Kejimkujik National Park

Kejimkujik is the only place in the Parks Canada system designated both a national park and a National Historic Site, and the reason is cultural: the Mi'kmaq have used these waterways for thousands of years, and slate outcrops along the lakeshores carry hundreds of petroglyphs, images of people, animals, canoes and later ships and writing, made over centuries. They are fragile and shown only on guided walks with Mi'kmaq interpreters. The park is a Dark Sky Preserve, with canoe routes linking the lakes on the old travel corridors. A separate seaside section on the Atlantic protects piping plover beaches.

History

The name is officially translated as tired muscles, perhaps after long canoe journeys, while Parks Canada follows Mi'kmaw knowledge holders who derive it from Kejimkuji'jk, little fairies, and before the park Kejimkujik Lake was called Fairy Lake. For thousands of years the Mi'kmaq travelled these waters between the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic, coming up the Mersey River to hunt the caribou that moved inland in autumn and to take eels at weirs, and around 500 petroglyphs on the slate of the eastern lakeshore, dated to the 1700s and 1800s, show canoes, wigwams and caribou alongside sailing ships, horses and women in dresses (Wikipedia, Kejimkujik National Park).

What you'll find

• The petroglyphs - Mi'kmaq carvings on lakeside slate, seen on guided walks.
• The canoe routes - waterways used as travel corridors for millennia.
• The dark sky preserve - one of the better star sites in the Maritimes.
• The seaside adjunct - a separate coastal section with plover beaches.

When to go

June to October for canoeing and guided petroglyph walks, which run on a limited schedule; the park is open in winter for skiing. Blackflies are heavy in June.

Good to know

Petroglyphs are only accessible on guided tours with limited places, and photography is restricted. The seaside section is a separate drive of over an hour. Campsites book ahead.

Nearby

Annapolis Royal lies northwest; Liverpool is southeast.

Key facts