Baie Verte Peninsula & The Dorset Trail

The Baie Verte Peninsula is a land of complex geology and associated mineral deposits that are underneath steep and thickly wooded hills. To reach it, continue past Sandy Lake and Birchy lake on Route 1 to the intersection with Route 411 which is called the Dorset Trail.

Named after the Dorset Eskimos who lived and quarried here 1,500 years ago this highway winds to the town of Baie Verte. Just outside the town is Freshwater Pond Provincial Park, on the site of a former logging camp. The park has a boat launch, camping and picnic sites and peddle boat rentals. It is within an hours drive of all the communities on the peninsula and therefore makes a good base of operations for touring.

On the partially paved Route 411, pass through Western Arm and on to Westport which was the first permanent settlement on the Baie Verte peninsula. The forest here is regrowing following a fire some years ago, and the tender young growth makes the ideal food for moose. There is a picnic area at the lighthouse before you travel on to Purbeck's Cove. The name may derive from the white marble quarried nearby last century, which is similar to the marble found on the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, England. The quarry is only accessible by boat.

It is 35 kilometres back to Route 410. A bit further north, partially paved Route 413 branches off toward Burlington which at one time was the commercial centre of the peninsula. There is a picnic site at the Indian Well and the Salmon Trail leads to a pretty waterfall. At the end of the road is Middle Arm, where logging has been the main industry for much of this century.

Head back to Route 410 and continue north to where it meets Route 412. At the end of this road is Seal Cove and its sandy boulder-strewn beach backed by forested hills. This is a good place to see icebergs. For the adventurous, you can walk to the top of the hills for a wonderful vista. On the return trip on Route 419 passes Wild Cove and some very rugged and lovely country to the small village.

The it is back again to Route 410 and on to the hub of the peninsula, Baie Verte. This mining town has known the boom and bust cycle associated with the industry. Asbestos was mined here in an open pit operation between 1963 until 1990. On the road into town there is a Wildlife Interpretation Centre. Given the economic life of the peninsula has been mining it is logical that there is a Baie Verte Miner's Museum.

The museum is part of the Visitor Information Centre, and is connected to a short "mine shaft" and its displays. Here you will learn the fascinating story of the many mines that operated in the region over the years. The museum is actually built right over an abandoned copper mine. This Terra Nova Mine, as it was called, operated between 1860 and 1864, and again from 1901 to 1915. Some silver and gold were also mined at the site. The first rail line in Newfoundland was the five kilometre stretch between the five mine shafts and the dock that operated in the 1860s.

Among the museum's displays are samples of virginite, a quartz-carbonate-fuchsite compound. The fuchsite, or chromium mica, gives the mineral its bright green colour. It is cut and polished and used for decorative purposes. There are displays on mining equipment, minerals, an 1860's miners lamp, a kid's pit, a gold panning display, models and a boriginal artifacts. Outside is an old locomotive used in the mine many years ago.

For rock hounds and mineral sleuths, the museum provides great detail for further exploration of the many mine sites and mineral deposits in the area. Nearby, you can climb the hill at Rattling Brook for a spectacular view of a waterfall that plunges down into a boiling pool of spray.

North of the town of Baie Verte at the end of Route 410 is Fleur de Lys and the oldest mine on the peninsula. Actually it is a soapstone quarry (a protected archaeological site) used certainly by the Dorset Eskimos and perhaps by the Maritime Archaic Indians. They hacked cubes of this soft mineral from the cliff face and used it to make cooking pots, bowls and seal oil lamps. They also traded with other groups. In the early 1900s lead, copper, zinc and molybdenum were mined here.

On the return trip to Baie Verte, you can take a short trip to Coachman's Cove, which was first settled by the English, and then by the French and the Irish. A hiking trail on the south side of the harbour leads to a picnic area and further along you can walk to the lighthouse on French Island at low tide.

Just past Baie Verte, Route 414 takes you to the northeastern past of the peninsula. Near the junction of Route 414 and 418 is the site of the now abandoned Rambler Copper Mine which operated from 1904 until 1982. Some gold and silver were also mined at this site. At the end of the road is Ming's Bight, which is currently the focus of geologists exploring for economically viable mineral deposits. Newfoundland's first gold mine operated here at the turn of the century. Called the Goldenville Mine, it yielded only 158 ounces of the metal and you can take a marked trail to the mine site.

Heading east you come to Route 417 and communities of Woodstock and Pacquet. Woodstock has a small picnic park and an excellent salmon river. On the headland at Pacquet is a park with a good view of the Horse Islands, site of yet another copper mine.

Another side trip off Route 414 involves taking the unpaved Route 415 to Nipper's Harbour. The most striking feature in this outport is a rock formation called the Lion, a granite outcrop. There is a Dorset Eskimo site still being excavated here as well as two old churches. An aboriginal burial site is located on an island just offshore.

The next side road takes you to Snooks Arm and Round Harbour, between these two communities are a number of abandoned outports including Betts Cove. This was the site of the first ore smelter in Newfoundland at the old copper mine there. From 1875 to 1885 the mine operated until a landslide and a copper price fall closed it for good. Their are samples of chalcopyrite, iron pyrates and other minerals at the site, as well as good examples of pillow lava.

To the north of Route 414 on an unpaved road are Harbour Round and Brent's Cove, a pair of fishing communities. Further east is Tilt Cove, where copper was mined from 1864-1917 and then again from 1957 to 1967.

In 1897, one of a series of stamps issued by Newfoundland to commemorate John Cabot's landing four hundred years earlier featured the Tilt Cove mine, believed to be the first mine motif stamp.

The final two communities along this road are Shoe Cove and La Scie. The latter was first settled by the French and was part of the French Shore. Its name means "saw," which refers to the jagged hills surrounding part of the town.

Off the beaten track there are many interesting places so don't be afraid to explore. Look for the old logging road to take you to the double falls called Black Brook Falls off the east side of Route 410 about 2 km past the salmon enhancement project.

To Scenic Tours: Central Region