Kouchibouguac National Park, National park along Northumberland Strait in New Brunswick, Canada.
Kouchibouguac National Park covers 239 km² on the Northumberland Strait in New Brunswick, about 110 km north of Moncton. It comprises barrier islands, sand dunes, lagoons, salt marshes and forests, with 24% of its land covered by bogs and marshes. The terrain is flat, rising from sea level to only 33 m, and the park's rivers cut estuaries up to 30 km inland.
Parks Canada established Kouchibouguac National Park in 1969 to protect sand dunes and bogs. Creating it required expropriating about 215 families from seven communities, including Claire-Fontaine and Cap-St-Louis. Residents resisted; Jackie Vautour returned to squat on his land from 1978 until his death in 2021. The resistance led Parks Canada to change its land acquisition rules.
The name Kouchibouguac comes from the Mi'kmaq people and means river of the long tides. Visitors can trace this Indigenous connection through the coastal areas and visitor centers that share stories of the original inhabitants.
The park lies about 110 km north of Moncton and 50 km from Miramichi, reached by road and also by boat from the Northumberland Strait. Two fishing ports remain inside its boundaries, at Cap-St-Louis and Kouchibouguac. Trails serve hikers and cyclists, and the terrain is flat, rising only to 33 m, with bogs and marshes covering 24% of the land.
The area has held Dark-sky preserve status since 2009, which limits light pollution at night. This designation allows visitors to see stars clearly after dark while protecting nocturnal animals.
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