We stayed four times at the Mersey River Chalets in 3 different chalets and we will definitely return. Our first time which was our first time ever in the Maritimes was from September 9-11 2009 in chalet #4. We loved it so much we went back the next month and we booked chalet # 4 again for four nights from October 12-16 2009. Our third visit was from February 11-15 2011 in chalet #2, and the fourth and last visit was from June 10-14 2011 in chalet #7.

Every time (except in February of course) we enjoyed paddling the free canoes on the beautiful river and lake. There are two different routes to choose from on both sides of the cascades and both took us about 2 hours return.

We strolled down the super long boardwalk many times; in the morning while having our coffee, at night after supper, and sometimes to get either the Scrabble or Monopoly game. We had breakfast once on one of the boardwalk picnic tables and chatted with some friendly British tourists.

In June we enjoyed watching hummingbirds right in our window and at night bats having a mosquito feast. In 2009 we were lucky to have a dark clear sky and walked to the lake dock with some blankets and saw the most stars we had ever seen!

The winter experience in chalet #2 was great. We had our snowshoes and walked right out of the chalet with them. We followed the river on the forest side until the end and had lunch on a small hill over looking the frozen river. At the end of the day, it was so good to snuggle in front of the wood stove. Kejimkujik National Park is only a few minutes away and we went there to snowshoe, bike, hike and swim. We also did snowshoe at the Annapolis Historical Gardens.

Our favorite chalet had to be #7. It is a larger chalet over looking the boardwalk. It is very roomy with lots of light. It has a bigger dining room table, a bigger kitchen and has 2 futons. The chalets all have showers only. They provide soap and shampoo, towels and facecloths. Hairdryers are available at the office. There are no TVs but they all have a small CD/radio player. The fridge is a half size one and the cooking is done on a stove top. There’s no oven but there is a microwave and there is a charcoal BBQ on the deck: they sell wood charcoal briquettes at the office. There is an outdoor wood heated hot tub near the lake but we were never fortunate to be there while it was in operation.

We always found the chalets to be very clean. The staff is very welcoming and friendly and it always feels like home every time we go. They now have internet access at the office. We love Mersey River Chalets so much we forget how uncomfortable the beds are; it’s still better than sleeping on a tent floor and we wish we were there now! We hope this review was helpful in planning your vacation to Nova Scotia. You will love it!