(click here to find location on the map)
(click photos to enlarge, click caption for mapped location)
The Alexander Murray Trail is accessed from HWY 391, as you are just entering King's Point. Coming from the south it is on the left side, in a red one story building. Click here for Google Street View of the parking area and gift shop.
The trail is approx 8 km return. It took us almost 4 hours. A serious hiker can do it in less. A more leisurely approach could easily take 5 hours. You travel through a number of different landscapes. The first couple of km you will pass through a forested area. You are already gaining altitude but there is a good trail with boardwalks and stairs. When you leave the forest you will enter an area of barrens. The trees are stunted and widely spaced, and the ground is rockier. From here you will see the lookout, way up there, and the stairs you will use. Watch for moose. You will come to a fork in the path, since the next section is a closed loop. We headed left since it brought us back into the cooler forest. The barrens can get quite warm.
The summit for this trail is over 1100 ft high. A very extensive stair system (2200 in all) helps you get up there and back. On the route up there is a one way, off shoot trail that takes you down to Corner Brook Falls. There are a couple of other waterfalls on the way back down from the summit.
(click photos to enlarge, click caption for mapped location)
From the top the view is incredible. You are looking out over Green Bay, the barrens and Mount Sykes. On the way back you will enter the barrens again. Although the trail was very easy to follow we found the ground surface a little difficult to walk on. We were simply getting too tired! Finally the last part of the trail brings you back through the forest. I was walking ahead of Bob and had gone around a corner. On the boardwalk ahead of me was a bear that fortunately ran in the other direction. Now we make sure that we can always see the person in front and make enough noise to give warning to the wildlife.
The boardwalks and stairs were put in during the 70's. It must have been very difficult in that terrain with such steep climbs. The trail is well maintained although occasionally you may come across damage from the previous winter or a severe storm. In a few spots you may see off to the left side some of the old ladders made of trees that had been used before the present system was installed. There is no charge to use this trail, but they do have a donation box for its maintenance.
Hikes of Western Newfoundland by Katie Broadhurst and Alexandra Fortin is an excellent guide if you like to do trails. The book covers Western and Central Newfoundland as far east as Twillingate. They don't cover every trail, that's almost impossible. You'll find information on a good range of trails that you should consider.
You start with the area map where they show the trails that are covered by the book. The pages about each trail include GPS co-ordinates of the trailhead and a good map of the trail. They also tell you the level of difficulty and distances.
We bought a copy ahead of our June 2015 trip to scout out the trails we wanted to do ahead of time. The book is available on Amazon and you can purchase it through this link.
Before you head to Newfoundland, you may want to consider one or more of the great field guides that are available. We have done short reviews of the following:
