Mount Carleton

Mount Carleton reaches about eight hundred and twenty metres, the highest point in the Maritime provinces, in a park of about seventeen thousand hectares of Appalachian upland. The summit is bare rock with a fire tower base and views over lakes and forest to the horizon in every direction. The park was designated a Dark Sky Preserve in 2009, and its remoteness means genuinely dark skies. Mi'kmaq and Maliseet used these highlands for travel and hunting.

What you'll find

• The summit - the highest point in the Maritimes with a bare rock top.
• The dark sky preserve - the province's first, with very low light pollution.
• The lake chain - Nictau, Bathurst and others through the park.
• The Appalachian upland - a landscape closer to New England than the coast.

When to go

June to October for hiking; the park has limited winter access. Autumn colour is excellent and the skies clearest on cold moonless nights. Blackflies are severe in June.

What to expect

There is no cell coverage in the park and rescue is slow. The access road is gravel. Facilities are basic and the nearest services are forty kilometres away.

Nearby

Saint-Quentin lies west; the Miramichi headwaters are east.

Key facts