Grand opening of Pickard Quarry Wilderness Park
On September 18 2025, the Town of Sackville held the official grand opening of the Pickard Quarry Wilderness Park. In 2022, the town acquired 11.6 acres of land from Mt. A, the prior owner for many years. From the 1880s to the 1970s, the quarry was a source of thousands of tons of red sandstone which provided the Mt. A campus buildings with their recognizable colours. Several other buildings across New Brunswick have also been built from the quarry’s resources, including the Bank of Montreal in Moncton on Mountain Road and the Saint John Arts Centre. Some resources from the Sackville quarry travelled as far as Queen’s Park in Toronto.
After its closure in the 1970s, the quarry was rehabilitated with plants, many non-native to Atlantic Canada. Quarry neighbour and biologist, Richard Elliot, took on creating and maintaining trails along the park as a personal project during the COVID-19 pandemic. Elliot spent many hours over the years trimming back the trails and keeping invasive plants contained. Elliot and his family have also kept track of animals they have spotted on the grounds, with about 17 different animals including muskrats, rabbits, and deer.
When the quarry park was turned over to the Town of Sackville, its potential for stormwater management was realized. With Sackville’s proximity to the Bay of Fundy and Chignetco Ismuths, the town is at risk of flooding. To manage this, the town has created the Lorne Street Stormwater Mitigation Pond (The Retention Pond), to help drain water in flooding scenarios. The Quarry Park has also been set up to help drain water from flooding, making nearby streets like Quarry Lane a safer place to live. The official opening of the Pickard Quarry Wilderness Park commemorated a series of new, marked hiking trails, as well as detailed interpretive signage. The signs cover a plethora of topics, including the Quarry’s operational history, invasive plants and their native ranges, and uses for different animals, from shelter for wintering birds to pond-dwelling animals. The signs were constructed by the Municipality of Tantramar with the help of Chignecto Naturalists’ Club and Tantramar Heritage Trust. Although the ponds are not suitable for swimming, they are an excellent location for ice skating in winter, being one of the only places in Sackville sheltered from the harsh marshland winds. Going forward, the Town of Sackville hopes to create accessible trails to allow everyone an equal access point to see the historic quarry. Currently, the labelled trail system is a modified version of that of a ski slope, with blue markers (moderate), and red markers (difficult). Although the trails themselves are short, only a couple of kilometres total, there are some areas with short but steep hills with uneven footing.
Pickard Quarry Wilderness Park is located just a short walk from Mt. A campus, with its entrance at the end of Quarry Lane, across the street from the Thornton and Edwards parking lot.