Christmas In New Brunswick
The Sagamook Lodge ( below ) is a new destination near Mount Carleton . Below that are images from the Candy Cane Trail .
Day Three : Mount Carleton Provincial Park
To start the third day , we again headed west on Trail 19 . In contrast to previous days , we were now blessed with brilliant blue sky and the ability to see what we couldn ’ t the day before in the lightly falling snow . That resulted in a slower overall pace because this guy stopped often for photo opportunities , the price my group pays for riding with a photographer !
The vistas were grand heading back toward the Christmas trails . Everything was beautifully groomed . The lack of traffic was noticeable , but the parking areas at the clubhouses and warming huts had plenty of sleds . I found it similar to Maine ’ s Aroostook County in that way : You don ’ t see much traffic on the trails , but you notice many sleds at the different establishments . People were clearly out and about enjoying the sport , but the trails system is vast enough to spread all of us out and make it feel like we had the forests almost to ourselves .
Turning onto Trail 180 , we headed toward the Mount Carleton Provincial Park . The clubs in the area do an amazing job of debrushing . At one point when riding through the evergreens , the trees were cut so well that it formed a tunnel of pine . Never during the entire trip did I encounter stray helmet- or windshield-slapping branch or twig . The addition of a slight cliff face on one side and stream on the other made it truly an art form .
The trails in the park were definitely more twisty than a lot of other areas . The Candy Cane Trail took us to the highest elevation at around 2,500 feet , where we encountered windswept snow drifts in some of the open , treeless areas . Comet was a short run , and Cupid tied the three together . All were enjoyable .
A big bonus to this area is the recently finished Sagamook Lodge . This 4,400-square-foot building overlooking Nictau Lake offers a fuel stop and café . We heard many riders recommend stopping at the so-called “ million dollar lodge ,” and it was absolutely grand . The café offers many quick service meals , or snacks can be bought at the gift shop . New Brunswick ’ s three highest peaks are located here , with Mount Carleton being the tallest at 2,690 feet . It provides a wondrous vista .
With our bodies freshly fueled with delicious individual pizzas , we headed toward our next recommended must-ride : Piston Alley . It ’ s not marked on a map as such , but it ’ s the section of Trail 23 running between Popple Depot and Rogers Lake . I would add the section west of Popple Depot to the designation , as it was quite similar .
With a name like Piston Alley , I imagined Carolina ’ s famous zMax Dragway : four lanes wide , straight and flat . It wasn ’ t that at all . It is four lanes wide for sure , but the trail featured gentle twists and turns on a terrain that calmly rose and fell for its 22-mile stretch . It essentially followed the gently flowing path of the Nepisiguit River . WFO can be attained with little bar effort and body movement . No official record is available as to exactly how many pistons have been sacrificed along this route .
This view captured on the Candy Cane trail ( left ) was a common sight , as our ride took us past countless trees .
40 / NOVEMBER 2024 / SNOWGOER . COM