It’s a long trek to a beautiful beach with many up hill and down hill movements but Lance Cove makes for wonderful memories when trekking the Cape Broyle Head Path. This 18.3 KM point to point trail is rated difficult to strenuous by the East Coast Trail Association.
My mom and I began by taking two cars and dropping one off at Calvert. You can take the gravel road that will end at a designated parking space and the. We backtracked to Cape Broyle.
To begin you walk past a wrecked car and make your way along the beach until you see the zebra poles, to indicate the trail and also the start of some inclines. The pathway is mainly through the forest here and there are many mushrooms that you can spot along the route.
There was a fall feeling in the air with some germs having their colours changed to bright red, orange and yellows. The coastlines offered some nice views and opportunities to take photos. We passed the campground. There was someone sleeping in a tent so we did not stick around, as we did not want to wake them. Along the trail, there was a gentleman sitting, reading a book. He was incredibly still, until he turned and looked at us. We chatted a little and asked about Lance Cove Beach. It is the highlight of this path and would be just a little further and down several sets of new stairs. Going down wasn’t any issue. After some beach exploring, photos and our lunch, mom and I opted to return up those stairs. It wasn’t as easy going up!
The goal after climbing those stairs was to make our way around the headland and head to Calvert. We had not encountered any wildlife or other hikers on this part of the trail. Incredible the mushrooms on the trail. I couldn’t believe the size of some of them.
The winding road at the end of the trail seemed never ending. We finally made it to the car and we were incredible happy. This trail is a difficult one and it was now under our belt.
You will want somewhere near 6 hours at least for this one depending how many stops you plan to make.
Memories are made when you take on the East Coast Trail and I was so happy to have my mother trek this challenging section with me. She is such a trailblazer!
Get out and explore, as we live rural NL –
Christopher Mitchelmore
