July 13th, 2006
scenes from joggins fossil cliffs
After our hike to Wards Falls, we stopped off at the Joggins fossil cliffs before returning to Amherst. We’ve visited the cliffs several times in the past, but this time we came to walk the beaches and enjoy the incredible vistas rather than look for fossils (see above – click for larger view). Most people (including us) just find small fossil fragments on the beach. Digging into the cliff is not permitted – and would also be quite dangerous as it’s unstable. The best way to actually “see” fossils is to visit the Joggins Fossil Center which is located nearby. The cliffs are composed of Carboniferous Coal Age deposits which are being slowly eroded by the tides. Paleontologists have been coming to study the cliffs for over 150 years, while the surrounding area has been mined for coal for over three centuries.
Rather than write much more about the cliffs, I’m just going to post a few links to favourite images from our visit. While wading, I also shot a little .mov file of waves. It’s just a fun thing and might be enjoyed by anyone who is missing the ocean.
click on thumbnail for larger view
Tags: Joggins fossil cliffs
July 14th, 2006 at 12:24 am
I love coming here to read your journal writing and look at your pictures.
~ Patty Ann Smith
p.s. – discovered you via “Rigor Vitae”
July 14th, 2006 at 12:54 am
Hi Patty – Glad you found your way here and are enjoying the posts and photos. I’m very much enjoying writing up our travels here in Nova Scotia. Just heard from my Mom this evening and she’s been following our adventures on the blog. It sure is nice to have a way of sharing the trip with others.
July 14th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
Great photos as usual, I really enjoyed the panoramic view. I’d like to try something similar but I think I’d need a tripod before I attempt.
You have inspired Stacy and I to do a preview of the area before our camping trip, we are heading up tomorrow (Saturday) for some relaxing in the very warm weather.
I did a clip of the waves when I was in Lawrence Town on the south shore, about a month ago
http://halifaxns.net/peterpictures/videos/beach1.AVI (with audio)
July 15th, 2006 at 11:41 am
Peter – The panoramic views are pretty rough as I set out from home with my laptop and forgot to install the software that I use to make panoramas on my desktop computer. However, these give a decent “feel” for some of these places. I don’t actually use a tripod, but often use the “panorama assist” in my camera — if you’ve got that, give it a try as it works well (it makes a “ghost” image of the previous shot and you just overlay that on top of the next shot in the sequence).
Great idea of going out on a reconnaissance mission before your camping trip. The weather is so warm this weekend that it seems like a great plan!
Great clip of the waves from Lawrence Town — I’m wondering if that’s the area that is east of Halifax? My brother had a house up that way for a few years and we stayed there for a week in 2002. We drove up to Lawrencetown beach one afternoon to watch people surfing on boogie boards and even surf boards as the waves can get very big there in the right kind of weather.
July 15th, 2006 at 9:46 pm
Thanks for the tips, I did not realise there was a feature like that, my camera does not have it.
Yes, Lawrencetown is about 30 minutes east of Halifax. The day I shot the video there was quite a few people on the boogie boards, even a few attempting to surf, but the waves werent quite big enough despite the wind.
And we did our scouting trip! Did a quick tour of Wolfville, went to the “lookoff”, and observed the massive high/low tides at Blomidon beach, amazing place. We are going to save Cape Spilt for a cooler day, a 5 hour hike in 30c weather wasn’t in the books for today.
July 15th, 2006 at 11:17 pm
Peter – Did you happen to go beyond the look-off at Blomidon to Scot’s Bay? If you haven’t been there, do try to stop off there on your way out to the Cape Split trail head. At low tide, it’s such a nice beach, especially if you like interesting beach stones. Also, late in the afternoon, you get some really nice shimmery sunsets. And yes, was it ever a warm day today! We hiked to the beach at the Kejimkujik Seaside Adjunct. Wonderful beach, but the trail from the parking area to the beach over barrens and a bog was pretty darned hot there today!
July 16th, 2006 at 2:07 am
I have a bad habbit of typing Cape Split as Spilt, thanks for correcting me without saying anything ;) We did not go as far as Scot’s Bay today, only as far as the sign telling to go to Scot’s Bay or turn on to the dirt road for Blomidon, we took the latter route.
Stacy loves to search for interesting beach rocks, she was a former geologist student, and still has a good interest in both chemical makeup as well as just plain beauty of the stones. So you have peaked her interest as well as mine.
I posted two entries to my photo blog from todays travels, some more examples of the tides that can be seen here. It’s all new to me to see these in person, so I’m very excited about the whole thing.
July 26th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
hi my name is meghna mclellan and i live in joggins nova scotia and i think it is a wonderful place to live so come and visit
July 26th, 2006 at 1:21 pm
Hi Meghan – I’m so glad you found your way to my website. Yes, Joggins in a wonderful place — we’ve been there several times and enjoy coming just to sit on the beach. What a view!
September 7th, 2006 at 4:54 pm
Hi! I’m heading to the Joggins Fossil Cliffs in two weeks’ time, and was wondering about the best time to see it – high tide or low tide, and if it makes a difference. Of course the high tide is smack dab in the middle of the day, so I’m just wondering if it’s worth driving the distance to see it at that time…
September 7th, 2006 at 5:09 pm
Nathan – The tides can vary a lot, so it will depend on just how high the “high tide” will be on that date. We usually try to go just as the tide is going out, so I’d probably plan to visit later in the afternoon. The tide does usually come up pretty high along there, so it’s not good to go walking out around the rocky point that is visible after you get onto the beach, unless you know you have plenty of time to get back to the area above high water (you can’t climb up the cliff at all, so you have to plan on getting to a safe area when the tide comes in). If you stay on the main section of beach below the stairs, you shouldn’t have a problem. What I would probably do is check to see if the Joggins Fossil Centre will be open on the day of your visit and go there first to have a good look around. The center looks small from the outside, but there are a lot of fossils on display — or at least there were the last time I was there. After you get done there, you can trip on over to the parking area for the beach and walk down and spend time looking around. You may be able to get some advice on best time to visit, etc.. if you call ahead to the Joggins Fossil Centre (and check their hours too as I’m not sure what times they would be open in autumn. Here’s a link to a page about the site and this is the phone number that is listed on the page — (902) 251-2727. Hopefully the number is still current.
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/places/joggins/joggins.htm
September 11th, 2006 at 3:58 pm
Thanks so much for the helpful info!! I can’t wait to check it out!!
October 16th, 2006 at 7:18 pm
Heya… Just wanted to say, went to Joggins, following your advice, and it was great. The Fossil Centre wasn’t open, and the dining choices weren’t too abundant, but the cliff was beautiful. Didn’t find any fossils, but the tide going out and the scenery was great.
Thanks again for the helpful advice…
Cheers!
October 18th, 2006 at 8:18 pm
Nathan – Good to hear that you went to Joggins. Sorry the Fossil Centre wasn’t open as it’s pretty good — and yes, not a lot of dining choices around the town. No doubt that will change in time as it has in so many other parts of Nova Scotia. As you’ve noted, the cliffs and the scenery are beautiful and well worth a visit even if you don’t find fossils.
February 24th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
Nine years ago, I founded a small museum, the Mineral & Lapidary Museum of Henderson County, in Hendersonville, North Carolina, USA. We have a locl mineral club, one member of which Art Narins, passed away last year. His widow came into the museum yesterday with three small 4×4″ flat boxes containing fossils from your area. They are from Donald Reid of the Joggins Fossil Centre, who sent along a request for some Carolina minerals. I understand that Mr. Narins had been in Nova Scotia several years! Could you please ask Mr. Reid to contact me, so I can complete the swap!!
February 25th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Hi Larry – I don’t actually live in the Joggins area (I live in Ontario), but I’ll see if I can forward your message along to someone at the fossil centre.
April 17th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
i really liked your site
April 18th, 2007 at 7:53 am
Hi Cassie – Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed checking out my site! (-:
August 2nd, 2007 at 12:10 pm
Hi,
I just found your site, which includes pictures of Joggins. My husband and I were in Joggins several years ago and we have a whole box of fossils that were just lying on the beach. One in particular, is a piece of a petrified tree (it has a piece of what use to be bark missing and you can see the layers). It looks to be tropical in nature, as it does not resemble any of the trees that currently exist in that area. I also have a large fossil which came from Blue Beach in Hants County, Nova Scotia. It is fossilized worm trails.