Minto

 

Municipality of Grand Lake

In 2023, the Village of Minto was amalgamated with the village of Chipman and all or part of five local service districts to form the new Municipality of Grand Lake.

Minto is located on the north shore of Grand Lake, approximately 50km northeast of Fredericton. The population is approximately 2300 and the citizens have embraced the mountain bike community with open arms. Local businesses include; Tim Hortons, Shoppers Drug Mart, Twins Pizza, Lucky Garden Chinese Restaurant, NB Liquor, Omega Restaurant, Foodland, Irving gas station, Greco Pizza, and Cochrane's Corner Store.

A Small Mining Town

In the early 1900s, Minto did not experience the Great Depression as most other areas in Canada did - they profited from a coal mining boom. Coal brought financial prosperity to the community and by the late 1930s mining turned into a profitable venture for a number of companies. Early in Minto's coal mining exploits, land owners were permitted to mine under their own land without obtaining a license from the Crown or paying royalties. The need for transporting coal also brought the railway to Minto, and was to make the area "the most prosperous place in Canada."

A century later, coal mining in Minto came to an end. The last mining company, which had performed strip mining, closed in 2010. This process of removing layers of soil and rock, created a unique landscape of hills and valleys. Today, with regrowth, and newly formed lakes and ponds, this prime land has been adopted by trail builders and become a mecca for mountain bikers from across Canada with trails, views and features like no other trail system.