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Flying over the New Brunswick tourism information centre near the Quebec border is a decidedly odd-looking flag: White, with six red stars forming a semi-circle over an eagle. It symbolizes the Republic of Madawaska, the name Acadian settlers gave this wedge of land at a time when, thanks to an unresolved border issue, they didn't know whether they belonged to the U.S., Acadia or Quebec.
Madawaska's main town is Edmundston, separated from the U.S. by the Saint John River. Its biggest attraction is the New Brunswick Botanical Garden at Saint-Jacques, 8 km north.
Gardening is a challenge; the area gets only 90 frost-free days and winter temperatures plunge to minus 25. Yet in only 13 years, a dedicated staff has created a lovely place where classical music emerges from hidden speakers. They also won a silver prize for excellence in at Mosaicultures Internationales in Montreal in 2003.
There are seven distinct gardens, including one with decorative ponds created from a soccer field, and its open June through early September.
A small auto museum next door displays a 1975 Bricklin, a sporty-looking roadster with gull-winged doors and a fibreglass body once built in New Brunswick.
Auberge les Jardins Inn, next to the botanical garden, is a convenient place to stay. The dining room is touted as the best in the area -- its chef spent 17 years at the Paris residence of the Canadian ambassador. A three-course table d'hote menu -- soup or salad, main course, dessert and coffee or tea -- is $26 to $50 per person, depending on your choice of main.
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In Edmundston, guided tours are available at Le Fortin du P'tit-Sault, a reconstruction of a blockhouse built during the bloodless Aroostook War, a border conflict settled by a treaty in 1842 that divided the population of the Madawaska region between Maine and N.B.
We left the legendary republic to visit a provincial park named for 820-metre Mount Carleton, the Atlantic provinces' highest point.
Taking the scenic route meant following or crossing several rivers, so we backtracked to Grand Falls and drove Hwy. 108 east to Plaster Rock, then Hwy. 385, part of the Appalachian Range Route, north along the Tobique River.
Most of the park is easily accessible to less active visitors.There are beaches and picnic areas to enjoy, lakes for swimming or canoeing, all connected by roads. Admission is free, and a two-day camping package costs only $50.
The rest of the day's drive, north to Campbellton, yielded the most rewarding scenery. Just south of Robinsonville, Hwy. 17 plunges down a steep hill and offers a dramatic view of the Upsaiquitch Valley and the peaks of Squaw Cap and Slate and Mann mountains. At Dawsonville, we left Hwy. 17 and took the Restigouche River Road until that renowned salmon stream emptied into Chaleur Bay.
Following rivers is often a good bet, but we hit the scenic jackpot on that early October day, blessed with blue sky, temperatures in the 20s and a fall colour change that was nearing its peak. For tourism information, call 1-800-561-0123, or visit tourismnewbrunswick.ca.