(click here to find location on the map)
Port Saunders is a short detour off the Viking Trail (Route 430). It is on the way to Port au Choix. Take exit 430-28 west. It's about 8 km west of 430.
The first thing you will notice are several boats on your left. Take Main Street on your left. Turn left at the bottom of the hill. You are now on Marine Drive. This is a boat yard where fishing vessels are repaired and stored. In all our travels to date these were the biggest boats that we had seen up close. Seeing them on dry land gives you an appreciation of their size.
(click photos to enlarge)
You are able to see Port Saunders hugging the edge of the bay as you look west. Exiting the boat yard simply follow the road, Main Street, along the shore.
This is a pretty town, built on the hills that line the shore of the bay of Port Saunders. There is a large array of boats, sheds, wharves and other fishing equipment along the shore. The towns services are mostly located along the main hwy. While Main Street continues to your right up the hill, at the other end of town, you want to go left to come to the trailhead of Crow Head Trail. Hit the link to find out more about this great trail.
click photos to enlarge
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.