kayakers enjoying a sunset paddle. :) Maybe I’ll try that next time! 

By the time we headed back, it was around 9:30 so we knew we were going to miss the fireworks in Moncton. We were sad about that, but had an awesome day of adventuring! 

But we weren’t quite done yet, true to its reputation, we did have a close call with a mama moose and her calf on the way back on the 15.  Thankfully we saw them in time! I recommend ending your road trip before dusk! 

P.S. I know we missed a lot along the way, comment below and let me know where your favourite place is to stop!

Happy driving!