Hiking NB

Description

The old road at the start of the trail is not maintained but is in pretty good shape. If you have a vehicle with good clearance. Walk or drive back this road for 574 metres and you will find an older crossover road on your left. If you drove back this far park your car someplace that won't block ATV traffic.

Follow this side road for 336 meters and you will come to another road that is blocked to ATV traffic by logs. Turn right on this road and continue for another 477 meters to the next junction in the road. This section of the road travels through a clearcut (cut in 2020). At the next junction keep right once again. You will continue through the clearcut, first on the right, and then on the left. Not long after the cut (1.3 kilometres from the last junction) you will come to a long narrow clearing along the road. Just before this clearing on the left you will find a deep dug ATV trail that leads down to the falls.

Be cautious on the climb down to the falls. It's quite steep with loose gravel on the ATV trail. Once you start to climb down the hill you will soon see the falls.

The falls are impressive and unique. They tumble 21 metres (69 feet) down over a series of steps cut out of the angled rock. Each step is cut across with cracks that spread out the falls across the rock face. This make it interesting to explore at low flow levels. We have seen crayfish using these cracks to climb the falls. The falls will look completely different depending on how much water is flowing. It is possible to climb up to the top of the falls on the right. There is also a nice pool at the bottom for swimming but don't hang around in the shallows at the edge because we have seen leeches.

Caution: make sure you take the first crossover road at 574 metres on the left. A lot of people miss it and then get lost and don't find the falls. It is possible to get to the falls if you continue on the long straight road, but it's the long way around. If you do miss the first crossover road, continue for another 2.4 kilometres to the first major road junction. Turn left at the junction and walk another 750 metres where you will find another road on the left. Turn left on this road. After about 1 kilometre on this road look for an ATV trail entering the woods on the right. This should be the steep ATV trail that takes you down to the bottom of the falls.

Directions

Take the Nackawic exit on Route 2 between Fredericton and Woodstock and head towards Nackawic. Cross the large bridge over the St. John River and continue straight. After a few minutes you will pass a Robin's Donuts and Irving Gas Station. You will then start to go down a large hill to a second smaller bridge. Cross this bridge and continue along the river for another 7.9 km. You will find a small white church (First Revival Pentecostal Church) on your left.

If you come up Route 105 from the direction of Mactaquac continue 30.9 km past the main gate (golf course access) at Mactaquac Park. The small white church will be on your right.

From the church travel back towards Nackawic for 300 metres and you will find a long, straight dirt road (old Lower Caverhill Road) that is quite grown in on the same side of the road as the church. This is the start of the trail.

Warning

Note: These falls and their access are on private land. There is a no trespassing sign on the second junction of the trail to keep out ATV's. The landowner allows hikers to access the waterfall but they ask that you keep the site clean and not have bonfires. Please help show the landowner that the hiking community cares by following these simple rules. We do not want to lose access to such a beautiful place.

Blog Post

• July 23, 2014 - Top 5 Swimming Waterfalls

Other Trails in the Area

• Nackawic Nature Trail
• Big Pokiok Nature Park Trails
• Howland Falls (Bear Island)
• Mactaquac Provincial Park
• Friendship Trail (Millville)

External Links

• Waterfalls of New Brunswick - Coac Falls

Trail Last Hiked: February 9, 2020.

Page Last Updated: March 4, 2023.