Maritimes, part 3 - Northern Newfoundland

Jocelyn Timmermans
1 day ago
6 min read

June 21-27, 2026

The remote northern communities of Newfoundland are few and far between. Fresh produce is very limited and seafood + root crops (namely potatoes & turnips) are a staple diet. The people were quite friendly, often stopping to say hello in their heavily accented drawl. There are no fences between neighbours and no large trees. I was wondering how they could leave their piles of neatly stacked firewood along the one and only road that connected communities. It is the primary source of heat for homes. Freshly tilled garden plots also lined the road but nothing was growing yet. Apparently they have a strong honour system and often need to rely on one another through the harsh winters.

June 21 -- St. Anthony

We were at the mercy of the weather once again. The day before we had to scramble to rearrange our accomodations and itinerary. Our plans to take the ferry to Red Bay in Laborador were not meant to be when stormy weather cancelled any ferry traffic. This proved to be a good thing, as Janice had miscalculated the driving time from St. Anthony to Twillingate. We adjusted our itinerary and added an extra night inbetween the two towns.

Another dark rainy day after a stormy one. So off to see another museum. As we drove into the small town of St. Anthony, we were surprised to see such a large brick hospital. This mural in the reception area was built to honour all those who dedicated their lives to the Grenfell mission.

Not far from the hospital, on a hill overlooking the town and the ocean, was the home of the Grenfell family, built in 1909. Dr.Wilfred Grenfell was a man who truly exemplified what it means to be a Christian. He put his faith to work, bringing much needed medical aid and education to the remote northern communities of Newfoundland. Grenfell joined the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen which provided medical and spiritual services in the Labrador Fishery. Until then they had never had a doctor. He also helped build hospitals, schools and orphanages and when not working on the coast he traveled to the UK and North America looking for support and labour.

Fox Point Lighthouse.

A gift shop close to the lighthouse had a room of taxidermied native animals.

At Cape Norman and Wild Bight the sea was a churning great cauldron of waves stirred up by a howling bitingly cold fierce wind. I got my photo and then jumped back into the security of the car.

The Cape Norman Lighthouse.

Stayed at Wildberry North B&B a second night.

June 22

Friendly people at the hotel suggested we do this short grind so we started our day with it.

The Dare Devil Trail right in St. Anthony: 400m gain / 467 steps

Fox Point Lighthouse down below.

Views of St. Anthony from the top of Fishing Point Head.

These signs were pointing to provinces and countries.

Viking Village in L'Anse aux Meadows

Forget-me-nots.

In 1978 L"Anse Aux Meadows became the first Canadian site to be granted World Heritage status.

This area used to be part of the French shore till 1904. This is the first authenticated Norse site disovered in 1960 in North America. Around 1000AD the Norse established a base here from which they explored southwards. Traces of bog iron were found which was the first known example of iron smelting in the new world. Also evidence of carpentry there suggest that boat repair was an important activity. The Norse left Norway and settled in Greenland. They travelled to Newfoundland for lumber to build their homes back in Greenland.

We followed a trail back to the visitor centre.

Roseroot Stonecrop Flox

The Glass Hole trail: 7.2 km / 311m gain

After a 2-hour drive we arrived in Conche.

This trail stayed high above the sea, hugging the cliff's edge.

The Glass Hole. I took the rope 2/3 way down.

Brian & Janice went all the way down. That last 1/3 was almost vertical. Brian took this last photo from the Glass Hole.

Our accomodation for the night would not have a kitchen so we settled for wraps for dinner.

Village of Crouse

This fox was lounging along the side of the road. When we stopped it boldly and swiftly walked right up to our car. It looked rather sinister and gave me the creeps. It was probably used to getting handouts.

Stayed at Saltwater Steeple again, as we were then backtracking southwards along the west coast before turning east.

June 23

Early morning light from our hotel room.

Alexander Murray Trail by King's Point: 9.25 km / 445m gain

After a 4-hour drive east, we were glad to do another moderate hike. It was a sweaty afternoon on a trail that had over 2200 steps! But it had alot to offer, with four waterfalls, a bit of bog and expansive views of the ocean.

Corner Brook Falls

Gorge Lookout

Haypook summit.

It's not every day you get a picnic table at the summit.

Heading down.

Rowsell's Falls + Bull Brook Falls.

Just a short drive down the road we hopped out at Rattling Brook Falls.

800' high

We spent the night in Smith's Harbour in the private home of Wanda & Nelson. We really enjoyed it when they joined us at the table for a breakfast they made us, complete with bacon, eggs and homemade Partridge berry jam. They were very friendly and described their way of life to us, after we kept firing questions at them. Nelson was born in this remote community, his ancestors going back several generations. He does regular seal hunting expeditions before winter sets in again.

June 24

It was a good day to have to drive 6-hours as it rained all day.

An ancient soapstone quarry. The Dorset natives were of an Arctic culture that occupied most of Newfoundland from 500BC to 500AD. This soapstone was used mostly for bowls and oil lamps.

We visited the Boyd's Cove Beothuk Interpretive Centre.

This statue's face reminded me a lot of Wanda's, where we'd stayed the night before.

We walked a 3-km trail from the interpretive center.

The Spirtual Garden.

Group shot: Brian H, Denise D, Patty S, me, Janice H

We spent the night in Twillingate at the Net Loft Cottage for 2 nights.

June 25

We checked out this museum in the morning. It was a bitterly cold 6C, not including the wind sheild factor. We stayed in our cottage till 4:00pm when the rain stopped.

There were hares hopping around our cottage.

Wow!!! Only a 10-minute walk on the Little Harbour trail to Jonas Cove got us this amazing view of three towering icebergs. They were about 7 stories high.

It takes 2 years for iceburgs to flow from Greenland to Newfoundland.

Long Point Lighthouse trail for 40-miniutes

Devil's Cove

We turned back here at a large rock cairn.

Just a bit of a drive got us to the Nanny's Hole trail parking area. But we did not see any hole.

Hiking back and looking at the town of Twillingate.

We didn't get back to our cozy cottage till 9:00pm.

June 26 - Fogo Island

We left 6:00am to get to catch the 8:30am 50-minute ferry. We were happy to have a whole day of sun.

We hiked the Great Auk trail by Joe Batt's Arm: 5.4 km / 80m gain

Unlike the west coast and northern peninsula, this garden had some growth popping up. A man who was planting turnip plugs, said it was his second round because the spring had been unusually cold and wet which caused the first plants to die.

The small town of Tilting.

Rosewood Stonecrop.

The great Auk was a large flightless sea bird that was driven to extinction in the mid 1800s.

Alpine Mouse Ear Birdeye Primrose

Oliver's Cove trail: 4.7 km

This was one of my favorite hikes. The lush ground cover, big waves bashing against the shore and orange + jade green rocks were beautiful.

Anchors in the wind.

Janice got a bit wet as she was modeling yet again for my photo.

Conifer Woodtuft

The proverbial line of laundry. So perfectly hung out to dry in the sea breeze.

Brimstone Head trail: 1.1 km / 50m gain

Town of Tilting. By the end of this day we'd hiked a total of 11 km.

Then we drove 1-hour to Gander and stayed at the Country Inn Motel.

June 27

We drove 1-hour to Canada's most easterly and first national park: Terra Nova NP. The humpback whale spends April to October in the waters off of Newfoundland and Labrador. They feed on tiny shrimp like krill, plankton & small fish.