Cap-Pelé combines cliffs near Bas-Cap-Pelé Wharf with insights into the history of herring smoking and a distinctive local cuisine. The landscape, cultural history, and food offer different ways to experience the area. By planning your trip around your interests, you can decide whether a walk, the topic of smoking, or local dishes should take centre stage.

Cliffs and Sunsets

The cliffs near Bas-Cap-Pelé Wharf are accessible for walking, and sunsets can also be viewed there. You can make the walk an occasion in itself or include watching the sunset in your plans. This offers two different outdoor experiences to choose from: a walk and a view of the sunset.

Herring Smoking and Local History

The Smokehouse Museum is located at the Cap-Acadie Visitor Information Centre in Cap-Pelé. It presents the history and techniques of herring smoking, which grew out of French and Indigenous knowledge. This brings the smokehouse tradition to life as cultural history with a specific focus.

The Cap-Acadie Visitor Information Centre is on the historic site where Cap-Pelé’s first residents settled in 1804. This brings together the history of the area’s settlement and the history of herring smoking as two distinct historical points of reference. The Centre also offers travel advice and help with route planning. This guidance complements the cultural themes with a practical aspect for your planning.

Local Cuisine

Cap-Pelé’s local cuisine includes poutine râpée; poutine à trou is a local baked treat. The two names therefore represent different culinary experiences: a dish and a pastry. If cuisine is a focus of your trip, these specialties give the culinary part of your plans a clear direction.

Westmorland County: Regional Perspectives

For a broader regional perspective, Westmorland County is a destination in its own right. The county borders the Northumberland Strait and the upper reaches of the Bay of Fundy. Within this broader setting, other landscape and historical points of interest emerge alongside Cap-Pelé’s local themes.

In Shediac, the second railway line built in the Maritimes was inaugurated in 1857. In Sackville, the Boultenhouse Heritage Centre brings together three buildings from different periods and architectural styles: a Georgian house built by the Bulmer family around 1790, a Greek Revival-style house built by Boultenhouse in 1840, and the Anderson Octagonal House, dating from around 1855. Visitors can also explore New Brunswick’s industrial past in shipbuilding at the Centre. Railway history and architectural history thus stand side by side as distinct regional themes.

Another historic point of interest in the county is Fort Beauséjour/Cumberland, New Brunswick’s only surviving major colonial-era fort. The fort has a museum and is also a Parks Canada National Historic Site. It was besieged by the British in 1755 and by American rebels in 1776. The two dates mark separate sieges by different parties.

The landscape also has cultural significance in Westmorland County: the marshlands were an important part of the Mi’kmaq’s traditional routes. The regional perspective therefore encompasses a connection between the landscape and traditional routes, alongside railways, buildings, and military history.

Discover more destinations: Shediac, Beaubassin East, Sackville, Murray Corner, Melrose, Dieppe, Memramcook, Moncton

For the overview of the wider region: Westmorland County.