(click here to find Barachois Falls Trail on the map)
This is an easy trail that leads to a beautiful waterfalls. The parking area is on the north side of Highway 470 between Burnt Islands and Rose Blanche. The first section of the trail is gravel. Most of the trail is a boardwalk that follows the contours of the landscape. There are very few steps. On steeper sections, they've installed asphalt shingles, so you have a good grip.
It's quite a swampy area, so make sure you've packed your bug spray. The south coast is very rugged and trees don't grow in very many places. There are lots of interesting plants along the path.
(click photos to enlarge, click caption for mapped location)
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.
We've written a blog about a few more of the trails that are within an hour of Port aux Basques. You can read it by clicking here.
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:
