Section of Fundy Footpath to remain closed for another few weeks

About 4.5 kilometres of the Fundy Footpath will remain closed to hikers for the next few weeks.

The closure is a result of about 10 metres of the trail bed sinking due to erosion in the Big Salmon to Long Beach section, said Gary Hyslop of the Fundy Hiking Trail Association.

The trail was officially closed on Thursday, he said.

He said the eroded section makes it difficult for hikers and could lead to falls.

"Pretty good chance that if you slipped you'd wind up falling down the slope a number of metres down to the riverbed," said Hyslop. "It's quite a drop."

Hyslop said he has concerns about erosion on other parts of the trail due to extreme weather events. His team monitors the trails.

He said a similar event occurred last year east of Long Beach, when the sandy cliff collapsed, taking out a part of the trail.

Repairs are planned for the affected section between Big Salmon and Long Beach. That could take a few weeks.

"What we'll do is we'll re-cut the trail … further up slope, away from that eroded area," he said.

He said the long-term plan is to move the trail away from the edge, further up on the slope.

Hyslop advises hikers to end their hike at Long Beach if their plan was to start at Fundy National Park in Goose River and go toward Big Salmon.

Those planning to start their hike from the western side are recommended to start from Long Beach, he said.

"There's no other access point that you can get on to the trail from between Big Salmon and Long Beach. It's very steep there."

He said the closed area is usually busy during summer due to the Big Salmon visitor centre. He said the trail closure may disappoint a few people who aren't aware of the situation.

"We get people that are coming in and just kind of looking to see what it looks like and where the problem happened is right at that spot ... so it will probably impact some folks."