I was incredibly excited by the prospect of visiting the Joggins Fossil Cliffs on the edge of Nova Scotia‘s Bay of Fundy. The area has fossils that are 300 million years old, way earlier than the dinosaur era. And it has a pretty cool beach that you can hike on to go search out such fossils while hopefully avoiding the famous Fundy tides leaving you stranded on the each as they rise rapidly on the Bay.

We drove about two hours out of the way that fateful morning just to see the cliffs and the fossils. What me mostly saw was fog.

It was certainly beautiful in many ways, but it was definitely not what I expected from a visit to my 45th UNESCO World Heritage Site. Alas, time was short and our itinerary that day was quite long, so we saw what there was to see and got back on the road.

The visitors center at the park is pretty cool, though if you want to skip it there is another stairwell that provides access just a bit up the road (see this map) though I couldn’t really find the road when we went looking for it. Just pay the few bucks and enjoy the museum they offer, as well as some details about the tide schedules and, if your timing is correct, a guided tour down on the beach, showing you the fossils.

So, yeah, our trip to the Joggins Fossil Cliffs were mostly a bust. But I’m still convinced that it can be cook, assuming you get decent weather and give it more than 30 minutes for the visit.

Read more of our Maritimes adventures here!