Fossil Coast Nature Reserve partially overlaps with and complements a portion of the Joggins Fossil Cliffs UNESCO World Heritage Site and the associated provincially-designated Joggins Fossil Cliffs Protected Site.

This fossil-rich part of the Bay of Fundy shore, in Cumberland County, has been the subject of geological fascination for over 150 years. The nature reserve designation extends protection landward along 8 km of coastal cliffs, near Boss Point.

The bedrock here is known, geologically, as the Boss Point Formation. This records ancient river systems sourced in the rising ancestral Appalachian Mountains that flowed northeasterly through the Maritimes Basin towards Europe and an ancient sea.

A mix of young and older coastal forest types cloak the underlying bedrock and glacial till. This nature reserve contributes to representation of the Chignecto Ridged Plain Natural Landscape in the provincial protected areas network.

Extensive mud flats, shaped by some of the highest tides in the world, occupy portions of the intertidal zone, seaward of the nature reserve.

This area provides opportunities for coastal hiking as well as geological research and interpretation in coordination with the Joggins Fossil Institute.