Terra Nova National Park & the Bonavista Peninsula, NL

We left Fogo Island on a Friday morning so that we could spend a weekend at Terra Nova National Park. Terra Nova is an old growth boreal forest so we didn’t think Dishy would work well enough to spend the workweek there. The Newman Sound campground has full hookup sites with potable water, a rarity in Newfoundland campgrounds. We must have been tired at this point, because we got completely set up in site 244 when we realized we were supposed to be in site 243 and had to move. That was a first.

We hiked the Ochre Hill trail on Saturday. Terra Nova doesn’t get nearly as much attention as Gros Morne, but it’s still an amazing place!

On Sunday, we moved over to Bonavista and got one of the best boondocking spots ever! We saw this site posted on a Brinkley Facebook group and asked for the exact coordinates. The view was unbelievable.

We were in a community pasture on Dungeon/Lance Cove Rd. We had sheep, horses, and cows visiting every day.

We also had distant views of Dungeon Provincial Park (left) and the Cape Bonavista Lighthouse (right).

The upper half of the Bonavista peninsula has several rock formations, including the Dungeon, that are part of the UNESCO World Discovery Geopark. Spillars Cove, one of my favorite spots in all of NL, was a couple of miles away and we also found puffins there.

The Bonavista peninsula is actually known for puffins. There are colonies of Atlantic puffins at Spillars Cove, the Cape Bonavista Lighthouse, and in Elliston. We were about 15 minutes from Elliston, which is the most popular and easiest places to see them. I went out a few times without Michael to take photos with my telephoto lens. They are adorable and very funny to watch.

Elliston is also known for its root cellars which are everywhere.

It was hard to leave Bonavista, but we weren’t actually sure if we were allowed to stay in the boondocking spot more than 3 nights and it had already been 5. There is definitely a 3 night boondocking limit in other areas of Bonavista, but no signs in the pasture. We didn’t want to overstay our welcome.

Lockston Path Provincial Park put us near Port Rexton and Trinity, which were our Saturday plans anyway. We ended up loving this campsite, too!

We started the day hiking the Skerwink trail in Port Rexton. A fire had broken out on the Avalon peninsula and was causing hazy skies.

Trinity is one of NL’s prettiest towns. Some of the buildings have been well preserved and are living history museums that you can go inside for a fee. We enjoyed walking around and then ended the day with beer and poutine from the Port Rexton Brewery.

Next up is St. John’s, the capital of Newfoundland.