What the Tide Brings In: Moncton's Petitcodiac Walking Tour

The Petitcodiac River has shaped Moncton for at least 2,000 years, and its story is far stranger and more dramatic than most visitors expect. On this walking tour, you'll follow the river from Indigenous portage routes and Acadian rebellion to shipbuilding boomtowns and a causeway that nearly killed the river entirely. You'll also hear how a wave of German settlers, a fearless female sea captain, and a vengeful British colonel all left their mark on this stretch of water.

The tour starts at Bore Park, where you'll learn how the Bay of Fundy – home to the world's highest tides – pushes 100 billion tons of water twice daily into the Petitcodiac, sending a visible wave rolling upstream at 13 kilometres an hour. From there, you'll walk the riverbanks where Acadian rebels once ambushed British soldiers, cross Hall's Creek where 50 German settlers landed in 1766, and pass the Settlers' Landing memorial, which tells their unlikely survival story in English, French, and German. The tour ends back at the Bore Park observation deck, where the last stand of Beausoleil, the tragic Acadian rebel leader who tried to protect his people, comes to a fitting but melancholy end.

On this 60-minute tour, you'll have a chance to:

• Hear how Mi'kmaq travellers rode the tidal bore upstream in birch bark canoes
• Visit Treitz Haus, the city's oldest building, dating to 1769 and likely built with Acadian craftsmanship
• Explore how the river shaped the historic Main Street, from Red Tag sales to a massive explosion
• Learn how Albertite, a mineral found near Hopewell Rocks, led to the invention of kerosene and helped power the city for decades
• Touch the secret hidden memorial to the terrifying 1869 Saxby Gale that nearly destroyed the city
• Meet Molly Kool, North America’s first licensed female sea captain, who fought prejudice with determination - and occasionally by brandishing a lumber log as a weapon

Whether you catch the tidal bore mid-surge or at dead low tide, this tour gives you the full story of a river that has been fought over, neglected, and is now coming back to life.