Reversing Falls Rapids

The Saint John River meets the Bay of Fundy through a narrow rock gorge in the middle of the city, and because the Fundy tide rises higher than the river level, the flow reverses: at low tide the river pours out through the gorge in rapids, at high tide the sea pushes back upstream in rapids running the other way, and at slack water in between the surface goes calm enough for ships to pass. The full cycle takes about twelve hours. Timing decides everything, and the tourist office publishes the slack, ebb and flood times. Jet boat tours run through the standing waves.

History

The rapids form where the Saint John River squeezes through a narrow gorge over underwater ledges into the Bay of Fundy, whose tides push the water back upstream at high tide - which is why boats have always had to wait for slack water to pass. The gorge has been an industrial site for more than a century: the Canadian Pacific Railway built the Reversing Falls Railway Bridge across it in 1885, replaced in 1922 by the bridge the New Brunswick Southern Railway still uses (Wikipedia, Reversing Falls).

What you'll find

• The reversal - a river running out and then back in through the same gorge.
• The slack window - a calm period between the two directions.
• The rapids - whitewater in both directions at full ebb and flood.
• The jet boat runs - trips through the standing waves in season.

When to go

May to October for the boat tours; the phenomenon happens year-round. Check the published tide times, since arriving at slack water shows nothing at all.

Practical notes

Arriving at the wrong point in the cycle means seeing calm water. The setting is industrial, with a pulp mill beside the gorge, which surprises visitors. The name misleads: these are rapids, not falls.

Nearby

St. Andrews lies west; the Fundy Trail is east.

Key facts