Hiking and Boating near Corner Brook, Newfoundland

by Keith and Heather Nicol

Hiking the new Southhead Lighthouse trail

Corner Brook, Newfoundland is well located for all kinds of outdoor activities. Recently we took part in 2 that are certainly noteworthy. On Thursday night (June 23) over 20 of us braved some cool temperatures to head out on the water with Crystal Waters Boat Tours, based out of the Bay of Islands Yacht Club in Curling. We left at 6:30 pm and toured out along the south shore almost to Frenchman's Head and then crossed over to McIvers to sail back along the north shore of the Bay of Islands. The Blow me down Mountains still had abit of snow and the Weebol Island had its characteristic cloak of cloud at the top. We always enjoy seeing a familiar landscape from the water since it gives such a different perspective. This boat tour sails daily from the July 1 onward but is doing tours now if the there are enough people. We saw no whales on this trip they have been seeing quite a few minke whales up close so you never know. Check out    www.crystalwatersboattours.com for more information.     

Walking back down with Little Port Head in the distance

       On Saturday, June 25, 2011  the weather cooperated for a great hike to an overview of South Head Lighthouse near Bottle Cove on the south shore of the Bay of Islands.  This is a new trail developed by the Outer Bay of Islands Enhancement Committee (OBIEC) and provides excellent views of Weebol Island as well as this rugged coastline. The trail is around 5 km return and it took our large group of 20 plus hikers around 3 hours and 15 minutes to do the entire hike, including a lunch break.It is well marked and starts at a large parking lot which is above the Bottle Cove Day Use area. The coordinates of the parking lot are 49 07.264' N and 58 24.387' W (you can hike up from the Bottle Cove parking area which adds about 1 km to the total trip). The trail climbs steeply in places but the great vistas are your reward. As you can see from the photos the views are very impressive.This is another great trail by the OBIEC who have created many of the fine trails in this area. For other trails that they done see my web page at: http://www2.swgc.mun.ca/~knicol/NLhiking.htm.