This ecoregion covers a large, triangular-shaped plain extending from south-central New Brunswick to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, including the Northumberland coastline of Nova Scotia. The climate is marked by warm summers and mild, snowy winters. The mean annual temperature is approximately 5°C. The mean summer temperature is 15.5°C and the mean winter temperature is -5.5°C. The mean annual precipitation ranges 1000-1300 mm. The closed mixedwood forest is mainly composed of red spruce, balsam fir, red maple, hemlock, and eastern white pine. Sugar maple and yellow birch are found on the larger hills. Wetlands are extensive and support dwarf black spruce and eastern larch at their perimeters. Eastern white cedar is found only on the New Brunswick section of the lowlands. The lowlands are underlain by flat to gently dipping Carboniferous sandstones, shales, and conglomerates and rise inland from sea level to 200 m asl. The ecoregion is blanketed with stony, loamy glacial tills. The dominant soils are Humo-Ferric Podzols and Gray Luvisols with compact subsoils that restrict internal drainage. Significant areas of Gleysols, Fibrisols on flat and raised bogs, and Mesisols on fens also exist. The ecoregion provides habitat for moose, black bear, white-tailed deer, red fox, snowshoe hare, porcupine, fisher, coyote, beaver, ruffed grouse, bobcat, marten, raccoon, and muskrat. Shorebirds and seabirds inhabit salt marshes and coastal habitats. Forestry, agriculture (5% of the ecoregion is farmland), coal mining, tourism, and recreation are dominant land uses. The major communities include Fredericton, Moncton, Chatham, Bathurst, New Glasgow, and Shediac. The population of the ecoregion is approximately 441 800.
This ecoregion is part of the Atlantic Maritime ecozone.