I’ve decided to branch out a bit with a new series about hiking the East Coast Trail. I’ve done a ton of hiking (and blog posts) about my adventures in BC and my travels abroad, but I haven’t taken the time to write about one of my all time favourite trails. I grew up in St. John’s, Newfoundland and have spent lots of time hiking this unique trail over the past 10 years or so. I figured it was time to share it with the rest of you!

The East Coast Trail is approximately 300km of trail that runs down the entire coast of Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula. It’s hard to determine the exact length of the trail because it stops in many communities as you travel down the coast and can be completed either as a thru-hike, or much more popularly, as section hikes. According to the East Coast Trail Association, which maintains and manages the trails, the trail is comprised of 25 paths that connect more than 30 coastal communities. It you opt to do the trail as a thru-hike it would be more than 300km with all the road walking between communities. The longest section of trail is 23km, so most Newfoundlanders opt to do the trail as a series of section hikes, either with 2 vehicles or as a round trip. You are permitted to camp anywhere along the trail, but there are 5 official campsites along the larger sections of trail if you want to do some sections as an overnight.

The trail is entirely coastal, though of course it does go through large sections of wooded areas where the coast is not directly accessible. While it’s not mountainous, it is still a very strenuous trail as it will take you up and down through many beaches, coves, and headlands over the length of the trail. Some trails are more well maintained than others, making for some pretty technical hikes along some of the longer and less travelled paths. But the trail passes through some of the most beautiful coastline and rural communities and I love hiking there on a sunny day, with the wind blowing at my back, eating copious amounts of fresh berries and watching the whales fish along the cliffs.

I’ve slowly been working on tackling this trail over the past 10 years and currently I am about 60% complete. However, the ECT association is always working on continuing to expand the trail and have added 4 trails down the northwest side of the peninsula over the past few years, so the trail is always growing! There’s some variation in paths and I have 28 to complete on my list. My plan is to list all the trails here and then work on individual blog posts for the sections I’ve completed and link them back here as I go.

Trail	From	To	Distance	Time	Rating
Long Shore Path	Topsail	Portugal Cove	17.2km	6-8 hours	Strenuous
Piccos Ridge Path	Portugal Cove	Bauline	14.5km	7-9 hours	Strenuous
White Horse Path	Bauline	Cape St. Francis	18.2km	8-10 hours	Strenuous
Biscan Cove Path	Cape St. Francis	Pouch Cove	7km	2-4 hours	Moderate
Stiles Cove Path	Pouch Cove	Flatrock	15.1km	5-7 hours	Difficult
Father Troy’s Trail	Flatrock	Torbay	8.9km	2-4 hours	Moderate
Silver Mine Head Path	Torbay	Middle Cove	1.9km	1-2 hours	Easy
Cobblers Path	Outer Cove	Logy Bay	5km	2-3 hours	Moderate
Sugarloaf Path	Logy Bay	Quidi Vidi	8.8km	3-5 hours	Difficult
Signal Hill Trail**	Quidi Vidi	The Battery	3km	1-2 hours	Moderate
Deadmans Bay Path	Fort Amherst	Blackhead	10.5km	4-7 hours	Difficult
Blackhead Path	Blackhead	Cape Spear	4.4km	1-2 hours	Moderate
Cape Spear Path	Cape Spear	Maddox Cove	11km	4-6 hours	Moderate
Motion Path*	Petty Harbour	Shoal Bay Road	20.1km	5-8 hours	Difficult
Spout Path*	Shoal Bay Road	Bay Bulls	22.5km	7-9 hours	Strenuous
Mickeleens Path	Bay Bulls	Witless Bay	7.2km	2-4 hours	Moderate
Beaches Path	Witless Bay	Mobile	7.1km	2-3 hours	Easy
Tinkers Point Path	Mobile	Tors Cove	5km	2-3 hours	Easy
La Manche Village Path	Tors Cove	La Manche	7.8km	2-3 hours	Easy
Flamber Head Path*	La Manche	Brigus South	12.9km	5-8 hours	Difficult
Brigus Head Path	Brigus South	Admiral’s Cove	6.4km	2-3 hours	Moderate
Cape Broyle Head Path*	Cape Broyle	Calvert	18.3km	7-10 hours	Strenuous
Caplin Bay Path	Calvert	Ferryland	5.6km	2-3 hours	Easy
Sounding Hills Path	Ferryland	Aquaforte	5.4km	2-3 hours	Moderate
Mudder Wet Path	Aquaforte	Aquaforte	2.9km	1-2 hours	Easy
Spurwink Island Path*	Aquaforte	Port Kirwan	17.1km	7-9 hours	Difficult
Bear Cove Point Path	Port Kirwan	Renews	11.9km	4-6 hours	Moderate
Island Meadow Path	Renews	Cappahayden	10km	3-5 hours	Moderate
Total			285km