The Joggins Fossil Cliffs in Nova Scotia are one of the only places in the world where you’re likely to discover a fossil just by walking along the shore. This UNESCO World Heritage Site in Nova Scotia, Canada, is home to the world’s most complete fossil record dating 300 million years ago.
I visited the Joggins Fossil Cliffs during a 1.5-year solo road trip through the United States, Mexico and Canada and it’s one of a kind. While it’s advertised as the “most complete fossil record,” I didn’t expect to be able to walk on the fossils. There are so many they just fall from the cliffs! However, rangers ask that if you see anything interesting, please turn it in at the visitor’s center. I don’t know of any other place where you can come this close to being an archeologist for a day.
The town of Joggins, located about 2.5 hours northwest of Halifax, is known for its uniqueness, including the cliffs, rolling hills, forests, and the Bay of Fundy with its red, red sandstone beaches.
If you’re in the area, you should make a few worthwhile stops, starting at the fossil center.
The Joggins Fossil Centre
This museum and research center is home to a collection of fossils from the Joggins Fossil Cliffs. There are exhibits on the area’s geology, the history of coal mining and the evolution of life on Earth. The Joggins Fossil Centre offers educational programs and activities, including guided tours of the fossil cliffs, workshops on fossil preparation, and summer camps for kids. The center is also a popular destination for researchers from around the world. At the museum, you can:
- Visit the museum exhibits, including a fossil dig, theater, and see fossils pulled from the cliffs.
- Take a guided tour of the fossil cliffs, where you might see fossils like giant seed fern trees, primitive insects and shrimp, lobe-finned fish and the earliest known reptiles.
- Participate in a workshop to learn how to prepare fossils for research.
Admission to the Joggins Fossil Centre is $15 for adults. Note, you do not have to tour the center to visit the cliffs, or vice versa, though they’re in the same location.
Old Joggins No. 7 Coal Mine
This converted coal mine is now part of the the museum that tells the story of coal mining in the area. The mine was in operation from 1860 to 1927 and was one of the largest coal mines in the province. You can go underground into the tunnels at the mine and see the old coal-fired steam engine miners used for power.
The mines began as sedimentary rocks deposited in a swampy forest environment. Over time, the trees died and were buried in sediment that, over millions of years, turned the trees into coal. In some areas, like the cliffs, the fossils of the plants and animals that lived in the forest were preserved.
Admission to the Old Joggins No. 7 Coal Mine is $10 for adults.
The Fossil Cliffs
The Joggins Fossil Cliffs are a revered resource that provide a rare glimpse into the Carboniferous (carbon) period. Scientists have found over 10,000 fossils at the site since the early 1800s. UNESCO named the Joggins Fossil Cliffs a designated World Heritage Site in 2008 due to its outstanding universal value for its natural and cultural heritage.
The cliffs cover an expanse about nine miles long and 100 feet high overlooking the Bay of Fundy. While the bay is remarkable, it also impacts your viewing of the cliffs based on the time of day. With the highest tides in the world, the Bay of Fundy rises and recedes nearly 60 feet each day. If you’re there during high tide, the beach will be inaccessible, so check the tides. I suggest you visit during low tide (In the above picture the people would be entirely submerged during high tide). Because of the tides, the cliffs constantly change, and new fossils are continually being exposed. It will blow your mind if you can visit at low and high tide and see the difference in the water level.
Touring the Cliffs
If you’d like to take one of the several daily tours, as I did, book in advance because they sell out. On a tour an expert will point out how to identify fossils and show many examples you wouldn’t know to look for, including fossilized tree stumps. Though pretty much everything in the cliffs is a fossil and when you’re walking the beach, the “rocks” crunch under your shoes like bone.
Fun Fact: The Earth here is shifting on a tilted axis, exposing an older section than anywhere else. Since the earth is soft sandstone, erosion is happening rapidly and a ton of fossils are just falling out of the 100-foot-tall cliffs.
Visitors are asked not to take any fossils from Joggins Fossil Cliffs. If you see anything especially intriguing, leave it where it is and report it to guides at the center.
Cape Chignecto Provincial Park
This 100+ acre wilderness park offers stunning views of the Bay of Fundy and has hiking trails, camping, and fishing along 18 miles of shoreline. Inland you’ll find deep valleys, sheltered coves, rare plants, and remnant old-growth forests. But my favorite part was admiring the rock formations along the coast.
The park’s visitor center has information on trails, places to go and a few exhibits about the park’s ecology. The park is home to deer, moose, black bears, coyotes, and eagles, but the biggest threat is likely the tides. Be aware some trails and campsites are inaccessible at high tide. Ensure you know tide times so you don’t get stuck on the wrong side of the water.
Joggins is a unique and beautiful place to spend a few days and see something you won’t find anywhere else.
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