Waterfall Detail: At this location the Forty Five River has cut a narrow slash through the mountainside on its way to meet up with the Salmon River. This craggy waterfall is on the eastern boundary of Fundy National Park, flowing through a series of notches eventually spilling into several pools below the falls. Underneath the covered bridge the river has created a considerable undertow and is indicated on warning signs posted nearby. Swimming is not advised.
There is an excellent vantage point just down river from the waterfall that affords a wonderful view of the waterfall and the cover bridge. This is the Lower Forty-Five No. 1 Bridge built in 1914. It is a Howe Truss design, commonly found in New Brunswick covered bridges. Spanning a distance of 30 metres, the timber structure provides a reflection of days gone by, when life moved at a slower gentler pace.
Visit Detail: Thanksgiving Monday promised to be clear and seasonably warm. A great opportunity to spend the day at Fundy National Park. My good friend, Roy Stillwell has joined me on a daylong waterfalling expedition. After driving down from Fredericton, our first stop of the morning is to check out the fabulous sticky buns at Kelly’s Bake Shop in Alma. I personally consider a trip to Alma and Fundy National Park a wasted trip without a stop to purchase ½ dozen of these delectable cinnamon buns. Kelly’s are renown for their world famous sticky buns.
Armed with sticky buns and coffee we head east out of Alma on Route 114 towards Riverside Albert looking for Forty Five River Road. Several kilometres later we turn north and drive out the road keeping left at the first Y in the road. The Forty Five River Road follows the eastern boundary of the national park. It is a distance of 8 km from Route 114 to the covered bridge spanning the river. We parked the SUV in a small clearing on the right just before the bridge.
After all the rain we had the previous week, the river is ripping through the narrow notch. The noise is thunderous, rising up like a storm along the steep walls of the ravine to beacon us to quickly walk down the road towards the bridge. We spent several minutes viewing the bridge admiring workmanship of the structure. Roy mentions that several wooden bridges have been destroyed in recent past. We both wonder what kind of person would destroy part of New Brunswick’s heritage. We eventually made our way back to the short but steep trail leading down to an excellent vantage point above the base of the falls.
Standing here admiring the waterfall I can understand why there are warning signs about swimming in the pools. The undertow and back swirl of the river is very evident. We spent 30 minutes scouting the area below the falls before heading back to the SUV and our next destination, Laverty Falls.
We happened on this bridge by our GPS taking a shortcut. It was a pleasant surprise, but I didn’t realize there was a falls nearby. I will be back!