# Kejimkujik National Park

Kejimkujik National Park (/ˈkɛdʒɪməˌkuːdʒɪk/) is a national park of Canada, covering 404 km$^2$ (156 sq mi) in the southwest of Nova Scotia peninsula. Located within three municipalities, Annapolis, Queens, and Digby, it consists of two separate land areas: an inland part, which is coincident with the Kejimkujik National Historic Site of Canada, and the Kejimkujik National Park Seaside on the Atlantic coast.
The Historic site is a cultural landscape of forested upland plain located between Nova Scotia's South Shore and Annapolis Valley regions. It is home to petroglyph sites, habitation sites, fishing and hunting sites, travel routes and burial grounds, which attest to Mi’kmaq occupancy of this area for thousands of years.
The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada has designated the inland portion of the park a dark-sky preserve.
The park is named after Kejimikujik Lake, the largest lake in the park.

## History

The name Kejimkujik is officially translated to "tired muscles" in the Mi'kmaq language, although other sources interpret it to mean "swollen waters" or "attempting to escape".
Canoe routes in the park have been used for thousands of years by the Mi'kmaq to travel from the Bay of Fundy to the Atlantic shore. A major travel route for the Mi'kmaq was the Mersey River, which runs from Kejimkujik Lake to the Atlantic Ocean. Historically, the Mi'kmaq would travel up the Mersey to Kejimkujik Lake, where they lived during the fall and winter months on the shores of the park's many rivers and lakes.
There are four Mi'kmaw petroglyph sites in the park containing around 500 individual petroglyphs. They are found in slate beds on the eastern side of Kejimikujik Lake. There are no slates beds on the western side. They are highly protected. Only one site can be visited by the public via a guided tour in the summer. The petroglyphs show aspects of Mi'kmaw life after European contact, and are dated to the 1700s and 1800s. Many are symbolic and sometimes ambiguous. Motifs associated with traditional culture include canoes, wigwams, traditional costume, and decorative designs. There are also images of prey animals, but none of plants. European motifs include ships, horses, women in dresses, Christian symbols, and five-pointed stars.
The Tent Dwellers by Albert Paine, chronicles his travels through inland Nova Scotia with his companion, Edward Breck, and their two hired guides on a trout fishing trip in 1906. The trip's route took the party through what is now Kejimkujik National Park and the nearby Tobeatic Game Reserve during the height of the region's sport fishing era. The details documented by Paine in The Tent Dwellers provide a valuable first-hand account of the region's landscape and wildlife as they existed in the early 20th century. Today, The Tent Dwellers is closely associated with Kejimkujik, and canoe expeditions retracing the novel's original 1906 route are occasionally undertaken by canoeing enthusiasts.
After European settlement, the Mi'kmaq living in the area found it increasingly difficult to maintain their traditional way of life. Many Mi'kmaq families were forced off of their hunting grounds by settlers who were clearing the land for farming and logging. Poverty eventually became pervasive for the area's Mi'kmaq residents. Ultimately, many of these residents either took up farming or found employment as guides for wealthy visitors to the area through hunting and fishing expeditions.
Today, the area does not serve as a residential area, but is still considered to be a spiritual home to the Mi'kmaq people.

## Recreation

The main Jeremy's Bay campground has 355 campsites, many suitable for large RVs, and generates about $1 million per year in fees. A group campground for up to 80 people is at Jim Charles Point, named after the eponymous local First Nations Guide who lived there in the mid-1800s. There are also backcountry primitive campsites accessible by canoe, bicycle or hiking.
There are 15 hiking trails for hiking, skiing, or snowshoeing. Backcountry campsites can also be accessed on foot. Winter camping is possible. Activities such as bird-watching and night sky viewing are also available in the park.

### Canoeing

Canoeing is a popular form of recreation in the park, thanks to its many lakes. There is extensive canoeing on Kejimkujik Lake itself, and many of the smaller lakes in the park are interconnected by portage trails. Many of park's backcountry campsites can only be accessed by canoe. Common canoe routes in the park include a loop connecting Big Dam, Frozen Ocean, and Channel Lakes, and the lakes south and west of Kejmkujik Lake, including Peskowesk and Peskawa lakes. From Peskawa Lake, it is possible to reach the Shelburne River and enter the Tobeatic Wilderness Area, located just outside the park.

## Flora

Most of the park's forest is second growth, although it does contain significant areas of intact original habitat. The park is situated in the Southwest Nova Biosphere Reserve in a region characterized as Acadian forest. There are 23 species of ferns that are found in the park. Common ferns include cinnamon fern, bracken fern, and New York fern. Rare ferns such as oak fern, dwarf chain fern, bog fern, and curly-grass fern are also protected in the park. Wildflowers bloom from May through June and common species include blue violet, star-flower, rose twisted-stalk, twin-flower, painted trillium, and goldthread. There are 544 species of vascular plants in the park and 15 species of orchids including Common lady’s-slipper and Rattlesnake plantain.

## Fauna

Some 34 species of mammal are known to occur within the park, including: snowshoe hare, northern flying squirrel, beaver, porcupine, North American river otter, fisher, bobcat, coyote, American black bear and white-tailed deer. Moose were formerly common in the area that is now Kejimkujik, but are today very rare; having been listed as an endangered species in mainland Nova Scotia. In 1986, Kejimkujik was the site of reintroduction efforts for American marten, which continue to inhabit the park in low densities.
Considered to be a regional hotspot for herptile diversity, the park's wetlands and forests are habitat for a greater variety of amphibians and reptiles than anywhere else in Atlantic Canada. Many of the reptiles inhabiting Kejimkujik are considered to be species at risk in Canada, like Blanding's turtle, and eastern ribbonsnake. Other herptiles found in Kejimkujik include common snapping turtle, eastern painted turtle, garter snake, ringnecked snake, smooth greensnake, red-bellied snake, spotted salamander, eastern red-backed salamander, eastern newt, and four-toed salamander. Frogs found in the park include: American bullfrog, green frog, pickerel frog, wood frog, leopard frog, American toad, and spring peeper.
Common birds of the park include hermit thrush, white-breasted nuthatch, American woodcock, northern parula, yellow-bellied sapsucker, piping plover (at the seaside), ruffed grouse, common loon, barred owl, and the American black duck.
Formerly an esteemed angling destination (primarily for brook trout), Kejimkujik's native fish stocks have recently been dramatically reduced by the presence of chain pickerel. Chain pickerel was first confirmed in the park in 2018, and has since spread to much of Kejimkujik's waterways. Chain pickerel are both a predator on and a direct competitor of brook trout, forcing the park to adopt mandatory release requirements for all trout (and all native fish generally) landed by anglers in the park. Parks Canada has taken action to mitigate some of the effects of chain pickerel, and is actively researching long-term solutions to reduce the fish's impact. Other fish found in Kejimkujik's waterways include yellow perch, white perch, white sucker, brown bullhead, American eel, golden shiner, banded killifish, creek chub, nine-spined stickleback. Historically, the park stocked populations of brown trout and lake whitefish to enhance angling, but this practice was discontinued.
Common loons in the park have the highest levels of methyl mercury in their blood of any loons in North America, the result of bioaccumulation. This has led to reductions in their reproduction rate. Yellow perch, 10–15 cm (3.9–5.9 in) long, is their main source of food, and these have been found to have more than twice the mercury level than loons from neighbouring New Brunswick. After years of research, the ultimate source of the mercury remains unknown.

## Geography

The park is located in a flat plain. Its highest point, Mount Tom, is at 180 m (590 ft). Precambrian to Ordovician quartzite and slate form the bedrock, along with Devonian granite. These rocks provide few nutrients to the soils that develop from them. Podzols are found in well-drained areas, which poorly-drained areas are dominated by Gleysols and peat bog.
Fifteen percent of the park is covered by lakes. Evidence of the Last Glacial Period include drumlins, erratics, and eskers. Major rivers include the Mersey, and the Shelburne, major lakes include Kejimikujik, and Luxton.

### Climate

The park has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) with four distinct seasons. Being located inland, in the western part of Nova Scotia, the park has warmer temperatures and higher precipitation than eastern sections of Nova Scotia. Winters are cold with a January average of −5.0 °C (23.0 °F). During this time of the year, the maximum temperature often stays below freezing although frequent mild spells push maximum temperatures above freezing frequently (about 12–19 days from December to February) and occasionally above 10 °C (50.0 °F) when the wind is from the southwest. On average, there are 3.3 days where the temperature falls below −20.0 °C (−4.0 °F) per year. Winters are characterized by stretches of unsettled weather, resulting in high precipitation and cloud cover. Snowfall is high, averaging 243.7 centimetres (95.9 in) a year.
Summers are warm with a July average of 19.6 °C (67.3 °F) and precipitation is lower (though significant) than the winter months. Temperatures in the park rarely exceed 30.0 °C (86.0 °F), occurring on 5.9 days per year owing to the moderating influence of the ocean. Spring and fall are transitional seasons that feature mild temperature although they are unpredictable. The park receives 1,453.0 millimetres (57 in) of precipitation per year, which is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year.
Climate data for Kejimkujik National Park, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1966–present :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 18.0 (64.4) | 17.6 (63.7) | 27.9 (82.2) | 31.5 (88.7) | 33.3 (91.9) | 34.0 (93.2) | 34.4 (93.9) | 34.7 (94.5) | 34.0 (93.2) | 27.5 (81.5) | 22.9 (73.2) | 17.6 (63.7) | 34.7 (94.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −0.5 (31.1) | 0.5 (32.9) | 4.4 (39.9) | 10.6 (51.1) | 17.2 (63.0) | 22.0 (71.6) | 25.5 (77.9) | 25.0 (77.0) | 20.8 (69.4) | 14.2 (57.6) | 8.2 (46.8) | 2.6 (36.7) | 12.5 (54.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −5.0 (23.0) | −4.3 (24.3) | −0.6 (30.9) | 5.2 (41.4) | 11.1 (52.0) | 16.0 (60.8) | 19.6 (67.3) | 19.1 (66.4) | 15.1 (59.2) | 9.1 (48.4) | 4.0 (39.2) | −1.4 (29.5) | 7.3 (45.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −9.6 (14.7) | −9.1 (15.6) | −5.5 (22.1) | −0.2 (31.6) | 5.0 (41.0) | 9.9 (49.8) | 13.8 (56.8) | 13.2 (55.8) | 9.4 (48.9) | 3.9 (39.0) | −0.2 (31.6) | −5.3 (22.5) | 2.1 (35.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −31.0 (−23.8) | −34.0 (−29.2) | −27.0 (−16.6) | −15.6 (3.9) | −7.8 (18.0) | −2.0 (28.4) | 0.0 (32.0) | −1.0 (30.2) | −5.0 (23.0) | −8.9 (16.0) | −17.0 (1.4) | −29.0 (−20.2) | −34.0 (−29.2) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 158.5 (6.24) | 117.8 (4.64) | 124.1 (4.89) | 113.6 (4.47) | 105.8 (4.17) | 96.8 (3.81) | 76.0 (2.99) | 93.2 (3.67) | 116.6 (4.59) | 144.1 (5.67) | 160.6 (6.32) | 146.1 (5.75) | 1,453 (57.20) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 71.7 (28.2) | 53.4 (21.0) | 39.1 (15.4) | 12.9 (5.1) | 0.7 (0.3) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 2.3 (0.9) | 12.3 (4.8) | 51.2 (20.2) | 243.7 (95.9) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 19.7 | 17.0 | 16.7 | 16.1 | 17.7 | 15.6 | 14.2 | 14.1 | 16.1 | 17.1 | 18.2 | 19.4 | 201.8 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) | 10.6 | 8.4 | 5.8 | 2.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 2.0 | 8.3 | 37.4 |
| Average relative humidity (%) (at 15:00 LST) | 78.0 | 70.1 | 60.5 | 58.0 | 57.5 | 60.3 | 60.3 | 60.4 | 63.8 | 66.8 | 75.9 | 80.6 | 66.0 |
| Source: Environment Canada (snow 1971–2000) ||||||||||||||

## Trails

* Mersey Meadow: Easy, Linear, 70 metres one way
* Mill Falls: Easy, Linear, 2 kilometres return
* Beech Grove: Moderate, Loop, 2.2 kilometres
* Flowing Waters: Easy, Loop 1 kilometre
* Hemlocks and Hardwoods: Moderate, Loop, 5 kilometres
* Farmlands: Moderate, Loop, 1.1 kilometres
* Rogers Brook: Easy, Loop, 1 kilometres
* Grafton Woods: Easy, Loop, 1,6 kilometres
* Snake Lake: Moderate, Loop, 3 kilometres
* Gold Mines: Moderate, Linear, 1.5 kilometres one way (closed)
* Peter Point: Moderate, Linear, 1.9 kilometres one way
* Mersey River: Easy, Linear, 3.5 kilometres one way
* Slapfoot: Moderate, Linear, 3.2 kilometres one way
* Jake's Landing to Merrymakedge Beach: Moderate, Linear, 3 kilometres one way
* Ukem'k: Moderate, Linear, 6.3 kilometres one way
* Eel Weir to Fire Tower: Moderate, Linear, 19.5 kilometres return
* Channel Lake: Difficult, Loop, 24 kilometres
* Liberty Lake: Difficult, Linear, 60.5 kilometres

## Kejimkujik Seaside

Kejimkujik Seaside, known formally as Kejimkujik National Park Seaside, is a day-use park administered by Parks Canada, located south of the village of Port Mouton along Nova Scotia's Atlantic coast. While geographically separate and ecologically distinct from Kejimkujik National Park's inland portion (located 93 kilometres away), Kejimkujik National Park Seaside was established and added to Kejimkujik National Park in 1988 to ensure the unique coastal features of mainland Nova Scotia's Atlantic coast were represented in Canada's national parks system.

### Ecology and Wildlife of Kejimkujik Seaside

Kejimkujik National Park Seaside encompasses 22 square kilometres of coastal wilderness, including examples of coastal barrens, regionally rare forests characterized by high humidity, bogs, barrier beaches, and shallow lagoons. Renowned for its white sand, St. Catherine's River Beach, located within the park, is one of the largest protected beaches in Nova Scotia. Forest occurring within Kejimkujik National Park Seaside has been found to host unique lichen assemblages, including several species at risk like blue felt lichen.
Wildlife hosted at Kejimkujik Seaside includes species like American black bear, white-tailed deer, raccoon, American mink, and many shorebirds; including semi-palmated sandpipers, least sandpipers, willets, semipalmated plovers, and sanderlings. The park also protects important nesting habitat for piping plover, a species listed as endangered in Canada (COSEWIC). The shallow waters immediately offshore of the park host harbour seals and grey seals.
The ecology of the park's estuaries has been severely impacted by the effects of European green crab, an invasive species, on local eelgrass beds. Eelgrass, often considered a keystone species, provides nursery habitat for a range of marine invertebrates and fish. In particular, eelgrass beds in the park are important to juvenile soft-shelled clams, a species with local significance as a commercial fishery. The effects of European green crab have been linked to a substantial decline in the number of juvenile soft-shelled clams found in the park's estuaries.

### History of Kejimkujik Seaside

Human usage of the area that is now known as Kejimkujik Seaside dates back thousands of years, with a spear head made by the ancestors of the Mi'kmaq some 2500-5000 years ago having been found in the park. The Mi'kmaq likely used the area for hunting and foraging in more recent times. Around 1604, Samuel de Champlain camped in and mapped the area around Port Mouton, including the landscape now included within the park. The earliest European settlement in what is now Kejimkujik Seaside, dating to the late 18th century, included a homestead built by free black loyalists.

### Recreation at Kejimkujik Seaside

In addition to its renowned stretches of white-sand beaches and turquoise-coloured coastal waters (St. Catherine's River Beach), Kejimkujik National Park Seaside boasts two coastal hiking trails, Harbour Rocks Trail (2.6 km one-way) and Port Joli Head Trail (4.75 km one-way). Kejimkujik Seaside is a popular picnic and birdwatching destination.