N.B. trail makes National Geographic list of world's best adventure destinations

A trail in northeastern New Brunswick has made National Geographic's list of the 25 best travel destinations in the world for 2022 — the only Canadian destination to win a spot.

The rugged 150-kilometre Sentier Nepisiguit Mi'gmaq Trail — the longest backcountry hiking trail in the Maritimes — follows the Nepisiguit River system from Bathurst, N.B., to Mount Carleton Provincial Park.

It spans a range of landscapes and vistas, from a river delta to the Appalachian Mountain range, and boasts suspended bridges, waterfalls, river rapids, cliff lookouts and endless kayaking and canoeing opportunities.

But the trail's most significant feature may be its millennia-old heritage as a Mi'kmaw migration route.

"For over 10,000 years, the Mi'kmaw people used it as a major migration route," trekking inland to hunt moose and caribou in the winter and back to the coast to fish in the summer, said Jason Grant, trail master for the non-profit Sentier Nepisiguit Mi'gmaq Trail Association, which develops and maintains the trail.

Before European contact, Grant said, these were the major roads to the inland, accessed only by foot or canoe.

"And New Brunswick, with its many rivers and waterways, has multiple portages and ancient Indigenous routes that are still visible to this day," he said.

Grant makes no bones about the fact that he's "a little biased" about the trail's jaw-dropping beauty. But even he was taken aback to hear it had made the "world's best" list.

"It was a total surprise to me," he said in an interview Monday. "I don't think the grassroots volunteers or the original organizers realized it would ever reach National Geographic status. So it's pretty exciting for us."

The Sentier Nepisiguit Mi'gmaq Trail is not a trail to be taken lightly.

At a sprawling 150 kilometres, it is at times a challenging trail that can take up to 12 days from start to finish, with "experienced, hard-core hikers" polishing it off in three or four days, Grant said.

"It takes me six days to hike the trail and I've done it twice," he said.  

There is also no cell service on about 85 per cent of the trail. "So when you're out there, you're really out there," Grant said.  

However, he noted, the trail has plenty to offer novices and casual hikers, as well as day hikers who just want to trek a few kilometres and have a picnic by a waterfall.