Puffins, Whales, and Coastal Trails: Newfoundland's East Coast Trail by Land and Sea

The Trip

On this trip, we'll be hiking Newfoundland's spectacular East Coast Trail, which hugs the rugged edge of Eastern Canada. The Trail has taken its place among the world’s premier long-distance hiking trails. Our hikes will cover some amazing terrain — dramatic headlands and colorful rock formations, pristine forests and bakeapple bogs, pocket coves and wide sea meadows. There will be good wildflower viewing on all our hikes; we'll even see orchids and pitcher plants.

We'll have beautiful ocean views from the trail, but to get an even closer look we'll take a Zodiac boat trip into the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. There we'll see islands teeming with millions of nesting puffins, murres, kittiwakes, and petrels, and their chicks. We'll also see minke and humpback whales.

In St. John's, the cosmopolitan capital, we'll walk some of North America's oldest streets, admiring the brightly painted wooden homes that overlook the harbor. Another part of our city tour will take us along the Narrows, the dramatic entrance to St. John's harbor. We’ll visit the art and history museum of St. John’s, and dine in three wonderful locally-owned Newfoundland restaurants.

We'll enjoy a guided kayak paddle in Bay Bulls. Novice and experienced paddlers alike will appreciate this unique perspective of the bay's dramatic cliffs, cascading waterfalls, tilted rock formations, and narrow caves of the bay's waterfalls, colorful rock formations, and sea caves. Our guides will help us identify marine life.

We'll visit Cape Spear, the easternmost point on the North American continent, to tour the 180-year-old restored lighthouse, and hike the headlands. On our visit to Ferryland, we'll visit the lighthouse and the Colony of Avalon Museum and take a tour of the archaeological dig of the colony, which was founded by English settlers in 1621.

Here’s the general plan for our week of hiking and other activities on Newfoundland’s East Coast Trail. Please note that the itinerary may change due to weather.

Day 1: We'll meet in downtown St. John's at 11:00 a.m. to head off for our first adventure: exploring Signal Hill to see the expansive views of the harbor and hills of St. John’s from the Queen’s gun battery, and visit Cabot Tower at the summit of Signal Hill, where we can learn the history of Marconi’s first wireless transatlantic signal. We'll return to the downtown on a dramatic trail along St. John’s harbor and through the historic district of the Battery. Distance: 4 miles. We'll then drive to Bauline East to get settled in and have dinner at the cottages.

Day 2: We'll drive to the trailhead in Bay Bulls to hike the Michaleen’s Path, a lovely trail through coastal forest and sea meadow with red sandstone cliffs and rock formations -- always with a view of the ocean. Distance: 5 miles, some inclines. In the evening, we’ll fix ourselves a group dinner at the cottages.

Day 3: We'll drive to Bay Bulls where we'll kayak with a guide to see the bay's waterfalls, colorful rock formations, and sea caves. Our guides will help us identify the marine life of the bay. After our paddle, we’ll drive to Ferryland and take a short walk to the lighthouse for a picnic lunch with a magnificent view. We can relax or take a walk around the lighthouse headland after lunch. Then we’ll tour the archaeological dig and visit the museum of the Colony of Avalon, founded in 1621. We'll have dinner at the Captain's Table in Witless Bay.

Day 4: We'll drive to Cape Spear to walk to the easternmost point of North America to look back toward St. John’s and admire the magnificent views of the coastline. We’ll then take a tour of the restored 180-year-old lighthouse. From the lighthouse, we’ll hike the Cape Spear Path out onto the headland. The trail offers open views of the ocean on one side and forest, ponds, and bakeapple bogs on the other. Along the trail we can stop to look at the many low-growing bog plants, including Newfoundland’s official flower, the pitcher plant. Distance: 6-7 miles, mostly flat. We'll have dinner at a restaurant in St. John's.

Day 5: We’ll drive to Witless Bay for a Zodiac boat ride to see humpback whales and nesting puffins, murres, and kittiwake, black-back, and herring gulls in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. It's always a great trip. We’ll drive a short distance to a beach for a picnic lunch and then hike the Beaches Path from Witless Bay to Mobile Bay. Distance: 4 miles, flat. That night, we’ll fix ourselves a group dinner at the cottages.

Day 6: We'll drive to Flatrock for a short hike along beautiful rock formations and see sweeping views in all directions. Distance: 2 miles. Then we'll hike a different path with its secluded coves and waterfalls. Distance: 4-5 miles. We’ll have coffee and cake at the Pouch Cove oceanside home of one of the founders of the East Coast Trail. From her comfortable lawn chairs, we’ll enjoy views of the ocean and have a discussion about the trail. We'll return to the cottages and prepare ourselves a group dinner.

Day 7: We’ll drive to the Cobbler’s Path trailhead in Logy Bay for a short hike to dramatic Torbay Point with beautiful views of the northern coastline and the charming town of Torbay. After a picnic lunch, we’ll head back to  St. John’s for a to visit The Rooms, an excellent art and natural history museum and then take a short walk through St. John’s parks and colorful streets, admiring the rows of colorfully painted Victorian homes. We’ll splurge on our last dinner at a restaurant in St. John’s.

Day 8: After breakfast, we'll pack up the vans and leave the Celtic Rendezvous by 9:00 a.m. You will be able to catch a flight that leaves at noon or later. Those taking flights or picking up rentals cars will be driven to the airport. Those staying longer in St. John's will be dropped off at their place of lodging.

Getting There

We'll meet in downtown St. John’s at 11:00 a.m.

St. John's can be reached via nonstop flights from Toronto, Montreal, and Newark. 

A passport is required. For those who wish to drive, there is a car ferry (14 hours) from North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Argentia, Newfoundland and then it's a two-hour drive to St. John's. If you are driving, check on current identification requirements. On the trip, we'll be traveling in minivans, so participants will not need to rent cars.

A taxi to downtown St. John’s from the airport takes about 15 minutes and costs approximately Can$30. An email with participant arrival times will be sent out to participants who might wish to cab-pool from the airport.

Your flight on the last day should depart no earlier than noon. The leaders will be glad to drive you to the airport that morning. If you must schedule an earlier flight, be aware that a taxi to the St. John’s airport from our lodging is very expensive -- approximately Can$100 or more.

Please do not make travel arrangements until the leader has confirmed you as a hiking trip member.

Accommodations and Food

The trip price includes seven nights' lodging in the cottages at the Celtic Rendezvous by the Sea in Bauline East. These pleasant oceanside cottages all have beautiful views of the islands of the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. The two-bedroom cottages will be shared by two to three people.

Our trip meals begin with lunch on the first day and end with breakfast on our last day. All breakfasts, lunches, and trail snacks, and four dinners are included in the trip price. We’ll all take turns preparing our group meals and cleaning up afterward. To sample the local fare, we’ll dine out three nights. We’ll pay individually for these three dinners. Those who have special dietary needs should discuss them with the leader before the trip.

Trip Difficulty

Participants must be in very good physical condition for this trip. On some of the hikes, there will be elevation gains of 1,000 to 2,000 feet. The trails are well defined, but we'll encounter rocky terrain, tree roots, boggy areas, and logs, so hikers must be fit and agile. Most hikes cover four to seven miles at a moderate pace, with enough time to stop and take in the wildlife, sweeping views, and wildflowers (camera and binoculars are recommended).

Equipment and Clothing

Summers in Newfoundland are pleasant, but rainy days are possible, so waterproof rainpants, a waterproof parka, and lug-soled, waterproof hiking boots are required for hiking. Dress in St. John's is casual. The leader will send out a complete equipment list to all trip participants.

References

Books:

• Morgan, Bernice, Random Passage.

• Johnston, Wayne, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams.

• Proulx, Annie, The Shipping News.

• Hubbard, Mina, A Woman's Way through Unknown Labrador.

• Wallace, Dillon, The Lure of the Labrador Wild.

• DeFede, Jim, The Day the World Came to Town.

Maps:

• The East Coast Trail Association puts out a set of excellent maps with descriptions of the completed trails. The maps can be purchased from the Trail Shop on its website: http://www.eastcoasttrail.ca

The leaders will have trail maps that participants can view.

Websites:

• Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism: http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com (St. John's is in the Avalon region)

• To view photographs and find out more about the East Coast Trail, take a look at the website: http://www.eastcoasttrail.ca

• Bob Brink of Pouch Cove, NL has some excellent photographs of the East Coast Trail and other areas of Newfoundland at his website: http://brinklau.ca/eastcoasttrail/

Conservation

Over two decades, the nonprofit East Coast Trail Association has planned and built one of the world's premier long-distance hiking trails. The association has worked closely with communities along the trail, which were hard hit in the 1990s by the demise of the cod fishery and more recently by a drop in oil revenues. In some areas, the association is encountering land rights issues caused by increased private development of the coast. Whale researchers have encouraged boat tour operators in the bays and coastal areas of the trail to adopt standards for non-harassment of wildlife. We'll learn more about these and other issues on our trip.

Sierra Club National Outings is an equal-opportunity provider and when applicable will operate under permits obtained from Parks Canada.