The Eastport Peninsula & Terra Nova National Park

This region is full of sheltered coves,sandy beaches and sparkling waters. You will find great watersport areas in this region.

Travel east on Route 1 from Gambo to the growing community of Glovertown which has become the central town in the Alexander Bay area, offering a wide variety of services, beautiful scenery and warm hospitality.

From here, along Route 310 you can visit Saunders Cove, Traytown and Culls Harbour before doubling back and continuing to the Eastport Peninsula where in the fall fresh vegetables are available.

Sandringham is the most westerly point of the peninsula and good fishing can be found in its many ponds and streams. Just a stone's throw away is the farming community of Eastport, the hub of the peninsula. Eastport is known for its sandy beach equipped with change houses, picnic tables and fireplaces.

The Bay in the Boy by Otto Lawrence

One very worthwhile side trip from Eastport is a four kilometre drive north to St. Chads and Burnside. Arrangements can be made here with the local fishermen to visit the scattered islands doting Bonavista Bay, or you can take the ferry to St. Brendan's. St. Brendan's island was settled by the Irish and the old country accent is still strong here. The island offers lots of great photo opportunities.

Return to the main area of the peninsula and continue on Route 310 from Eastport to Salvage, the oldest settlement in the region. Here an old house has been converted into a Community Museum displaying a collection of artifacts that reflect the long history of the place.

Double back on Route 310 and turn south from Eastport to Sandy Cove where the beach is one of the province's finest. A short distance west of Sandy Cove you will come to Happy Adventure and its two adjacent coves known as Upper and Lower Coves. Besides enjoying the shallow beaches where children can wade in safety, you will have a "happy adventure" if you have a "boil up" of lobster. Lobster season is in early summer and you will be able to purchase them fresh from the sea at that time.

Complete the loop route back to the main peninsula highway at Eastport and head back to Route 1 and Terra Nova National Park, an excellent vacation base for sightseeing in this region of Newfoundland. The park's 400 square kilometres protect a typical Newfoundland habitat of sheltered bays, rugged shores, rolling forest hills dotted with ponds and bogs. Keep an eye out for moose, ospreys, eagles and lynx.

At the entrance to the park you will find Splash and Putt Amusement Park a place to spend a day with your children. This is also the base for Camp Ride-Away, the horse riding operation with afternoon and overnight excursions.

In the park camping and picnicking sites are plentiful. There are lots of hiking and nature trails, some with guided tours available. For those who approach the park from the sea there are excellent docking facilities in inner Newman Sound, and several wharves in the outer coves.

In the Visitor Reception Centre at Twin Rivers, the southern entrance to the park, you'll find interpretive exhibits and audio-visual presentations designed to enhance appreciation of the area's plant and animal life. In the Newman Sound area there is a new facility, the Activity Centre, which is open daily. The whole family can take part in games, and see the aquariums and terrainiums, or take in some of the programs that are on offer.

Interpreters present information and entertaining live performances daily in the park. You don't have to be a camper to participate, everyone is welcome. Come on a nature walk, watch a puppet show or visit the outdoor theatre in Newman Sound any night during the summer.

Campers can enjoy Newman Sound campground year round. Full facilities are offered during the summer. Parkland Concessions has a grocery store, laundromat, bicycle rentals and other services here. A few kilometres away at Sandy Pond you can rent canoes, kayaks or peddle boats. There are no cabins in the park, just outside you will find a wide variety of accommodation.

There are 16 trails of varying length and difficulty from which to choose. Short trails, such as that at Malady Head, which takes 45 minutes and i good, dry condition, or longer ones that take hours to traverse and may cross wet bogs. Portions of the Coastal Trail in Newman Sound are wheelchair accessible. There are trails along the shore, through the woods and over the hills.

The park also offers winter outdoor adventures in cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, winter camping, ice fishing and picnicking. There are approximately 50 km of ski and snowshoe trails, some of them groomed. They range from 1 to 12 km and from easy todifficult. Winter campers will find tent platforms and an enclosed picnic shelter with a woodstove and firewood at the Newman Sound campground, and winter camping is free. There is both freshwater and salt water ice fishing. A park license is required for freshwater ice fishing.

Primitive camping sites are available to the canoeist, boater and hiker. In summer you can take the Ocean Watch boat tour to a coastal camping site, returning the next day by boat or along a hiking trail. There are also opportunities for scuba diving, interpretive marine tours and golfing at an 18-hole course set amid spectacular scenery.

There are even two communities within the park. Located approximately 16km along unpaved Route 301, is Terra Nova, a quiet farming and cabin community where you can boat or canoe. Further east of the Route 301 intersection a detour will take you to the coastal community of Charlottetown. This pretty town is now a popular vacation spot. In the last century. its rich forests and excellent harbour and shipping facilities made it a lumbering centre for Bonavista Bay.