Both superlatives and contrasts define the 600-kilometre Saint John River. Although its mighty waters have been harnessed for power, it retains enough energy to sustain a variety of wildlife, shelter endangered species and sculpt the very foundations of Atlantic Canada. For almost a quarter of its length it is a wilderness river, first coursing through forests in Maine and then plunging down a steep gorge as it enters New Brunswick. Past the town of Grand Falls, it becomes domesticated with picturesque farms and communities carved out along its banks. In Fredericton it transforms into a vast, placid 130 kilometre-long estuary, finally emptying out into the Bay of Fundy at the famed Reversing Falls.