Hills Southwest of Miramichi

Taken 2007 July 5 from the Rosedale Road southwest of Miramichi

Not every place offers breath-taking scenery like that found in Meat Cove, along many parts of the Cabot Trail, and in the Cape Mabou Highlands, but that does not mean that such places lack either beauty or interest. I spend a great deal of time exploring back roads all over the Island, partly out of curiosity, but mostly because I have found again and again that each one offers its own unique sights that are beautiful in their own way.

The Rosedale Road (not to be confused with the Roseburn Road), from which this photo was taken not far from its northern end in Miramichi (to the south of Brook Village), proved to be no exception. The intersection of the Rosedale Road with the Whycocomagh Road is marked by a snowmobile route sign with the inscription “Junction 4J 104S 408N”; it is some 3.2 km (2 mi) beyond the Roseburn Road on the way towards Glencoe Mills. I had previously driven this road to the bridge just off the Whycocomagh Road, but no further. This day, I decided to see where it went, assuming it would soon peter out into an undrivable lane. That proved not to be the case, as it went on for quite some time; though the bottom of the car scraped the ground in a couple of places, the road was in generally quite good condition. After 11.75 km (7.3 mi) and forty-five minutes, I arrived at the place from which this photo was taken. It also turned out to be only 0.5 km (0.3 mi) from the junction of the Rosedale Road and the Brook Village Road (also known as the Old Mull River Road).

This view is a bit west of south and the hills in the distance would therefore be in the Glencoe Mills to Upper Southwest Mabou area. The road one sees centre right in the middle ground is the Rosedale Road itself. The previously sunny day had become mostly overcast by the time in mid-afternoon when I arrived here, but even without the added effect of a blue sky, the contrasting greens of field, forest, and mountain across the rolling terrain and the extra colour provided by the spring wildflowers (which were much more vivid in real life than the camera captured in this photo) make this a very beautiful place indeed. An open view like this one is also a rare one, as there are few places I know of in these hills where one has as good a view of the terrain: the forests covering these hills and the trees lining the roads, beautiful as they are, also prevent one from seeing the lie of the land.

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