After a decade of renovations at the IATNL/Cabox basecamp at Stowbridges in North Arm, Bay of Islands, chairperson Paul Wylezol finally found time and two willing adventurers to join him on an exploratory trek up nearby Rocky Brook Canyon.  The goal was to establish whether it was possible to hike up or down the 5km…

After 6 months of cutting trees, grubbing sod and spreading aggregate, work has been completed on Phase One of the new and improved Humber Valley Trail to Man in the Mountain in the lower Humber Valley, aka Humber Gorge. The 20-year-old backcountry trail was initially developed as a narrow footpath by the IATNL. However…

After several months preparing document and annexes, on February 26 Cabox Aspiring Geopark submitted its official application dossier to the Canadian Geopark Network (CGN). Submitting the dossier is the first step in a 2-3 year application process that, if successful, leads to the designation of Cabox as a UNESCO Global Geopark, one of three…

On August 9, 2024, IATNL Chairperson Paul Wylezol and Appalachian explorer Lew Coty from Stowe, Vermont made a Gregory Mountains traverse from Gregory River to Shoal Point Cove. The adventure began early in the morning at the intersection of Mogul ATV Trail and Chimney Cove Road 2km south of Trout River Campground where Gros…

From spring to fall 2024, the International Appalachian Trail Newfoundland and Labrador (IATNL) in conjunction with Cabox Aspiring Geopark developed the first stage of the East Blow-Me-Down Trail off the Forestry Access Road above Benoit’s Cove on Route 450 on the south side of Humber Arm, Bay of Islands. The trail replaces an excavator track…

There they lie, lined up like bowling pins on the north side of Rt 430 (The Viking Trail), southeast of Rocky Harbour. Travelling from the north they are Big Hill, Killdevil Mountain, and an unnamed mountain I call Dicks Peak that rises up to the east of Dicks Brook. They aren’t really isolated peaks so…

In Spring 2024, work will begin on the East Blow Me Down Trail, a 4km backcounty hiking route that will connect the Forestry Access Road above Benoit’s Cove on the south shore of Humber Arm to the eastern end of the Blow Me Down Ophiolite Massif. The new International Appalachian Trail Newfoundland and Labrador (IATNL)…

Appalachian hiker Lew Coty from Vermont makes an annual pilgrimage to Western Newfoundland in August to spend a month exploring the mountains and coastlines of Newfoundland's Long Range Mountains, North America's northern terminus of the Appalachian-Caledonian Orogeny.  Some might wonder what he does at home in winter, besides tend to trees on his maple syrup…

Another chapter in the Adventures of Lew Coty! "It was near the end of my Newfoundland vacation when I spend over a month hiking into the backcountry every year. Paul Wylezol who heads the IATNL was eager to do some exploring and suggested hiking into the hills south of Little Port not far from the…

The Newfoundland section of the IAT/SIA has been added to the FarOut trail guide app for long-distance hikers, the “No. 1 navigational app for the best long-distance trails in the world!” With over 700km/450mi of thru-hiker trail route and 280km/175mi of “backcountry trail routes”, the Newfoundland section includes some of the most dramatic scenery…

At a combined federal-provincial press release at Lobster Cove Lighthouse in Gros Morne National Park, Cabox Aspiring Geopark was among a number of tourism-related projects in Western Newfoundland to share in a total of $2,744,563 in government funding intended to “help upgrade accommodations, host events and festivals, market the region, and develop new world-class attractions”

On June 24, Cabox Aspiring Geopark installed its latest interpretive panel, entitled Bay of Islands Ophiolite Complex, near the entrance to Saltbox Restaurant and Geopark Information Center in Benoit’s Cove. The panel is located above a mini ophiolite rock garden containing samples from both earth’s mantle and ocean floor, and features descriptions of all four…