King's Landing, New Brunswick, Canada

KING'S LANDING, PRINCE WILLIAM, NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA

Although King's Landing is not located within the boundaries of Maine, it does depict life as it was in this area in the middle 1800's. This reconstructed village is located twenty-three miles west of the City of Fredericton, New Brunswick on the Trans-Canada Highway. The village is composed of buildings brought to the site from the St. John River area when the construction of a dam threatened them. The New Brunswick Department of Education operates the site which attracts tourists during the summer months and serves the school children of the area year-round.

King's Landing is reached by following I-95 north from Bangor to Houlton. It is approximately three hours to Houlton allowing a rest at the Medway rest area. It is advisable to fuel your buses in Houlton before proceeding. From Houlton King's Landing is fifty miles via I-95 to the Canadian border, Route 2 to the Trans-Canada Highway and south towards Fredericton to exit 259. There are very visible signs giving you directions to the attraction.

On arrival you enter a reception building where a fee is collected. If you make arrangements at least thrity days in advance, special rates are given for groups over 25. Contact: Education Officer, King's Landing Corporation....Our cost was $1.00 for students, $2.00 for adults. One adult was admitted free for each ten students. All bus drivers and directors were free. The walking tour is self-guided and begins within the reception building with murals depicting the history of the area. From there you walk through the settlement where you may visit an operational river craft, working saw mill, small theatre which gives performances, and fifty other buildings of the period. The buildings are staffed by persons playing the role of residents of the community. Your tour may take from three hours to as long as you wish. A snack bar is located well into the tour, and it is advised that students have lunch before starting.

At the conclusion of the tour, students may visit the gift shop in the Reception Building. Our return trip took us back to Houlton where we fuelled the buses, ate our dinner...and traveled I-95 to Bangor. The total day was fourteen hours in length and we travelled 404 miles. This was one of our best trips.

Our group very successfully made the King's Landing trip a part of an overnight trip. Day one was spent at Loring Air Force Base, overnight at Loring, and day two at King's Landing.

We recommend this plan if travel time is lengthy. This was one of our best trips.

King's Landing
Student Rating - 3.6
Staff Rating - 3.9

(Excerpt from The Maine Journey Field Trip Guide, 1980, p.37.)

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