I had read all the rave reviews and had expected great things of this trail. It was voted as one of the top 35 walks in North America and Europe in Travel & Leisure Magazine’s August 2003.
Unfortunately we didn’t think it lived up to the hype. It was a glorious sunny September day when we did the trail so we can’t blame the weather.
??Coming from UK, we are used to coastal trails WITHOUT TREES and with panoramic views…. Apart from the stretch around the tip of the peninsula a lot of the walk was through dense trees with restricted views of the coastline. The bits we could see were good but to be honest while this might rank as one of the top walks in North America (where there are a lot of trees) I certainly wouldn’t rank it in the top 35 walks for Europe, let alone UK.
There is a large car park by East Trinity Church on the Bonavista Peninsula. A large information board and archway mark the start of the trail. The first section follows the trackbed of the disused Trinity railway line and is easy walking. The trail then picks up a made track through the trees with occasional glimpses of the coastline, reached by short paths through the dense trees. It was a nice coastline, when we could see it, with steep cliffs and stacks.
Just beyond Dog Cove there is a short cut back to the start (Inland Loop). This wasn’t well signed and the path looked narrow and not well maintained.
We lost the trees at the headland, which had a seat and nice views across to Port Rexton and Champneys. This was the best bit of the trail. If you are lucky, eagles and whales can be seen here. We were unlucky.
It was then back into the trees with a couple of views across to Trinity with its colourful buildings. The path to the lookout was narrow and steep, so we missed out on this.??
A word of caution for anyone with bad knees who is using poles – the boardwalk and steps are not pole friendly. Unlike many trails in Newfoundland which have proper boardwalks and steps, here the boardwalk is two long planks arranged side by side, and too narrow for easy use with poles. The steps have logs at the edges with an earth infill. The width meant I had to use the log edges for the poles. Being round, as logs are, this isn’t pole friendly….
I was pleased we had done the trail but wouldn’t bother again.
There are views of the walk starting here (and the next 5 pictures):
http://homepage.mac.com/wasleys/Canada/canada_10_mw/ac_NL2/22_BonavistaPen3/image-html/04IMGP5372.html
