This article needs to be updated. (September 2021) |
Parlee Beach Provincial Park is a provincial park located in Pointe-du-Chêne, New Brunswick, Canada.
| Parlee Beach Provincial Park Parc provincial de la Plage-Parlee (French) | |
|---|---|
 Parlee Beach | |
 | |
| Location | Pointe-du-Chêne (the town), New Brunswick, Canada |
| Nearest city | Dieppe |
| Coordinates | 46°14′28″N 64°31′00″W / 46.24111°N 64.51667°W |
| Area | 0.64 ha (1.6 acres) |
| Established | 1957 (private park since 1800s) |
| Visitors | 400,000+ (in 2010[1]) |
| Governing body | Government of New Brunswick |
 | |
Geography
editParlee Beach Provincial Park is located in eastern Westmorland County fronting the Northumberland Strait on the northeast side of Pointe-du-Chêne and forming the boundary with the community of Cap-Brulé.
History
editThe park and beach received its name in 1959 in honour of T. Babbitt Parlee, the former Minister of Municipal Affairs in the ministry of New Brunswick Premier Hugh John Flemming; Parlee having died in an airplane crash in 1957.
The park extends south from the beach approximately 1 km (0.62 mi) to Main Street (Route 133), with the campground located on the eastern boundary. In 1989, The Beach Boys played a successful concert to approximately 20,000 fans at a temporary concert stage on a large mowed green space between Main Street and the beach.
Each spring the provincial government replaces sand on the beach that is lost due to winter storm erosion and storm surge damage.[2]
Present day
editThe property is owned by the Government of New Brunswick and operated by the Department of Tourism and Parks. Parlee Beach Provincial Park includes the following facilities:
- Parlee Beach, arguably the most popular beach in New Brunswick
- a 190-site campground
- a day-use picnic area
- a restaurant
- a canteen
- change houses
- showers
- washrooms
- a playground
- parking lots with a capacity for over 1,000 vehicles. Day rates for parking as of 2024 are as follows:[3]
- $17.39 per vehicle
- $13.05 per motorcycle
- $73.91 per bus
- $143.04 for a season pass
The park is open from 9am to 4pm during the summer months. Parlee Beach is patrolled by lifeguards from the first weekend of June until Labour Day.
The waters of the Northumberland Strait are sometimes marketed as having some of the warmest ocean waters on the east coast of North America north of Virginia. Parlee Beach Provincial Park is one of New Brunswick's most popular recreational areas, and in 2011 had more than 400,000 visitation (entirely in the summer months).[citation needed]
Visitation may have peaked in 2016 when there were 23,569 daily visitor permits sold that year. That number declined to 17,110 permits in 2017 and 15,287 in 2018. The recent decline appears to have been a result of negative publicity resulting from elevated fecal coliform counts in the water.[4]
Economic impact
editThe nearby town of Shediac benefits from the large number of tourists to the park and forms a summer service centre for numerous cottagers and campers who flock to the area. The popularity of Parlee Beach since the 1800s has created a cottaging area for the city of Moncton in communities surrounding Pointe-du-Chêne, ranging from the area of Cocagne and Bouctouche in the north and Barachois, Robichaud and Cap-Pelé in the east. This was enhanced by the construction of the 4-lane Route 15 expressway from Moncton to Shediac in the 1970s.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ New Brunswick Department of Tourism & Parks News Release, May 2011
- ^ Paul Jordan, "Residential Development in Coastal Communities: Addressing Climate Change Through Sustainable Coastal Planning", CMHC, 2002, p. 27
- ^ websolutions.ca. "Parlee Beach Provincial Park | Dates & Rates". Explore New Brunswick's Provincial Parks | NB Parks. Retrieved 2024-11-07.
- ^ McGee, Shane (28 September 2018). "Parlee Beach numbers down again". CBC News - New Brunswick. CBC/Radio-Canada. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
