Visit the Joggins Fossil Centre to learn about the “Coal Age” through fossils, exhibits, and displays that tell a 300-million-year-old story.
Join a guided tour to explore the fossil cliffs, where fossilized trees and roots from an ancient forest are preserved in the cliffs.
Uncover and discover fossils on the beach, as almost every rock contains a fossil, and each tidal cycle reveals new fossils.
Overview
Joggins Fossil Cliffs on the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia is Canada’s 15th UNESCO World Heritage Site.
At Joggins you will be able to observe and traverse up to 15 kilometres of magnificently exposed layers of rock revealing the world’s most complete fossil record of life in the “Coal Age” when lush forests covered Joggins and much of the world’s tropical regions, 300 million years ago. In these coastal cliffs, rare fossils reveal details of life as it was in the “Coal Age”.
Constant erosion from the Bay of Fundy’s tides, rising and falling up to 13 metres (42 feet) in Joggins twice daily, creates possibilities for exposing new fossils.. Visitors will find fossils on the beach that have fallen from the cliffs, or view the spectacular sandstone layers that contain the fossilized remains of a 300-million-year-old forest. With careful observation, visitors may even find animal and insect trackways or, if they’re lucky, the remains of amphibians or Hylonomus lyelli, the oldest known reptile and Nova Scotia’s provincial fossil. It is all here, at the Joggins Fossil Cliffs, waiting to be discovered.
The Centre was designed to be barrier free and includes accessible parking, ramps, power doors, and wheelchair accessible washrooms. The beach is not accessible. For more information as you plan your visit, please visit https://jogginsfossilcliffs.net/accessibility/
Interpretive staff provides guided tours of Joggins Fossil Cliffs. Please visit the Joggins Fossil Centre for hours of operation and guided tour schedule.
