Hiking and Icebergs in Point Leamington and Leading Tickles

by Keith and Heather Nicol

     With a forecast of plus 30 C temperatures we decided to head for the icebergs and so after breakfast in Botwood we drove to Point Leamington enroute to Leading Tickles where we had been told there were lots of icebergs. At Point Leamington we hiked to the top of Rowsell’s Hill which gave great views of the surrounding coastline (trailhead is 21 0616328 E 5464328 N). Allow about 45 – 60 minutes to complete the 3 km (return) hike which starts off easy along Mill River and then climbs steeply up lots of stairs in the last 500 meters or so to the lookout on top of Rowsell’s Hill. Be sure to check out the heritage house and tea room, gazebo and nice water fall at the base of the hiking trail. 

The hike up Rowsell's Hill provides great views of Pt Leamington

      Then we continued on Highway 350 to  Leading Tickles where we had lunch in Oceanview Park. There were certainly lots of bergs around. We asked the attendant at the gate where we might hike since we had been told by Jim Stuckless at the Dockside Inn that there were several trails here. We opted for the Bear Cove Lookout trail which is short but gives dramatic panoramic views of the surrounding ocean that had icebergs in all directions. The trail head is at 21 0612334 E 5485428 and the trail follows a 550 meter loop with a look out platform in the middle.  Allow 20 minutes or so to do the loop. We also checked out the short Western Bear Cove Trail (21 0612331E 5485154 N) which is just 100 meters long and has a picnic table at the end. It gives nice views of the rugged coastline.  From there we explored Leading Tickles and by now despite the icebergs in the water the air temperature hit 36 C. Yikes! 

There was a large berg in the harbour at Leading Tickles

      We took some more pictures of icebergs in and around Leading Tickles, had an ice cream cone and then headed for Glover’s Harbour to see the Giant Squid Interpretation Centre.  This is well worth a visit and there is a model of the giant squid that was found in this bay in 1878. These are very elusive creatures and this centre sheds light on what little we know about them.

The Giant Squid Museum is well done

     That night we had another fine dinner at the Dockside Restaurant (http://www.docksideinn.nl.ca/) in Botwood and enjoyed another walk by the sea on the Killick Island trail that we had previously enjoyed the day before.  Lets hope it cools off tomorrow!

We enjoyed a delicious cod dinner at the Dockside Restaurant