13-acre donation expands Delaps Cove Wilderness Trail

Delaps Cove Wilderness Trail, the first-ever UNESCO-designated Amazing Place, just got bigger thanks to a 13-acre gift from Anne Littlewood – and it might just be the missing link trail users were waiting for.

“This isn’t simply 13 acres on a map,” Annapolis County Warden Diane LeBlanc said during a monument unveiling Oct. 17.

“This acquisition creates something particularly important for the Delaps Cove Wilderness Trail. It gives us a much stronger ability to protect and care for this incredible coastal landscape.”

Debra Ryan, the municipality’s director of community development, said the land donation is significant because it ties other parts of the wilderness trail together.

“This particular piece of land was the missing link between the parking lot and the other side of Bohaker Cove,” she said, explaining that the municipality now owns a contiguous piece of property for coastal protection.

“It also means no one can build on the north side of the Shore Road West along the Bay of Fundy and it can be protected as part of our active trail system,” she said. “It also means that, combined with this new land donation, we now own 70 acres of land at Bohaker Trail region with 2,650 feet of waterfront.”

She said it creates many future opportunities.

Just over a year ago, the UNESCO Southwest Nova Biosphere Region designated Delaps Cove Wilderness Trail its very first Amazing Place.

Nick Hill, representing the Southwest Nova Biosphere Region Association, said conservation is important, land protection is important, but without community it doesn’t work.

“And what’s so good about this is it’s all about community,” he said, noting that bringing people into nature will make them want to protect it.

“And that’s what’s so good about this,” he said. “The Southwest Nova Biosphere puts all three things together. Local economies that work with the natural world, community, and conservation.”

LeBlanc said the Amazing Places designation, coupled with the wilderness trail’s 40th anniversary in 2025, were milestones and a reminder that the trail is much more than a walking trail.

“It is a place that connects people with our natural environment,” she said. “It gives residents and visitors an opportunity to experience the incredible landscape that surrounds us here in Annapolis County.”

Littlewood, who grew up in Annapolis Royal, said she inherited the land from her parents.

“As an educator, field naturalist, and gardener, I have always appreciated my natural surrounding, my spiritual upbringing, and the importance of our collective history,” she said prior to the monument unveiling.

“As a society, we are transitioning into more ecologically friendly methods of heating homes, generating electricity, and powering our vehicles,” she said. “The value of this land also transitions into the ecological benefit and value of allowing this forested area to be preserved and protected to complement the Delaps Cove Wilderness Trail.”

Littlewood said she’s walked the trail many times, has led guided hikes, and has been involved with educating people about the ecology of the region and the various ecosystems that exist along the trail that includes mixed hardwood and softwood forest, the shoreline plants, and the stream habitat.

LeBlanc said the Southwest Nova Biosphere Region Association has supported the municipality by contributing capital funds towards land acquisitions that complement its work in coastal forest protection at Delaps Cove.

“That kind of partnership makes a real difference,” she said.

“Protecting natural areas is something that benefits all of us,” she said, “and it is wonderful to see organizations and individuals come together with a shared commitment to the land.”

In particular, she thanked Littlewood.

“Anne has helped ensure that this piece of the Fundy coast will remain protected, not just for the people standing here today, but for people who haven’t even been born yet,” the warden said.

“I also want to thank the Southwest Nova Biosphere Region Association and everyone who has contributed to the protection, development, and continued enjoyment of the Delaps Cove Wilderness Trail.”

Ryan said the municipal wilderness trail goes back four decades.

“We are here today because the municipality made a decision 40 years ago to create and develop the Delaps Cove Wilderness Trail,” she said. “Since that time, many residents and visitors have enjoyed this special place.”

“Today, we are not only celebrating a piece of land,” LeBlanc added, “we are celebrating stewardship, generosity, and a commitment to making sure this special part of the Fundy coast remains here for generations.”

Littlewood described the wilderness trail as a special place.

“I am dedicating this land donation to the memory of my parents Phyllis and Boyd Littlewood, as a lasting legacy, so that future generations can visit and enjoy nature and the incredible diversity that this area supports.”

After the ceremony, Annapolis Royal town crier Christine Connolly, LeBlanc, and Littlewood, led
those gathered down the trail to the monument that was unveiled by LeBlanc and Littlewood.

Also present were municipal councillors Ted Agombar, Lynn Longmire, and Jonathan Welsh. Gini Proulx, who helped develop the Delaps Cove Wilderness Trail Field Guide, was also at the ceremony, and at 89 was the oldest participant – but by no means the slowest walker on the trail.

The monument inscription designated the trail as Littlewood Way.

“This forested piece of land along the Bay of Fundy was donated to preserve and protect the Delaps Cove Wilderness Trail,” it said. “Donated by Anne Littlewood in loving memory of her parents, Boyd and Phyllis Littlewood.”

Below it said: “Enjoy the incredible diversity of God’s handiwork in nature.”

The Delaps Cove Wilderness Trail system, at 2077 Shore Road West, consists of two nature trails – Bohaker Trail, a 2.2-kilometre loop (one-hour walk), and Charlies Trail, a 1.9-kilometre loop. Both trails are linked by the Shore Road Trail (2.7 km one way). The return walk will take about three to four hours. This trail system is located on the shores of the Bay of Fundy in Annapolis County, 24 kilometres from Annapolis Royal.