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Kejimkujik National Park consists of two parts: the main section of the park, located in the uplands of south-central Nova Scotia, and the seaside adjunct, located nearby on the Atlantic coast. The park covers an area of 381 km².
The main section of the park is a forested upland plain that contains many lakes and rivers. These interior waterways were important canoe routes between the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic for the ancestors of the Mi'kmaq. The park also contains the petroglyphs that these people left behind.
The park is named after Kejimkujik Lake, the largest lake inside the park. The lake's Mi'kmaq name has been translated as "attempting to escape" or "swollen waters", possibly related to fishing weirs placed on the lake. The park's official stance is that Kejimkujik is a Mi'kmaq word meaning "tired muscles".
Although there are numerous drive-in campgrounds in Keji, the park is better known for its interior camping, that is, campsites which are only accessible by canoe or hiking in the summer, or ski or snowshoe in the winter. Keji provides some excellent canoeing, with numerous navigable lakes and rivers forming an interconnected system. The further a camper progresses from access points, the more wild the park will become, and it is possible to spend several days in the interior with little or no sight of other campers. Park staff maintain portages along major routes.
Interior campsites can vary widely, and none have any permanent shelter. Sufficient bad-weather gear (tents, tarps, etc) should be brought so the trip can remain enjoyable in the face of less-than-perfect weather. All campsites have a firebox, which should be the only location used for fires. Fires made in non-prepared sites can cause underground roots to burn, allowing the fire to spread.
Wildlife
Interior camping can provide excellent wildlife viewing opportunities. Moose, deer, and beaver are not uncommon, especially along waterways, given sufficiently quiet campers. Black Bears, although present in the Park, are seldom seen, especially if appropriate precautions to avoid attracting them are taken.
The Tent Dwellers
The Tent Dwellers is a book by Albert Bigelow Paine
, chronicling his travels through inland Nova Scotia on a trout fishing trip with Dr. Edward "Eddie" Breck, and with guides Charles "the strong" and Del "the stout", in the early 1900s. Originally published in 1908, the book takes place in what is now Kejimkujik National Park and the adjacent Tobeatic Game Reserve. The descriptions of the park contained in the book are beautifully written and uncannily accurate, such as
"...the shores are green; the river or brook is clear and cold - and tarry black in the deep places; the water leaps and dashes in whirlpools and torrents, and the lakes are fairy lakes, full of green islands - mere ledges, many of them, with two or three sentinel pines - and everywhere the same clear, black water, and always the trout, the wonderful, wild, abounding Nova Scotia trout."
Sadly, the trout which brought Paine and Breck to the park area are now largely absent, due to higher acid levels in the water from acid rain.
