Kennebecasis River - Description

Description

The river's source is in the foothills of Albert County, near the rural community of Goshen. It runs southwest through the community of Penobsquis; several tributaries join the river in the town of Sussex several kilometres further west.

Between Sussex and the river's junction with the Saint John River at Millidgeville (part of Saint John), the Kennebecasis River runs through a well-defined river valley which has become one of the primary land transportation routes in the southern part of the province, hosting the Route 1 expressway and the Canadian National Railway line to the Port of Saint John.

The upper two thirds of the Kennebecasis River passes through pastoral rural countryside consisting of Acadian mixed forest and various agricultural areas, notably dairy farms around Sussex. Southwest of Sussex, the river becomes increasingly larger as it passes the communities of Norton and Hampton, before it empties into a delta-like area called Hampton Marsh. West of Hampton, the Kennebecasis flows in a broad fjord-like glacial valley which defines the southern side of the Kingston Peninsula. At its junction with the Saint John River, the Kennebecasis River helps to form Grand Bay.

Several large islands can be found in the river, such as Kennebecasis Island just off-shore from Summerville on the Kingston Peninsula, and uninhabited (with the exception of a few summer cottages) Long Island, located near Rothesay.