By Peter Armitage
"Leave no trace - take your garbage home with you, and leave nature the way you found it"
1:50,000 scale NTS maps - 2E/10 (Twillingate) and 2E/7 (Comfort Cove-Newstead)
"Paddler’s paradise"- that’s what the Broken Island group off the west coast of Vancouver Island is often called. Approximately 12,000 kayakers and canoeists visit the Broken Islands each year. In fact, the islands are so popular that National Parks officials have implemented a reservation system and restricted camping to designated areas.
On the other side of the continent, Newfoundland has its own island group that certainly rivals the B.C. gem. This is the Dildo Run area which boasts 365 islands, all kinds of wildlife, and a lengthy and fascinating history. Located near Twillingate on the northeastern corner of Newfoundland, Dildo Run is comparable to the Broken Island group in size (i.e. ca. 110 km2) but doesn't suffer from a surplus population of kayakers.
Map 1 of the Dildo Run area. Boyd's Cove not shown (additional place names added in red)
View of some of the islands in Dildo Run from Black Head lookout in Dildo Run Provincial Park. Fair May's Lookout (island) is in the centre of the photo (photo Peter Armitage). Thumbnail - click on image to enlarge.
Dildo Run has humpback and minke whales (off the east end of Dunnage Island) as well as loons, bald eagles, osprey, black ducks, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and other shorebirds, mink and moose. Aquatic life includes jelly fish, star fish, sea urchins, kelps and grasses, etc. The area may be a nursery area for cod and other fish species. Given the relatively shallow nature of the Run, the water warms up enough in July and August to permit swimming comfortably.
Local residents of Dildo Run have many place names for the area which do not appear on the official government NTS maps. These include Wigwam Tickle, Curtis’ Pond, Coaker’s Island, Yellow Fox Island, Fair May’s Lookout, Chinneyville, Black Head, Goose Tickle, Rattling Tickle, and Gooseberry Island (see Map 1). Many of the residents also have cabins on a number of the islands in the Run. Wigwam Tickle, which is close to Parkview, is a popular place for cabins.
Dildo Run Provincial Park is located at the northeast end of the run. Established in the late 1960s at Hart’s Cove, the park has thankfully escaped privatization. It is well managed by friendly and competent Parks staff, clean, quiet and sports an excellent comfort station with quality drinking water, hot showers and a landrymat. A newly rebuilt trail to a lookout at Black Head is well worth hiking as the lookout affords an excellent view of the island group (especially Dog Island, Fair May’s Lookout and numerous smaller islands).
When we first met the park staff in August 1999, they showed a keen interest in the development of kayaking in the area and considered creating a couple of remote camping sites. However, no such sites have yet been established. During our stay in the park during the 2nd week of August, 1999, we met several other kayakers, all from the U.S. (Maine, Maryland, etc.), and in July 2005, we met more American paddlers there, this time from Vermont.
Barb Neis paddling through Long Tickle (photo Peter Armitage). Thumbnail - click on image to enlarge.
Island hopping between Dildo Run provincial park and Dog Island (photo Peter Armitage). Thumbnail - click on image to enlarge.
One of the best camping locations in the Dildo Run area is the narrow, grassy "barasway" on Gooseberry Island just off the northeast end of Coaker Island. This is one location where Parks staff contemplated establishing a remote camp site several years ago when we first visited the area. Given the small size of the island, however, and the limited flat terrain for camping, frequent kayaker activity here could lead to significant environmental impacts. Should kayakers start camping on Gooseberry Island in any great numbers, the island should be carefully monitored for negative impacts, and remedial action taken should such impacts prove significant.
Approaching Gooseberry Island from the south end of Coaker Island at the east entrance to Dildo Run (photo Peter Armitage). Thumbnail - click on image to enlarge.
A good beach for landing on the west side of Gooseberry Island (photo Peter Armitage). Thumbnail - click on image to enlarge.
View of the grassy area on Gooseberry Island. Two eagles flushed from the trees at the north end of the Island when we approached the island in July 2005. There is little standing deadwood on this small island, so you'll have to make camp fires with drift wood. Please do not cut live trees - there's not enough of them, and me must minimize our environmental impacts (photo Peter Armitage). Thumbnail - click on image to enlarge.
Thousands of sea snails and other dead critters have washed up on the east side of the island (photo Peter Armitage). Thumbnail - click on image to enlarge.
A flat, rocky shelf wraps its way around the north half of the island. The intertidal pools here are fun to explore (photo Peter Armitage). Thumbnail - click on image to enlarge.
A good place to put-in and take-out when paddling in the Dildo Run area is at the boat launch directly in front of the Provincial Park gatehouse. There's a couple of wooden platforms at the side of the launch that can be used to assemble gear in preparation for loading your boats. Outhouses are located nearby as well if you have an urge to purge before departure. In addition, you can park your vehicle near the gatehouse and park staff will keep an eye on it for you during your absence. The staff are more than happy to accept float plans from kayakers so that search and rescue (Coastguard) can be called if you fail to return on schedule. Kayakers can also launch and land at a couple of locations in the village of Parkview, just across from the Provincial Park. Formerly called Dark Hole, Parkview was established by Stanley Burt in 1971.
Apparently, most of the Dildo Run area supports VHF radio and cell phone reception. Local tour operator, Wayne Laite uses a cell phone to communicate with his home back in Parkview while he is out on his boat. However, there may well be dead spots in the coverage. For example, cell phone operation is not possible at the Provincial Park.
Leaving the Park or the community of Parkview, kayakers can easily spend several days exploring the myriad islands in the area. You'll certainly need a good map of the area and a compass in order not to get lost among the islands. The distance from Dildo Run Provincial Park to the far east end of Dunnage Island (pronounced Denage Island) is about 12 kilometres, while the distance to the southern limit of the area at Boyd’s Cove is about 9 kilometres.
One could easily prolong the paddling experience by crossing under the Curtis Causeway and exploring the perimeters of Inspector Island (another Beothuck Indian site), Coal All and Chapel Islands. The Curtis Causeway crosses part of Dildo Run and leads to The Bay of Exploits, Loon Bay and Indian Arm in the west. More experienced kayakers can depart the Run and paddle to Change Islands and Fogo Island to the northeast.
Map 2 showing Dildo Run in relation to Twillingate, Bay of Exploits, etc.
During one of our day trips in 1999, we paddled through Long Tickle and Wigwam Tickle and then island-hopped to Dog Island where we had lunch and swam. The water was mirror smooth for most of the day. Lobster pots on the corner of one island served as a useful landmark. As we paddled, we encountered loons, osprey, black ducks, mink, and jellyfish. Salt water grasses and kelp were easily visible in the shallower waters around the islands.
Having reached Dog Island with little trouble that day, we realized that we could have crossed easily to Dunnage Island. However, this would have turned our paddle into a longer expedition and may have required an overnight camp on the island. Goose Tickle, which separates Dunnage and Coaker’s Islands is well worth exploring as it’s thick with black ducks, especially in the fall.
Island hopping between Dildo Run Provincial Park and Dog Island. Lobster pots in storage on the island (photo Peter Armitage). Thumbnail - click on image to enlarge.
Low-tide at the south end of Dog Island. Low tide (photo Peter Armitage). Thumbnail - click on image to enlarge.
During our 2005 trip, we camped in the Goose Tickle area. It's not easy finding a flat, dry camping spot in this area, and there are no brooks to speak of. Nonetheless, we did succeed in finding enough dry land to set up our tent, but I'm not confident it would have stayed dry at maximum tide, especially with a heavy swell from the northeast outside the Tickle.
Our campsite in Goose Tickle, on the shores of Dunnage Island, July 2005 (photo Peter Armitage). Thumbnail - click on image to enlarge.
Sites in the Dildo Run group of historical interest include the following:
Coaker’s Island. At the northeast end is where Sir William Coaker (1871-1938), the founder of the Fishermen’s Protective Union and famous Newfoundland politician, businessman, and reformer, established a farm and small settlement in 1894. Coaker called his settlement "Coakerville." According to the Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador (1981, Vol.2, p.457), Coaker "apparently spent many winter evenings reading and contemplating [at Coakerville]. His adult years up to this time had been spent primarily in Notre Dame Bay, amongst the fishermen of the area. For a long time he had been aware of the problems of the fishermen and during his stay in Coakerville he had had much time to think about these problems and their solutions." Wayne Laite says the remains of Coaker's gardens can still be seen on the island.
The small cove on the northeast corner of Coaker Island where Coaker's homestead was located (photo Peter Armitage). Thumbnail - click on image to enlarge.
Beaverton is another potential paddling destination, located at Beaver Cove between Port Albert and Boyd’s Cove. Today all that remains of this abandoned fishing village are a couple of grassy meadows and some rusting industrial equipment (which according to Wayne Laite is the remains of a whaling station which closed shortly after the turn of the century). In recent years, two cabins have been built here. According to the Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador (1981, Vol.2, p.166), "Beaverton was settled in the late 1800s by families from the Twillingate Change Islands area.....Beaverton was abandoned between 1945 and 1951."
Boyd’s Cove. A fishing-lumbering-farming settlement (NFLD Encyclopedia, 1981, Vol.1, p.237) dating back to at least 1891, Boyd’s Cove is the site of an important Beothuck Indian village which was discovered by Dr. Ralph Pastore in 1981. For more information on this site, visit http://www.heritage.nf.ca/aboriginal/beo_boydscove.html
Fair May's Lookout (island) looking northeast from Dog Island. This is one of most significant landmarks in Dildo Run and is an important aid to navigation (photo Peter Armitage). Thumbnail - click on image to enlarge.
Safety considerations while in the Dildo Run area.
There appear to be few environmental concerns for kayakers in the Run area apart from the normal issues of wind, wave and submerged rocks. Cold water is also an issue at certain times of the year, and kayakers should dress appropriately. Given the protected nature of the island group, ocean swells are usually restricted to the east ends of Coaker’s and Dunnage Island. In the channel on the north side of Coaker’s Island, as far west as Dog Island, small tidal rips are prevalent along the shore. According to Wayne Laite, these rips are no longer than 150 metres in length. However, I don't know whether they present any real hazards to kayakers.
At low tide, portions of the Run that looked navigable on the map may become impassible, requiring detours around islands. Profuse numbers of jellyfish during the summer are only a concern to bathers. Lastly, there appears to be little if any fresh water on most of the islands in the Run, so be sure to transport your own drinking water with you.
In general, it's prudent to file some kind of a "float plan" with the Dildo Run Provincial Park staff. Tell them where you intend to paddle and what time you hope to return. Also tell them what kind of emergency and safety equipment you’re taking with you (e.g. flares, VHF radio, etc.) to facilitate rescue if you run into trouble.
Beaverton, an abandoned fishing village, on. The grassy area shown here, on the southern shore of Beaver Cove, is where a whaling factory may have been located, according to Wayne Laite (photo Peter Armitage). Thumbnail - click on image to enlarge.
View to the southwest, towards Boyd's Cove. Dunnage Island on the right (photo Peter Armitage). Thumbnail - click on image to enlarge.