Newfoundland & Labrador has been one of North America’s best kept secrets for some time now, and it is without a doubt that the province’s tourism campaign ads have done wonders where world is starting to take notice of its beauty and wonder each and every day! So-much-so that the provinces tourism numbers have been on the incline for some time now. With many new tourism and adventure endeavours opening in Newfoundland & Labrador each and every year, the province is quickly refreshing its roots to tell tales of the province never heard before.
From the bustle of St. John’s, the mountains of Gros Morne National Park, or to the beautiful sandy beaches of Burgeo’s Sand Banks Provincial Park, there’s a LOT of ground to cover. In this article we’ve brought some seldom heard of places to the limelight for your viewing and visiting pleasure! It’s time to open the door to adventure and wonder!
The province’s tourism does a mighty fine job of depicting Newfoundland & Labrador’s impressive culture with the striking colours of St. John’s ‘Jelly Bean Row’ houses, to the banks of Cape St. Mary’s Bird Sanctuary, all the way to the mountains of Gros Morne National Park, then beyond to L’anse aux Meadows.
For numerous years, many of these common places have been advertised inside and out, and all for great reasons we must add! These destinations are tourist hot spots which are frequently spoken about and widely accredited on a world scale. These are places people want to see, but what about those hard to find places? What about the places seldom spoken about, or perhaps even unheard of? Where would we be without those who adventure? After-all, Newfoundland is ‘yours to discover,’ but with that comes time management going from place-to-place.
Well, simply put, your dreams have come true because we’ve put one of our adventurous photographers and journalists up to the task of bringing the unknown to you! Let’s see how many readers have been to the following beautiful places!
#1: Scott Pollard Memorial Trail, Long Gull Pond – Bay St. George, Southwest Coast, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada
Nestled away on the Southwest Coast of the island rests the Scott Pollard Memorial Trail located just outside of the coastal town Stephenville, Bay St. George. The trail is known mainly by the locals, though seldom heard of by tourists and inhabitants living outside as a whole.
The hike itself takes roughly 40 minutes to reach the top of Long Gull Pond Mountain where you’ll endure a the breathtaking sight of lush bogs, ponds dotting the landscape, mountainside birch in a classified ‘old forest,’ and last but not least the beautiful sky scape that the Bay St. George boasts year round.
The overall look and appeal of the area changes with the seasons. During the fall of the year (as depicted above), you’ll notice lush, red-coloured bogs extending into the distance of the Harmon Airforce Base into the seaside coastal areas of the town. The green fauna of the bog turns a vibrant red with the first few frosts of the year giving way to this astonishing view!
During the summer of the year you can hike the trail at ease where much of the terrain had dried from the spring melt the season before. At any time during your trip stay on the lookout for moose, pine martin, rabbit, snowshoe hare, and a variety of birds which call the location home.
The area is also RV and camper friendly! Don’t forget to pack a lunch to enjoy at the top while you watch the setting sun slip below the coastline.
If you’re looking for Private RV Rentals in Newfoundland & Labrador, click here!
#2: Sandy Point Nature Conservatory – Flat Bay, Southwest Coast, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada
We hope you like pirate stories because this location is filled with them! We won’t ruin the story and adventure for you here, but more so leave this discovery for you to find out on your own when venturing to this location. If you ask the locals about it (especially the areas Tourism Southwest or Pirates Haven RV Lodging Park), they’ll bring you on a journey both figuratively and literally into a past unheard of by many.
Sandy Point is a peninsula that connects to Flat Bay, Bay St. George that had once served as the main hub and living quarters during this particular area of the islands early development. The history surpasses much of the West Coasts history itself, but has more or less been passed down by local history buffs and admirers of the art of story telling – a pertinent part of the areas longevity and mystic charm.
During the mid 1900’s, a great storm passed through the region disconnecting the beginning of the peninsula with Flat Bay where rogue waves crashed against the sandy embankments of the peninsula which sectioned it off from the land – though not entirely. What’s particularly interesting about this feature is that when the ocean is at high tide, the route to the peninsula cannot be ventured on, as the trip can only be made at low tide (or by boat). Since the storm the region has been resettled to other parts of the Bay St. George and is now classified as a nature conservation zone.
If you’re looking for a place to stay with your RV while in the area, you can stay at Pirates Haven RV Park in the Robinson’s area not far from Flat Bay where the operators take their patrons to Sandy Point for an in-depth look at the surroundings!
If you’re looking for Private RV Rentals in Newfoundland & Labrador, click here!
#3: Fiod’s Cove – Port au Port Peninsula, Southwest Coast, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada
Keeping up with tradition of bringing you seldom heard of places in Newfoundland comes the gem of Fiod’s Cove on the Port au Port Peninsula – one of the islands most westerly points!
The peninsula is rich in french ancestral history where it adorns the label of being one of Newfoundland and Labradors only true french-speaking or bilingual regions. While venturing down the winding seaside roads, you’ll come across majestic landscapes, farm fields, aqua waters (due to the areas limestone), and a day of adventuring you won’t soon forget! From local french history to an abundance of 300 to 700 million-year-old aquatic life fossils, and bread ovens, this is a trip that should be on every tourists bucket list as you submerge yourself into some of the islands most beautiful spectacles for both scenery and weather during those beautiful summer days.
If you want to bring out your inner adventurer for the unknown, this is the spot! As depicted in the photo above, you’ll notice colourful lupins dot the coastline fields and cliffs of many of the seaside areas. In many of the coves you’ll find countless fossils from earths early history and gorgeous calcite and fluorite crystal formations (to name a few)! Some lucky scientists, geologists and universities make their way to this region from all around the world to study the geology of this area.
NOTE: We’ll be making another blog post about this in the upcoming weeks, so you won’t want to miss out on that! Stay tuned!
If you’re looking for Private RV Rentals in Newfoundland & Labrador, click here!
#4: Sand Banks Park – Burgeo, Southwest Coast, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada
We hope you like beaches because Sand Banks Park is classified as one of the TOP TEN BEACHES in the entirety of CANADA. Did we mention the park is friendly to RV’s, campers and tents? We almost forgot to tell you that once again, we present to you yet another location filled with early pirate stories and lure. If you’re familiar with the History Channel’s massive hit show ‘The Mystery of Oak Island,’ we’ll hint with you that a pirates descendants once lived in the area. If that’s not enough to capture the interest of those seeking thrill and adventure, we don’t know what is!
This area is situated roughly 2 to 2.5 hours south-east of Stephenville, Bay St. George where it sits on one of the islands most majestic and scenic archipelagos! With miles of sandy beaches and pristine, clear, and sometimes aqua waters, you’ll lose sense of place and time where Burgeo and Sand Banks Park take you to the ultimate Newfoundland summer vacation destination! We won’t even get started on the amazing ferry ride that brings you to the coastal communities of Francois – pronounced (FRAN-sway) and Grey River which give way to scenes you’ll only find outside of Newfoundland and Labrador in Norway!
NOTE: We’ll be making another blog post about Sand Banks Park in upcoming weeks, so you won’t want to miss out on that! Stay tuned!
If you’re looking for Private RV Rentals in Newfoundland & Labrador, click here!
We’ll conclude this blog post at 4 locations for the time being, though we’ll be uploading a new blog post for you each week leading into the summer months! If you’re looking for jaw-dropping scenes and stories from Newfoundland, keep checking back to our website blog at www.newfoundlandrvrental.com/blog!
