Planning a trip Jun 2020 to Nova Scotia/PEI

We did find some boondocking spots in the East Coast, but I wouldn't say they are plentiful. Of course Walmarts etc, are always a possibility. The ioverlander app had some suggestions, although they were more for smaller rigs than the large Class A s we were driving. We did stay at several that the app suggested though. NFLD is very open to boondocking almost anywhere you can park. With some determination, you can indeed find boondocking. We stayed on a few beaches, and a few parking lots on tidal rivers in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. I wouldn't plan on finding many near the tourist traps like Peggys cove and such.

On boondocking who is they? We found wide spots in the road, places where trucks are parked at night. They key is to not be picky, you don't have to have a nice view.

We just got back from 5 weeks in a rental camper in Patagonia in southern Chile and most the campgrounds weren't open yet due to early in the season. We Only paid about about 5 or 6 times about $6 per person and that was generally to take advantage of their showers and cassette toilet dumping. Personal safety is not an issue down there. DW has/is publishing her blog at patbickeljones.blockspot.com. You have to scroll down past Peru to get to NS/NB and then Chile.

I live in south east New Brunswick and spend a fair bit of time Camping I. The area.

If going to PEI, charlottetown is a great food city, many great restaurants and good biking trails are available, otherwise it’s pretty much beaches and farmland.

To get there you’ll be driving through my province, please take time to camp and visit Fundy national park, it’s one of my favourite spots and it offers amazing views, great hiking trails and good campgrounds.

Others have given you plenty of good info on NS so I don’t have much to add to that.

We also did not find boondocking spots in the maritime provinces. Something about private campgrounds having put up a major fight against allowing it, if I remember correctly.
On the other hand, in BC, YT, NWT, etc. they are everywhere.

TCjeff wrote:
MikeJinCO, when you say you can boondock anywhere what exactly do you mean?

Excellent question. Boondock anywhere has not been my experience there.

We are also planning a trip to the maritime provinces next summer, leving July 1st.

MikeJinCO, when you say you can boondock anywhere what exactly do you mean? We are complete newbies.

Thanks!

Those folks have it covered. You can boondock anywhere and go up thru Quebec and stop at Quebec City. We only did 3 RV parks in five weeks, Provincial Parks are quite good and less expensive, many cities have campgrounds also.

I have been to the east coast four times, and I agree with David, PEI has little to offer except beaches. I have been around the entire island twice, and it all looks the same. If you really want to see it, you can take the ferry over, and the bridge back. It is free to get on the island. You have to pay to get off. The ferry is more expensive than the bridge. That is why we have always taken the ferry over. The bridge is about $46 for a regular vehicle, and around $9 for each extra axle. It was around $65 for my rv pulling a tow car. The scenery between the ferry and the bridge is pretty much all the same as the rest of the island. I prefer the Cabot trail for scenery, and the Bay of Fundy for natural wonders. The highest tides in the world are pretty fascinating. The record I believe is at Burntcoat head at 73 feet. Average tides there are about 40 to 50 feet. Scenic fishing villages are Digby, Halls Harbour, Lunenburg Nova Scotia. The tidal bore at Truro and South Maitland are worth seeing. Within one hour of Halifax is Lunenburg, Peggys Cove, Mahone Bay, as well as the museum and dockfront in Halifax. New Brunswick has the Hopewell Rocks, Alma, Fundy National Park, and St John reversing rapids. If you plan on spending any amount of time, a National Park pass is worth the money. It covers The Citadel in Halifax, Fortress Louisburg, Cape Breton Highlands NP, and Fundy National Park, AGBell museum, Fort Anne etc. I am forgetting a whole bunch, but we buy it every time we go, and always seem to get our moneys worth. The advantage is once you buy it, it seems to encourage you to go see all the stuff for free. It is good all across Canada at any National Park or National Historic site. The east coast is my personal favourite. I will return to the Bay of Fundy again. I have been to NFLD twice as well. That's a whole different story.

On your way up, stop by the Bay of Fundy, St. Martin Sea Caves, Hopewell Rocks (you want to time these to the tides), drive the Fundy Trail Parkway.

Avoid the "Sunrise Trail" Hwy 6 that runs along the northern edge of Nova Scotia. We found it had the worst road conditions of any paved road we have ever been on. This was in 2016, so who knows now.

If you are into history at all, visit Fortress Louisbourg National Historic Site, VERY cool. Definitely the Cabot Trail. Meat Cove was recommended if you like to get off the beaten path and your rig can handle it.
Halifax has some neat sites if you don't mind the city. Citadel National Historic Park, we parked there and walked down into city. Peggy's Cove was nice. One of those must-do touristy sites.
In all honesty, and no offense to anyone, but we though PEI was kinda "boring" compared to all the other provinces. There are some neat seaside campgrounds though and the whole Anne of Green Gables thing, if you are into that. We did not go to Charlottetown though.

I researched our trip to death and have many pages of VERY detailed itineraries and notes in a logical route format. We started from northern VA. Campground info, hiking trails, things to see along the way, ferry info, etc. Also includes New Brunswick and Quebec. I pulled lots of almost mile-by-mile descriptions off a Canadian travel site. I could give you the link to my doc, if you are at all interested. Might save you some research.

Bring some warm clothes just in case. We were in PEI in June of last year (towards the end of the month even) and had to wear winter jackets on a few of the days. It did warm up rapidly soon thereafter though.