Burin ain’t Boring just Beautiful in Newfoundland

We continue to hop from one peninsula to another while we explore across the central and top of the province of Newfoundland, Canada. We have gone from the hiking trails on the Baie Verte Peninsula to the historic sites on the Bona Vista Peninsula to the scenic highway down the Burin Peninsula visiting the villages of Grand Bank and Marystown, Newfoundland.

Hard to keep me down I’d say when there is so much to see and do and such little time to do it in.

The Burin Peninsula is one long and rocky peninsula. On the east coast of the peninsula is Placentia Bay and on the west side is Fortune Bay. Both are part of the Atlantic Ocean family.

Hwy 210 is the only route in and out of the peninsula. The highway, referred to as the Heritage Run Highway, dissects down the middle of the peninsula connecting to an ocean loop highway at the bottom of the peninsula called Hwy 220. Where Hwy 220 connects to Hwy 210 is the village of Marystown. Travel west on the Hwy 220 and visit with the community of Grand Bank, Newfoundland.

When I asked tourism information centres about the Burin Peninsula highway route I was told there was nothing to see until Marystown and Grand Bank, Newfoundland. This was another case of “blinders on”. They were so wrong about the scenery. The scenery was far from boring.  As it turns out it was one of the better sightseeing drives in the province.

The sky was blue and the sun was screaming hot… it was time to check out the Burin Peninsula and make my own decisions.

My highway travels left me in awe. It was very under rated. Hwy 210 travels over sunken hills and rolls across plains of wetland ponds. Hwy 210 passes by stunted, drunken trees and fields of lost boulders scattered across grassy knoll headlands. Hwy 220 loops around the edge of the peninsula visiting with sandy beaches, watching crashing waves, surprising small villages unannounced, exploring grassy cliffs and green rolling hills.

The highways are popular cycling and motorcycle routes. How do I know? I saw many cyclists. I saw many touring bikes and even followed a motorcycle tour with  over 200+ bikes. I waited for them to pass me  while I was exploring a park on Hwy 220.  Looked allot like a fund raiser ride. I ended up pulling out behind the long trail of bikers and was bringing up the rear of the pack for over 30 kilometres.

When we drove (or rode) through the small villages people were honking and waving at the bikers. I soon noticed that they thought I was part of the caravan (maybe a supplies jeep or something) and they were waving at me too. How cool is that! So.. like the ham that I am… I started honking and waving back using my best parade wave I could muster. LOL.

Marystown is one of the two main villages on the Burin Peninsula. It is a small “service village” located where Hwy 210 meets Hwy 220.  And by the way “service village” that did not come from me either… that is what local tourism calls their town… so we are going to go with it.

I would give Marystown more credit myself. For one.. they have a great little 1.8 kilometre forested loop walking trail around a lake called the Little Pond Trail and just down the road is the beautiful sandy beach in Frenchman’s Cove.

Grand Bank is the other bigger village of the smaller villages in the region. The community streets are lined with heritage buildings painted yellow, purple, green and blues. Many historic buildings have a widow maker window perched on their roofs. The Grand Bank waterfront is dotted with boats, anchored by a rocky beach and protected by a lighthouse. I would suggest to park and explore the village on foot.

Grand Bank has two hiking trails – the Nature and Waterfront Trails. The Nature Trail climbs to a lookout and explores a forest and some low lying hills. The Waterfront Trail explores along the shoreline of Grand Bank visiting cliffs, rocky outcroppings, sea caves and pebbled beaches.

I continued the loop drive from Grand Bank. I had mapped out on my list to do things – the Fortune Head Ecological Reserve.  It was just ahead outside the limits of Grand Bank.

So, before I hit the road, I asked the tourism people about the reserve. They knew nothing. They hummed and hawed. They said they are not suppose to promote it. They implied that I was not suppose to visit the reserve. I can respect that if it is protecting our environment or history. But why the secrecy? I left still guessing what just happened here.

I left Grand Bank not expecting to go to the Fortune Head Eco Reserve. I was disappointed and was moving on when…

leaving Grand Bank on Hwy 220 I am confronted by a large, beautiful stone monument.  Carved into the stone monument, clear as day, are the words Fortune Head Ecological Reserve and an arrow pointing down a gravel road. “What,” I thought? ” Is this an invitation?” I was confused. It was such a nice looking stone sign too. It was like the reserve was calling out to me. Teasing me. I took the bait.

The gravel road lead me up onto the hills. On each side of me were ponds, stunted trees and rolling fields. The fields were colored in various shades of green with yellow and purple hives of flowering plants. Here and there I would spot a trail leading up and over a mound only to disappear behind the hill leading to what knows what.

I knew the road would eventually hit ocean, cliff or something. What I did not expect was to come to the edge of cliffs and find a lighthouse, lookout platform, information signs about the reserve, picnic area and a sign saying, “Visitors Welcome”. That can not be so. I was told I should be a no show on the reserve. But instead they welcomed me.

Sometimes it is confusing playing tourist. Often an adventure is waiting if common sense is used. It is a shame they did not promote it… it was the nicest spot I visited in the region of Grand Bank.

No one was there. The ocean views were all mine. The waves crashed the cliffs below me and I read the signs and learned allot more about the Fortune Head Eco Reserve. I even rubbed it in a bit by extending my stay longer by having a snack at one of the waterfront picnic tables reserved for visitors which I was not suppose to be. Go figure.

Shaking my head I continued on the loop highway run. I visited a massive rocky and sandy beach in the small village of Lamaline. You cannot miss the beach as it dominates the views from the highway. In Lords Cove they have an elevated cemetery on a small spit which dominates the coastline. Before I knew it I was back in Marystown and on my way back to base camp.