Tourism
Cumberland County has an impressive array of world class as well as developing tourism attractions and amenities. The county also serves as the main highway entry point into Nova Scotia with over one million motorists enter the Province through the Amherst entry point each year.
Joggins Fossil Cliffs UNESCO World Heritage Site - Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2008, the magnificently exposed rock layers of the Joggins Fossil Cliffs reveal the world’s most complete fossil record of life in the Carboniferous Period or “Coal Age”. Embedded in the 15 kilometres of coastal cliffs, which are eroded twice a day by the highest tides in the world, rare plant and animal fossils are revealed, preserved where they once lived. The award winning Joggins Fossil Centre offers guided beach tours as well as interactive displays and interpretation about the cliffs and their fossils, as well as a gift shop and a cafe.
Cape Chignecto Provincial Park, Advocate Harbour - Cape Chignecto is a 4200-hectare natural environment park located on a dramatic coastal peninsula in the upper Bay of Fundy. This community managed and operated Park offers the best of both worlds-spectacular coastal hiking and wilderness camping for the more adventurous, and a new day-use park featuring family accessible trails and spectacular coastal scenery from 7 viewing platforms. Features include a 51 kilometer coastal hiking trail, 50+ backcountry campsites, 37 walk-in campsites, wilderness cabins and bunkhouse, beach access, group camping, beach camping for kayakers, picnic areas, Interpretive Centre & Gift shop, and a renewable energy powered Visitor Centre.
Fundy Geological Museum - Located in Parrsboro, Fundy Geological Museum has undergone a major transformation with the opening in October, 2010 of a new permanent exhibit gallery. The interactive exhibit showcases the Fundy Region’s unique geological features. New exhibits provide a range of
experiences for visitors and include: Bay of Fundy Time Machine - a first hand view of the geological history of the Parrsboro area beginning with the ancient supercontinent Pangea; a trackways display showcasing fossil imprints, from insects to dinosaurs; and Big Bowl of Rock Soup– exploring links between geology and Nova Scotia’s cultural heritage. Guided beach tours to various geological sites are offered during the season.
Thinkers’ Lodge National Historic Site, Pugwash – The name Pugwash has been synonymous with Peace throughout the world for more than 50 years. In 1957, at the height of the Cold War, Bertrand Russell invited Pugwash-born, Canadian tycoon Cyrus Eaton to organize a conference bringing together, from east to west, scientists, scholars, and public figures whose collective desire was to diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international politics. Eaton not only agreed to bankroll the conference but offered his Thinkers’ Lodge in Pugwash as an ongoing international base for discussions on nuclear and other security issues. In 1995, this same conference, which traces its origins to a 1955 anti-war manifesto signed by, among others, Albert Einstein, shared the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize with noted British physicist and conference co-founder Sir Joseph Rotblat. In 1960, Eaton was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize by the Soviet Union. Thinkers’ Lodge and the surrounding property was designated a National Historic site in 2008. The site is currently undergoing a major rehabilitation and restoration project.
Each municipal unit offers unique visitor experiences. The Town of Amherst features historic Victorian-era architecture, murals and tree carvings, the Cumberland County Museum and is also a service centre for tourism, providing access to both the Northumberland Shore and Bay of Fundy while functioning as a service centre for accommodations and retail. In addition to the Fundy Geological Museum, Parrsboro is also home to Ship’s Company Theatre, Ottawa House by the sea and emerging tourism surrounding in-stream tidal power; Oxford highlights the wild blueberry and maple industries and recreational fishing; Springhill features the Anne Murray Centre and a rich coal mining history as depicted at the Miners’ Museum; the County of Cumberland also boasts Cape d’Or lighthouse, Age of Sail Heritage Centre, Wallace and Area Museum, and Jost Vineyards, to name a few.
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