Episode Guest
Manon Gallant, Interpretation Coordinator
Prince Edward Island National Park
Park Stats
- Where park is located – Dalvay by the Sea, Prince Edward Island, Canada (though there are park locations throughout the island)
- Park was established – 1937
- Size of the park – 5,440 acres
- Highest elevation – 142 meters (466 ft)
- Fun Facts
- The theme of the park is “the Sea, People and the Changing Landscape”
- Home to the Covehead Lighthouse that commemorates the Yankee Gale, a marine disaster in 1851 where about 150 sailors from a New England fishing fleet perished. Many of them are buried in a cemetery within PEINP, on the Bubbling Springs trail.
- Has a 10,000 year history, inhabited by Aboriginal people, the French, Acadian, Scottish, Irish, and English.
- Is considered a Canadian Important Bird area – home to Piping Plover (endangered), heron, ducks, owls, falcons, eagles and more
- Also home to coyotes, red foxes, raccoons, minks, and more.
Speed Round
What is your earliest park memory?
I grew up near Kouchibouguac National Park, which is in New Brunswick. So my earliest memory would be driving through the forest, like the winding road. It seemed like it was gonna take forever, but it was just so beautiful. And then we’d finally get to the campground or the beach and it was just such an adventure, just even driving through.
What made you love the parks?
As a kid, the adventure of it and, being in nature. I’ve always loved being outside. As an adult, I can appreciate, now more, the conservation efforts and just having a place that’s untouched and natural and you can just sit and connect with nature.
What is your favorite thing about Prince Edward Island National Park?
The Greenwich Dunes Trail. So a beautiful walking trail in Greenwich and then a Greenwich section of the park kind of winds through some open fields, into the forest, onto a floating boardwalk. You end up, climbing over this giant sand dune. It’s just wonderful. I never, ever tire of it.
What is your favorite thing to do at Prince Edward Island National Park?
I actually live about five minutes from Dalvay, so my favorite thing to do, on a regular basis, is just get up early and go for a beach walk or even just sit and read a book before the hustle and bustle. That’s my favorite.
What park have you yet to visit but is on your bucket list and why?
In Canada, Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland. I’ve seen pictures. It just seems like such a drastically different world, with the fjords and the mountains. It just looks incredible. That’s definitely on top of my bucket list.
What are three must-haves you pack for a park visit?
- Sunscreen
- Water
- Beach towel
What is your favorite campfire activity?
Telling stories, just like chatting. People are more open when they’re watching a fire and just I like to hear what comes out around a campfire.
Tent, camper, or cabin?
am gonna say camper van. I’m very jealous of your setup. I don’t own one, but that is definitely my goal is to own one of those and drive around the country.
Hiking with or without trekking poles?
Without. There’s zero elevation here, so no need.
And what is your favorite trail snack?
A really good trail mix. It has to have cashews, dried cranberries, and dark chocolate.
What is the favorite animal sighting that you’ve had?
Fox kits playing on the beach. Special mention to the bald eagle.
What is your favorite sound in the parks?
Those morning beach walks. Usually the water’s pretty calm and just that gentle wave lapping on the beach.
What is the greatest gift the parks give to us?
Hopefully, ongoing preservation, protection and presentation of the most beautiful places in our country for future generations.
Episode Transcript
Missy Rentz:
In this episode, we are driving across the border to our first Parks Canada destination. This parks, Sandy beaches are the safe home for plants and animal habitat, as well as a summer recreation destination for visitors from around the world. Join me as we explore Prince Edward Island National Park. I’m your host, Missy Rentz, and this is the Parks podcast. In this episode, I’m thrilled to welcome Manon Gallant, who is the interpretation coordinator for Prince Edward Island National Park. This is our first episode with a Parks Canada Park. Thank you so much and welcome to the Parks podcast.
Manon Gallant:
Thank you, Missy.
Missy Rentz:
I feel like extra special because this was my first time across the border experiencing a park, and it was such an amazing, welcoming, warm environment. And I’m honored to have you be the first episode from the Parks up there.
Manon Gallant:
I am so happy to hear that we definitely strive for that atmosphere here.
Missy Rentz:
We start every episode with Park Stats, so I’m gonna go through what I researched, and if I’ve made any mistakes, just feel free to pop in and correct me.
Manon Gallant:
Will do.
Missy Rentz:
The park is located at Dalvay by the Sea Prince Edward Island, Canada. Though there are elements of the park that expand throughout the island, it was established in 1937. The park size is 5,440 acres. It’s highest elevation is 142 meters, which is 466 feet. And some interesting facts. The theme of the park is the sea. People and the changing landscape. It’s home to the cove head Lighthouse that commemorates the Yankee Gale, which was a marine disaster in 1851, where 150 sailors from New England a fishing fleet perished and many of them are buried within a cemetery inside prince Edward Island National Park. It has 10,000 years of history inhabited by aboriginal people, the French Acadian, Scottish Irish, and English, and is considered a Canadian import bird area. It’s home to the piping plover, which is an endangered bird, heron, duck, fowls, falcons, eagles, and so many more. And you’ll also find coyotes, red foxes, raccoons, minks, and more. In this wonderful park. I loved it, absolutely loved it. I, and I’m giddy now. I was there a year ago and I’m still like, giddy about my experience. I grew up on Anna of Green Gables on the books, Anna Green Gables. My grandmother gave them to me, and I just, I the movies were delightful. So I’ve always romanticized this part of the world and it didn’t disappoint for sure. It didn’t disappoint. Can you share the story of why this park was created and why it’s important in the Canadian National Park system?
Manon Gallant:
Of course. So there was a creation of national Park started in the western end of the country with Banff at first. PEI National Park was the 16th National Park established. And like you said, in 1937 what is unique and important about this national park? When you think of a national park, you think like forests and mountains, that’s kind of like the picture that comes to mind. PEI is. Is very much not that we have, beautiful coastlines and important ecosystems that need to be protected. So the original park was created between Cavendish to the West and DDalvay more central PEI, and it was a basically a strip of about 25 miles of coastline. And the primary function was to preserve the dunes and the ecosystem along those shores. So that was kinda like the natural aspect of it. But also there’s the, the big cultural aspect as you’ve mentioned, Anne of Green Gables is like our icon here on PEI Lucy Maud Montgomery lived here and she wrote her books here. And that’s definitely part of, preserving that cultural heritage. The landscape is pretty much what you would’ve seen, when Lucy Maud Montgomery was sitting down writing those books. It’s pretty much the same as it was back then. So the National Park plays a big role in, in that.
Missy Rentz:
And prince Edward Island National Park. You have, I think you have multiple locations and throughout the island and some of them are historic sites. And I, one thing I wonder is like in, in the. Us and the US Park system, seashores Parks, monuments, historic sites, they’re all under the National Park umbrella.
Manon Gallant:
Mm-hmm.
Missy Rentz:
does it work similarly there or are the historic sites part of Prince Edward Island National Park?
Manon Gallant:
They’re separate. We have a, like an overarching field unit here on Prince Edward Island and the National Park System and the natural historic sites fall under that same operation umbrella, but we are separate. So you have the national park, that has historic sites on it. So like Green Gables to the West in Cavendish, Dalvay by the Sea. That’s a historic site. More central. They are within National Park boundaries, but they’re operated separately as a, as national historic sites, if that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. And so you, and you’re right, like I think if you look up just PEI National Park you’ll see, Dalvay as the main site. But really it’s pretty much the entire north shore of PEI, what we call the North Shore from Cavendish all the way to the west, all the way down to North Rustico. And then you have to go inland again, and then Brackley Beach. To Dalvay. So that was the central the west is central end. That was the original section of the national park. In 98 they added the Greenwich part. And did you make it up to Greenwich?
Missy Rentz:
I did not
Manon Gallant:
Oh, okay. You’ll
Missy Rentz:
Big Miss. Okay. It’s not hard to twist my arm on
Manon Gallant:
Yes. So officially we have three sections of the park, the western end, the central end, and Greenwich to the east.
Missy Rentz:
And we’re taught, we’re working on doing some episodes on some of those historic sites, but We’re gonna do some episodes on. Several of these historic sites, but one that is not on the list is DDalvay by the Sea A stunning spot. Can you just because so many people will not be familiar with it, can you just explain what that is?
Manon Gallant:
Yes. So Dalvay House is like the the anchor, one of the anchors we like to say green Gables being one, Dalvay being the other. It’s a former summer home of an American oil magnate. It was. Built in the late 18 hundreds. Kept as a summer home for this man and his family for about 20 years. It sold and changed hands several times and was run as a hotel kind of through over the years. It was purchased by the government the year before the park was created, the provincial government. And then the federal government purchased it as part of the the creation of the national park. It’s now still run as a hotel, a historic hotel by a third party. And visitors are welcome to go and check out the lobby. It has a grand fireplace and some really cool architecture from the time period.
Missy Rentz:
One of the things, again, back to my, like romanticizing this region, but I think it deserves it. There’s also Adirondack chairs down by the water in front of it, and. People were sitting out there covered in blankets and it was just like quintessential Prince Edward Island moment with the sea and the tall grasses and the Adirondack chairs. It’s really a stunning place. And it is it within the park limits
Manon Gallant:
It is. Yeah. We, I’ve, I met a some, a few couples last year staying at Dalvay, and they’ve been coming back for, 30 plus years that they, this is where they come every single year. So it, it does have a special place in a lot of people’s hearts.
Missy Rentz:
Yeah. And so that you’ve got a lot of historic, what about some of the conservation and environmental efforts of the park? What are you all working on?
Manon Gallant:
Dune preservation, dune restoration, like the dune habitat is always a big big item on the agenda. Especially in the last few years. We’ve, we had a hurricane three years ago. So that kind of took a large chunk of the coastline. They’ve had to do quite a bit of restoration there there are. Our endangered species and different things. We have several portfolios, but that was definitely something that came along and interrupted everything. So there’s a lot of effort going into planting marm grass to try and encourage dune formation and stability. We do with the hurricane, we lost quite a bit of trees, so we are doing some active this, what I was doing this morning actually, I joined the resource conservation team and we went to plant some trees in some areas that kind of have a need for a little bit of help from our teams here. So with Parks Canada, we have a duty to protect endangered species. So it’s required by law. So we do have quite a bit of resources going towards that effort. So every spring they piping, plover comes to our shores and our teams here they monitor their presence. They will shut down beaches when. The plovers are around nesting, and so we do quite a bit of work around that and other species as well. Just the piping plover seems to be the the more common one and the one that people know more about.
Missy Rentz:
That’s, you can tell too, when you’re just, experiencing the park, biking, walking, hiking, there’s just so much, protected space or there’s a lot of work being done. Yeah, it’s really incredible. The other thing I mentioned in the fun facts, the different inhabitants, Aboriginal, French, Acadian, Scottish, Irish, English. All of those cultures are really represented throughout the park.
Manon Gallant:
Yes.
Missy Rentz:
in, and this is where I’m gonna, I’m gonna let you give me a tutorial, even in one of the historic sites, which I struggle on how to say
Manon Gallant:
And you’re referring to Skmaqn–Port-la-Joye–Fort Amherst?
Missy Rentz:
Yes.
Manon Gallant:
Yes. The site is called Skmaqn–Port-la-Joye–Fort Amherst. So it’s a trilingual name and it references the historical timeline of the place. It’s the site of the first permanent European settlement on PEI and it’s actually located just across the river from Charlottetown. So you can see the site from downtown Charlottetown. So Skmaqn literally means. Meeting place in the Mi’kmaq language, Mi’kmaq being the indigenous people of Prince Edward Island. Back before European contact, this was a place where Mi’kmaq gathered the French were first to establish a colony there, they called it Port la Joye in 1720. And that. Port fell to the British in the 1750s and became Fort Amherst. So the Parks Canada partnered with our indigenous partners here on the island and have done a really good job at telling the story of the history and the culture from multiple perspectives with signage in all three languages.
Missy Rentz:
Yeah. And that’s at that site, which hopefully we’re gonna do an episode on. But I just felt, and I’m pretty sure, I’m pretty sure so you can tell me if I’m wrong, but I just felt that throughout Prince Edward Island National Park it felt very open to telling the story of its past, even its past inhabitants.
Manon Gallant:
Yes, that’s a, that’s one of our one of our values or one of the things that we strive for at Parks Canada is in, in this spirit of reconciliation with our indigenous partners. So we do try to, speak the truth and allow everyone to understand, we don’t shy away, I guess from our history and I think the more people know the better we all
Missy Rentz:
Yeah, I absolutely agree. And it’s fun because through throughout the island, even outside of the park, like that means you’re getting different foods and you’re getting different stories and different arts, and it really does make it make it a. Fun time. Let’s talk about planning a trip, because for most of my audience, while it’s an international audience, most of them are from America. The United States, we’re all from America. They’re, most of’em are from the United States. And and it, this is a different, this is different, but. It’s still not that hard. So let’s talk about planning a trip. The first thing is because of weather, there is a short period of time in which you can visit Prince Edward Island National Park. When are you open?
Manon Gallant:
So we are operational from early June to mid-September. That doesn’t mean you can’t come at other times of the year, but that’s when our, our bathrooms are open. We have staff on site to help answer questions. We have programming. From July to early July. To early September. So that’s when there’s more, more going on. Peak season is July and August for sure. But we do have a bit of time on either end of that for visitors with some some options in the national park. But definitely, there’s people still around. We lots of people still going out for, trail walks or walks on the beach even though facilities are closed. So that’s still an option. But if you want the most out of your visit operational season would be best.
Missy Rentz:
I came in late August and I was so excited’cause I was, I wanted to escape the Southern United States heat and humidity. And so I’m sitting at the campsite, like huddled over a campfire in like sweats and everybody’s walking by me in bathing suits headed to the ocean.
Manon Gallant:
Yeah we, I’m not sure, like I was telling you a little bit earlier, like there’s people still swimming. I’ve, I swam myself just in the last two weeks. It’s not like it’s a cold swim, but our winters are so cold. We just try and soak it all up as much as we can.
Missy Rentz:
Yeah, it’d be, that would be interesting. Okay. So getting to Prince at Edward Island is unique and if you’re coming from the US you have to pass through the border. And so you need a passport and whatnot, and that’s not challenging. You just have to be prepared. What else do visitors need to know about getting to the park?
Manon Gallant:
And I, you alluded to that a little bit earlier when you said the park is in Dalvay, so when, whenever you plan your trip or you book your trip, you have to be pretty specific with your GPS as to where you’re going. We’ve had lots of visitors being like I ended up in Cavendish and I wanted to be in Dalvay. So being specific about where you are with your GPS or your phone. Is going to go a long way, but basically, e even then, like e you’re never more than, half an hour from the National Park. For example, if you’re staying in Charlottetown, you’re about 20 minutes outside of Braley to Dalvay. Maybe a little bit further to Cavendish, and then maybe 45 minutes to Greenwich. So it’s all pretty easy to drive. But yeah, that would be the biggest tip is just being specific about where you’re going with your search.
Missy Rentz:
I’ll, and I’ll just add as the person who came from the US to get there for me, I crossed the border. In in Maine, and you can take the ferry or the bridge to get there, but you’re gonna need passport and then I was traveling with A dog. And so that adds a little bit of a complication’cause you need to have your vet records printed from your vet and they need to physically sign it so it can’t be like a digital signature. And so that’s just something that first of all, check both the Canadian and us customs and immigration websites because it might change But that’s what it took for me. So it just took some planning and updates on my making sure I had my passport and making sure I had everything for Tootsie, my dog as well.
Manon Gallant:
Yes. If you’re traveling with a dog, it does make things a little bit more complicated, but certainly worth it if you’re, if you wanna bring your your pet with you.
Missy Rentz:
Yes. Okay, let’s talk about they, okay, they get to, they get there now. Where are they gonna stay? What are the different lodging options? At the park?
Manon Gallant:
So it, within the park we have two campgrounds and most. Most are just your, your regular camping sites. We do have a handful of bunkies. Another type of accommodation we call otic. Basically, it’s just a big platform with a tent and some bunks. It’s. Basic, but it’s comfortable. You’re dry so that if not a super avid camper, it’s a good introduction. Other than that, there’s the Dalvay Hotel that, that can be booked. You can stay within the national park. But that, those are really the only accommodation. Inside the park, there are, dozens of hotels and cottage, particularly cottage businesses in and around the park. Not, sorry, not in the park, around the park. So there’s lots of options, but I would book as early as possible camping books out pretty quickly as do cottages. So it’s a good idea to plan in advance.
Missy Rentz:
And we’re, this is we’re in October of 2025 and this is the perfect time to start planning I have to tell you, your campgrounds are far from standard. They are. Tell Nice and I, somebody had told me, when I was started camping, oh, you need to go to Canadian parks. Their campsites are incredible. These campsites are large, though I stayed at Cavendish, and so it was a large campsite. And super tall grasses, so it gives total privacy and there’s electricity and there’s water at some of them, and there’s great bath houses and they are spectacular
Manon Gallant:
wonderful. wonderful. Our booking system goes live in late winter. I don’t have the date, exact dates, but they’re usually announced on our websites or on our social media. They basically go live and things book up like instantly. So that’s a little tip follow, follow along our social media to find out when the campsites are open for bookings. But I’m glad you’re, I’m glad you had a good experience. It is a beautiful campground.
Missy Rentz:
Oh gosh, yes. And it, and the community, it really does feel like nothing has changed. Like it’s, it, like the island seems to have while grown and developed, still kept the charm. So it, there are a lot of those cottage, or I even, there were a couple that you had the cottage hotels and then they had one campsite or something like that. There’s a lot of opportunity if you don’t get into a camp, into a campground. Okay. What can people do when they’re visiting the park?
Manon Gallant:
There’s tons to do in the national park, but this being, a coastal region, your main activity is gonna be the beach. We have, something like 12 beach parking lots in the national park. So lots of opportunities for spending a lovely day at the beach. The parking lots do fill up during peak season. So if you’re looking for a nice beach day, you wanna get there before lunch for sure. And I have a couple of things around, like water safety we can talk about a little bit later. But swimming is definitely, one of the main activities. We have lovely cycling paths, we have multi-use paths. There’s a few basically going along the entire shore. Those are paved paths. And then we have a couple of trail networks. So you know, overall around. 35 miles worth of trails for cycling or walking? I wouldn’t say there are, there’s hiking necessarily. You could definitely walk all of these trails. But they’re mostly easy, flat, compacted gravel. If you’re looking for hills, they’re not in the national park.
Missy Rentz:
No, there probably aren’t many on the island actually. Rolling Hill.
Manon Gallant:
We have a central PEI has a bit of elevation. I, it’s not nothing to, but if you’re looking for, you can find some challenging hikes, but it, they’re, you have to know where to go. We have, access to water. We have lots of canoeing, kayaking, paddleboarding opportunities. We don’t have any rentals currently with. Within the national Park, but certainly some businesses adjacent to the National park, like in North Rustico and in Trady will do rentals out there as well. It’s beautiful, especially on a calm day, you can get we windy that, keep that in mind. But there’s beautiful birdwatching, in all three regions really. We don’t have any specific birdwatching tours, but that’s something that I’m, hopefully gonna be working on in the next year or two. Who knows? But certainly if you’re an avid birder there’s a lots to see, especially in Greenwich if if I’m being honest.
Missy Rentz:
Okay.
Manon Gallant:
And then, what else? Fishing. Lots of people, lots of, especially locals they’ll come out in the evening and fish for striped bass right off the beach. You don’t need a permit or anything. If you’ve got a fishing rod, you can set up on the beach and try to catch some bass.
Missy Rentz:
Okay, so I saw a social media post about a red chair. I’m
Manon Gallant:
those are.
Missy Rentz:
it program, but what is the
Manon Gallant:
Yeah, they’re red chairs, so that’s a Canada Parks, Canada wide, initiative. So there are red Adirondack chairs sprinkled throughout the national park. We have several here in the national park on pi. Some are really easy to find, the ones at Dalvay Lake, you must have seen them in your travels. But then we have some that are pretty well hidden, like on Robinson’s Island, like you, you would actually have to take your bike out for, five kilometers and try to find them along the little trail. So they’re fun if you’re into that kind of thing and just drive around and hike around to search them out. They’re neat. And then I, this is a few years ago, but you were there was a social media Promotion that you would tag the national park in your red chair photos. So it’s neat to see all the pictures.
Missy Rentz:
it is neat. It is unique to go to a park that’s on an ocean. What are some of the rules or recommendations that you recommend to help people who are visiting have a safe trip?
Manon Gallant:
Yeah, absolutely. So that’s, we take, water safety really seriously here at the National Park. We have four beaches that are, that have surf guards during the operational season. So I would definitely recommend going to one of those. Guarded beaches if you’re not a confident swimmer or if you just wanna make sure that what’s going on. The ocean conditions here change pretty drastically from one day to the next, just depending on how the wind is blowing. One day if we have a south wind, it could be calm as a mayor, and then a few days later. We’ve had some north winds. There can be some pretty wild surf with some rip currents, so it’s always best to check with surf guards. There’s a park wide ban on inflatable floaties, so if you’re wanting to bring your, your floaty unicorn, you’re gonna have to leave it in the car. And then we have some jellyfish. So we have the red arctic jellyfish that has kinda like the stringy red. Tentacles, those will sting. They’re not they’re not poisonous or venomous. They’re, it’s uncomfortable. But they are around for, they come with the currents. They’re here for a few weeks outta the year, and then they move along. So that’s something to watch for as well.
Missy Rentz:
Are there any fees or passes that people need to you, you talked about in some spaces you can fish without, but are there any, is there anything like that people need to make sure they. At in advance.
Manon Gallant:
Normally we do have admission fees to the national parks. Rates are usually around like$7 US per person, per day. We definitely have a group senior discounts, and then if you’re gonna be spending a. A bit of time in the national park here on PEI or even, see multiple national parks. You might look into getting what’s called a discovery pass covers all of the national Park. That being said we just had an announcement today. They’re bringing back the Canada Strong pass that we had this year. So admission is gonna be free next year again.
Missy Rentz:
Amazing.
Manon Gallant:
Yeah, so we had free admission this year. We’ve definitely seen a, an increase in visitation this year. That’s probably, related to that as well
Missy Rentz:
Yeah, that’s great. I will, I’ll make sure to share that post on social. Because now is the time to start planning and take advantage of that free entry. Something that was really important for me because I took my dog Tootsie, was that you are dog friendly and you have a park etiquette program. Um, what do people need to know when they’re bringing their four-legged family members with them?
Manon Gallant:
We love dogs here. We love them in the national park. We do have some strict rules about animals, domestic animals on beaches. So basically between April and October they’re not allowed on beaches and that’s to. Wildlife and domestic animal interactions and, the piping plover being endangered. That’s one of the main reasons. But also, other wildlife and as well for visitor safety. So in terms of, other, petiquette or other, pieces of advice for having a good time with your your dog. You wanna keep your dog on a leash at all times and avoid wildlife’s interactions as much as possible. All the general rules picking up after your pet. And I would advise you to check before you go. For example. Not all places are necessarily gonna be pet friendly and you know your dog better, if you’re going into a really crowded area, depending on how your dog is just be aware of that. And if you’re looking for beaches, it’s, a lot of visitors come and they’re disappointed that they can’t go on the beach. There’s, there’s a pet friendly beach not too far from the national park pretty much anywhere you are. Just ask one of the friendly park keys that you encounter and they’ll be happy to direct you. I,
Missy Rentz:
One thing I I went on this lovely walk down the main drive with Tootsie, but and. You also have, she, they’re not allowed on the beach, but you have set up these really great areas with a bench and a picnic table. I think it had a picnic table and it was before you went down the stairs to the beach and we just sat there and still got to watch and just soak up being there. Even if you have your dog and you can’t go on the beach, there are ways to still sit and you’re not gonna be able to go swimming, but you’re gonna be able to sit and just observe and watch and it was very busy day for the birds. And There, there are really lovely ways to enjoy the park with your dog.
Manon Gallant:
Absolutely. Dogs are welcome pretty much anywhere. Humans are welcome, just not on the beaches. So all the trails, the boardwalks lots of opportunities to spend some time with your four-legged friend inside the park.
Missy Rentz:
So what else is happening at Prince Edward Island National Park, or what? What do we have to look forward to?
Manon Gallant:
Ooh, that’s a great question. For myself. In my role as the interpretation coordinator so we’re looking back at this past season and seeing what went well and what we can improve on. So I’m looking forward to maybe bringing in some new interpretive programs for next season knowing, we’re probably gonna have another high visitation year. What are people interested in? What are, what were our good programs and. Where can we like really help people get the most outta their visit from when they’re visiting the national park? So that’s, personally, that’s something I’m working on. We have free visitation, which is was just announced today, so that’s exciting. And then just see, the general ongoing work. You might not see them, but our teams are always hard at work. Trying to keep everything nice and clean for everyone and visitor safety is always top of mind as well. So we’re we’re already like gearing up for next year. I know this season just finished, but we’re definitely thinking ahead and trying to prepare for another successful year.
Missy Rentz:
That’s so exciting. So we wrap up every episode with a speed round of questions. Just answer with what first comes to mind for you. What is your earliest park memory?
Manon Gallant:
I grew up near Kouchibouguac National Park, which is in New Brunswick. So my earliest memory would be driving through the forest, like the winding road through the forest. It seemed like it was gonna take forever, but it was just so beautiful. And then we’d finally get to the, the campground or the beach and it was just such a, an adventure, just even driving through.
Missy Rentz:
What made you love the parks?
Manon Gallant:
As a kid it was just like, the adventure of it and, being in nature, I’ve always loved being outside. As an adult I can appreciate now more, the conservation efforts and just having a place that’s untouched and natural and you can just sit and connect with nature.
Missy Rentz:
What is your favorite thing about Prince Edward Island National Park?
Manon Gallant:
Ooh the Greenwich Dunes Trail. So a beautiful walking trail in Greenwich and then a Greenwich section of the park kind of wind through some open fields into the forest onto, a floating boardwalk and you end up, climbing over this, giant sand dune. It’s just wonderful. I never, ever tire of it.
Missy Rentz:
What is your favorite thing to do at Prince Edward Island? And National Park.
Manon Gallant:
Oh, okay. I actually live about five minutes from Dalvay, so my favorite thing to do, on a regular basis is just get up early and go for a beach walk or even just sit and read a book before the hustle and bustle. That’s my favorite.
Missy Rentz:
What park have you yet to visit, but it’s on your bucket list and why?
Manon Gallant:
In Canada, Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland. I’ve seen pictures. It just seems like such a drastically different world, with the fjords and the mountains. It just looks incredible. That’s definitely on top of my bucket list.
Missy Rentz:
What are three must haves PAC for a park visit?
Manon Gallant:
Here, PEI Summer, you want sunscreen water and a beach towel.’cause you’re gonna go in the water.
Missy Rentz:
What is your favorite campfire activity?
Manon Gallant:
Telling stories like, just like chatting, people are I don’t know, more open when they’re watching a fire and just I like to hear what comes out. Around a campfire.
Missy Rentz:
Tent, camper or cabin.
Manon Gallant:
Ooh. I am gonna say camper van, I’m very jealous of your setup. I don’t own one, but that is definitely my goal is to own one of those and drive around the country
Missy Rentz:
Are you hiking with or without trucking poles?
Manon Gallant:
without, there’s zero elevation here, no need.
Missy Rentz:
What is your favorite trail snack?
Manon Gallant:
Ooh. A really good trail mix. It has to have cashews, dried cranberries, dark chocolate,
Missy Rentz:
What is your favorite animal sighting?
Manon Gallant:
Fox kits playing on the beach. Special mention to the bald eagle.
Missy Rentz:
What is your favorite sound in the park?
Manon Gallant:
Those morning beach walks, like usually the water’s pretty calm and just that gentle wave lapping on the beach.
Missy Rentz:
And what is the greatest gift that the parks give to us?
Manon Gallant:
I. Hopefully just, ongoing preservation, protection and presentation of, the most beautiful places in our country just for future generations.
Missy Rentz:
Thank you so much for being part of the podcast, for teaching us about Prince Edward Island National Park and letting me relive a spectacular visit up there.
Manon Gallant:
My pleasure. This was fun.
Missy Rentz:
Thanks so much for listening to this episode. Until next time, we’ll see you in the parks. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please be sure to like and share on your favorite podcast platform. Music for the parks podcast is performed and produced by Porter Hardy. For more information, please follow us on Instagram at the parks podcast. Or visit our website@theparkspodcast.com.