Miscou Island

Miscou sits at the far tip of the Acadian Peninsula where the Gulf of St. Lawrence meets Chaleur Bay, joined to the mainland by a bridge since 1996. Much of the island is raised peat bog, and a boardwalk runs into one of them; in autumn the sphagnum and shrubs turn deep red and orange, which is the island's most photographed feature. Wild blueberries and cranberries grow on the bogs and are harvested commercially. The wooden lighthouse of 1856 is one of the oldest surviving wooden light towers in the province and can be climbed. Peat is still cut on the island for horticultural use.

History

Jacques Cartier explored the area in 1534, when Basque fishermen also used it as a base, a Jesuit mission was set up at Miscou Harbour in 1634, and the name comes from the Mi'kmaq Susqu, low land or boggy marsh; Indigenous hunters camped on the island each year despite their fear of the legendary GouGou monster. The first permanent settler was John Campbell from Scotland, around 1817, followed by fishermen from Jersey and Guernsey who dried cod at the north tip for Europe and by Acadians on the farmland inland; on 28 April 1939 Vladimir Kokkinaki, flying non-stop from Moscow to New York, made an emergency landing here, and the bridge to Lamèque opened in 1996 (Wikipedia, Miscou Island).

The landscape

• The autumn bog - peatland turning crimson and orange in September and October.
• The bog boardwalk - a walkway into a raised peat bog with interpretation.
• The 1856 lighthouse - an early wooden tower open to climb.
• The peat harvest - commercial cutting still worked on the island.

When to go

Late September and October for the bog colour, which is the reason to make the trip; June to August for beaches and birds. Winter is severe and exposed.

What to expect

It is a very long drive to the end of the peninsula. Services on the island are minimal. The bog colour window is a few weeks and weather-dependent.

Nearby

Caraquet lies south; the Village Historique Acadien is beyond it.

Key facts