Prince Edward Island National Park

The park runs along about sixty kilometres of the island's north shore in three sections, protecting red sandstone cliffs, barrier dunes and the salt marsh behind them. The sandstone is soft and iron-rich, which is why the cliffs are red and why they retreat by up to a metre a year in places; storms visibly rearrange the shore. Greenwich has a rare parabolic dune system with a floating boardwalk across a pond to reach it. The beaches are among the warmest north of the Carolinas because the Gulf of St. Lawrence shallows warm through summer. Piping plovers nest here and sections close for them.

What you actually see

• The red cliffs - iron-rich sandstone eroding visibly year on year.
• The Greenwich dunes - a parabolic dune system with a floating boardwalk.
• The warm water - gulf beaches that heat well through summer.
• The piping plovers - endangered birds nesting on closed beach sections.

When to go

June to September for warm water and full services; the park is open year-round but facilities close. Plover nesting restricts beach sections from spring into summer.

Honest expectations

Cliff erosion is fast and edges are unstable, with fencing in places. Beach sections close for nesting birds without much notice. Jellyfish appear in some late summers.

Nearby

Green Gables lies inland; Charlottetown is south.