travel dates: June, 2023
I promised to come back with a review of Amherst Shore Provincial Park when I mentioned it in my long post about the Newfoundland Ferry. A review didn’t really make sense in that post since Amherst Shore is 250 miles from the ferry; honestly, Amherst Shore didn’t really make sense for our trip, either. It was out of the way and we didn’t have much time to enjoy it…but I wanted to stay there owing to past great experiences with Nova Scotia provincial parks, so we kind of shoehorned it in.
And it’s a really nice campground/park! We should go back sometime when we have more than 16 hours or so to spend there!
Location and Local Area
Amherst Shore is on the north shore of Nova Scotia, very close to the border with New Brunswick, but about half an hour off the Trans Canada Highway (and from the town of Amherst). I can’t tell you much about the local area because we didn’t have time to do anything there…our impression is that the area is pretty rural with a smattering of little towns. The park is only about 40 minutes from the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island, so a day trip there is certainly a possibility (and, indeed, that’s what RV Atlas did on their Nova Scotia trip a few years ago).
Booking and Arrival
I remember nothing about booking this park, but as with everything, we booked pretty far in advance. There were a number of empty sites when we were there on a weekday in mid-June, but there were also plenty of people there. There’s a long stretch of road off the TCH to get there, but the road is good (if somewhat narrow), and we had no issues. There’s a kiosk/office where you can check in, and that was a quick and straightforward process.
Campsites
The vast majority of Amherst Shore’s sites are very big and private. We had site 24 and were very pleased with it; it was easy to back into, HUGE, and had the advantage of a cut through in the back of the site that led to the trail to the beach. Sites 1-30 are all w/e sites. We had a picnic table and a fire pit, a small grassy area and lots of woods. I believe all the sites are gravel.
Here’s one of the sites (43) closer to the bathhouse (it was a pretty significant hike from our site)…if you’re in the market for less private but closer to amenities:
Amenities
Pretty basic amenities here, but everything was clean and well-maintained.
Bathhouse:
Tiny playground:
There’s a small park office that sells firewood and ice. Dave went up there to buy firewood and asked about having it delivered, but the guy sort of implied that he was very wimpy for not wanting to carry it himself, so he did. It was a long way, though! It must have been at least half a mile from our site. Anyway, hardy folk up there in Nova Scotia; show no weakness! The office is also the only place there’s any pretense of wi-fi….but it really doesn’t work particularly well there, either. Cell signal is very spotty….we could get a signal occasionally if we walked around enough and found exactly the right spot, but you definitely don’t want to depend on it.
Probably the biggest amenity here is the path to the small beach area. We headed over there as soon as we got set up.
It’s not the prettiest beach in the world, but it was nice to have right there:
The dogs liked that they were allowed there:
Although it put Rory to sleep:
So there’s my very quick review with the basics!
Next up we finally make it to Newfoundland!
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