Fall is arguably the best time to visit Kejimkujik National Park in southwest Nova Scotia although I cannot speak to the other seasons really, as we only visited in fall. But when Indian Summer paints the quiet forests in bright hues of yellow, orange and red, there’s such beauty to be found along the lakeshores and riverbanks you could spend a week in the park and still not want to leave.

We visited when the most vibrant colours had already faded into more muted shades of gold and crimson, but the timing was still perfect to soak up the last warm days of the year and explore the national park, which was established in 1969, and draws tens of thousands of outdoor enthusiasts every year.

The most popular outdoor activities in Keji, as the park is called by locals, are water-based with many visitors coming to explore the canoe routes along traditional Mi’kmaq waterways that trace parts of the route that indigenous people took from the Bay of Fundy to the Atlantic Coast.

If you’re keen to get on the water but don’t have your own equipment, canoes, kayaks and paddleboards can be hired at various locations inside the park, with some rental companies even delivering equipment directly to your campsite. If you’re more comfortable joining a guided tour, you can choose between short trips and multi-day adventures.

Or, staying off the water altogether, explore the well-maintained hiking and biking trails in the park instead. There are some 15-odd trails, most of them shared-use trails that run through forests with 300-year-old hemlocks, along the banks of the Mersey River, around the park’s namesake lake, and cut through more remote backcountry terrain.

Kejimkujik is also a designated Dark-Sky Preserve, where particularly dark skies and bright stars make for wonderful stargazing and magical night walks.

The main park area is a 2-hour drive from Halifax, just close enough for a long day trip or a more relaxed overnight adventure if you camp in Kejimkujik between May and October. Sites book out very quickly though, so you’ll want to book ahead, especially during the school holidays and on weekends. There are front-country campsites with modern amenities, including hot showers, and backcountry campsites with basic amenities for hikers, bikers and canoeists, as well as different types of park-managed accommodations (oTENTik, Ôasis, rustic cabin, and yurt), some of which are heated.

In winter, you’ll need to limit your visit to a day trip, as overnight stays are not permitted between November 1 and Victoria Day weekend. The trails can still be used for snowshoeing and skiing, however, and I imagine a white, frozen landscape to be just as pretty (albeit significantly colder) as the brilliant colour spectacle of fall.

Kejimkujik National Park is actually divided into two separate areas – Kejimkujik National Historic Site of Canada and Kejimkujik National Park Seaside. We only visited the main park, located inland, 18km (11 miles) from Caledonia, so I cannot speak to Kejimkujik Seaside, but if the rest of Nova Scotia’s coastline is anything to go by, the park area by the sea is definitely worth a visit too.