Seal Cove

New Brunswick


For a century, smoked herring was king on Grand Manan. A thousand men and women worked splitting, stringing and drying fish in 300 smokehouses up and down the island. The last smokehouse shut down in 1996 but you can still see many clustered around the tidal creek mouth at tiny Seal Cove village.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby New Brunswick attractions

1. Grand Manan Historical Museum

4.42 MILES

This museum makes a good destination on a foggy day. Its diverse collection of local artifacts provides a quick primer on island history. You can see a…

2. Grand Manan Art Gallery

7.04 MILES

Housed in what looks like a 1970s church, this lovely, nonprofit local gallery showcases local and regional artists, as well as well-known historic and…

3. Whale & Seabird Research Station

9.01 MILES

Protecting North Atlantic right whales, disentangling harbor porpoises from herring weir and deciphering the mysteries of pelagic seabirds are just some…

4. Fishing Weirs

9.28 MILES

Those round contraptions of wooden posts that you see dotting the waters around Grand Manan are based on the design of ancient fishing traps; some of…

5. Swallowtail Lighthouse

9.37 MILES

Clinging to the clifftop about 1km north of the ferry wharf, atmospheric Swallowtail Lighthouse (1860) is the island's signature vista. Climb down 53…

6. Quoddy Head State Park

12.42 MILES

When the fog's not obscuring the view, the 541-acre Quoddy Head State Park has magnificent scenery. From the parking lot, walk the Coastal Trail, which…

7. West Quoddy Head Lighthouse

12.48 MILES

This photogenic red-and-white striped lighthouse anchors the eastern end of the Quoddy Head State Park, and opens for visits during July and August …

8. Cutler Coast Public Lands

15.95 MILES

This little-known reserve a few miles northeast of Cutler has hiking trails amid spectacular coastal scenery. If you've visited Acadia National Park and…