Welcome to the Dobson Trail website

The Dobson Trail is a continuous footpath through the Albert County wilderness stretching 57.75 km from Riverview NB to the northern boundary of Fundy National Park near Alma NB. It is an all season trail traversing a variety of woodland terrain. It follows along brooks, crosses meadows and travels along some older and new roads for some periods. The trail winds through soft and hardwood stands, crosses a beaver dam, touches a lake, ascends slopes, some gradual some steep, to reach Magnificent look-outs including Prosser Brook Ridge, the new Kent Hills power generating windmills and the spectacular Hayward Pinnacle. The Dobson Trail meets Fundy National Park at the Old Sheapody Road and joins the Park’s Laverty Falls Trail just west of the Broad River via the Dobson Link Trail.

This site was set up to allow Trail users to get information, share stories, arrange for hiking partners, report issues with the trail and to meet other Dobson Trail lovers. Please feel free to comment on anything you see here and keep it clean, fun and respectful, offending remarks will be removed.

There is also a Facebook page set up for the Dobson trail here.

The Dobson Trail is part of the Fundy Hiking Trail Association which is a non profit group made up of volunteers. The Fundy Hiking Trail Association maintains the Dobson Trail, Fundy Footpath and the Catamount Trail. All trail maintenance, development and advertising is done with the help of volunteers so please consider donating some of your time, knowledge or expertise to help improve these wonderful trails. All cash donations are tax deductible. Please contact us with the contact us function here or at dobsontrail@gmail.com or footpath@nbnet.nb.ca if you have any questions.

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Fundy Hiking Trails Assoc. meeting April 12th

There will be a meeting for the Fundy Hiking Trails Association on April 12, 2012.

The meeting will take place at the Atlantic Superstore in Riverview on the Coverdale Rd starting at 7pm in the community room on the second floor.

This meeting is open the public and all members of the association. If you have questions, concerns or an agenda item please feel free to ask here or send it to Alonzo Leger at leger@nbnet.nb.ca

Dobson Trail Newsletter April 2012 Click to download the word file.

 

Ken Arsenault

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Nice but very wet hike.

I was out Geocaching yesterday morning on the trail, what a perfect day to be out there, except for all the water. I started out at the end near Fundy Park with a fellow Geocacher and went as far as the Gold Mine Rd and back. The trees were all still wet and dripping so everytime we had to go off trail to find the Geocache it rained on us. We found 12 caches along the trail and a few along Old Shepody Rd on the way in. One of them was damaged and full of water so we packed it out and told the owner it was removed. The trail was very wet, good thing I wore the proper footwear so it really wasn’t that much of a concern, except when I sunk up to my ankles in mud. One thing we noticed right away was the number of patio blocks and stones that cover the first kilometer or … Continue story and see pictures

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Hiking trail or Dog trail?

I realized today that the trail is being taken over by the dogs. I met at least 15 un-leashed, large dogs this morning. I love dogs, I own two but they are small dogs and I always keep them on a leash which is the law by the way. They would love to go on the trail but they get very intimidated and upset when 3 or 4 large loose dogs come running at them. Also, I would never take a child under the age of 10 on the trail because of the dogs running up to and on people. I don’t think the intent of this trail is to be used as a dog park. They should be respectful of others and the law and have the dogs on a leash for at least the first 2km. I am not saying that the dogs are not welcome but they should be leashed. I have been out with the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts many times and every time we have a dog scare the kids and come into the fire pit area and try to steal food from them. Dogs running wild also poop all over the trail and since the owners may not be near enough to see it will not get cleaned up.

 

What do you think?

Posted in Story | 16 Comments

Mill stream loop work

I was in today to help update and repair the Mill Stream loop section. At one point there were 11 people there doing something. We carried in MANY loads with the wheelbarrows and cut some dead falls and made some new hand rails. We started at 8am and left just after 2pm. There is still lots of work to be done but if we do a little at a time it will all add up soon enough. I was a little frustrated with some people today who clearly saw us working 20 feet down the side trail and still came down it, forcing us to stop our work and let them by, they could have stayed on the main section. They didn’t even say thanks for letting them by but many others told us we were doing a good job and thanked us for the work. I hope to keep getting the opportunity to work with some of the trail … Continue story and see pictures

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New fire pit/camping site

I was in today with Jim Dewolf and a getleman named Joe, forgot his last name he is new to the trail and started to work on a new campfire pit and camping site.   This is what it looks like, it is near the 2.4 km mark on the “bluff” over looking a bend in Mill Stream. Beautful spot. We wanted to leave enough room for the large tent that the Canadian forces put in last year and also to leave room for the Scouts to put in their canvas prospector tent or a half dozen Eurekas so it is near the front of the clearing and about 20 feet from the trail. The plan is to continue with the clean up and make some tenting pads. We worked from 2pm until 5pm and got the hole dug for the logs and metal bars to be in about 2.5 feet and make the grill to go over the fire … Continue story and see pictures

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