Recreation and Places to Visit

The province has a well-deserved reputation for its excellent hunting and fishing grounds. Summer cruises along the rocky, picturesque coast are also popular. Since the early 19th century, the famous regatta held in August on Quidi Vidi Lake near St. John’s has drawn many spectators and participants. The regatta is considered the oldest regularly held sports event in North America, originating in 1826.

National Parks

The province has two national parks, both on the island of Newfoundland: Gros Morne National Park, on Newfoundland’s west coast, and Terra Nova National Park, in Bonavista Bay in the northeast. There are also seven national historic parks, including Signal Hill, at the entrance to St. John’s harbor, where the first transatlantic wireless message was received in 1901; Castle Hill, at Placentia, commemorating the French economic and military presence in Newfoundland; Cape Spear, the most easterly point in North America and the site of Canada’s oldest standing lighthouse; and L’Anse aux Meadows, on the Great Northern Peninsula, where the earliest authentic site of a Viking colony was found in North America. In 1978 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared L’Anse aux Meadows a World Heritage Site.

Provincial Parks

There are more than 70 provincial parks and natural areas in Newfoundland and Labrador. They include Butter Pot, Sir Richard Squires Memorial, and Barachois Pond, which are among many provincial parks available for overnight camping. There are also a dozen ecological reserves that provide sanctuary for rare or endangered plants and animals or protect natural history artifacts, and several wilderness reserves encompassing extensive natural areas.

Natural Regions

The province contains two natural regions: the Appalachian Region and the Canadian Shield. All of the island of Newfoundland and a small part of southeastern Labrador belong to the Appalachian Region, a formation that extends from Newfoundland to the southeastern United States. In Newfoundland the Appalachian Region consists mainly of a large plateau. This natural region can be subdivided into three smaller regions: the Newfoundland Highlands, the Atlantic Upland, and the Central Lowland.

The Newfoundland Highlands make up most of the western part of the island. This region is the edge of the plateau, which rises abruptly on the western shore and slopes gently to the east. Elevations in this area reach a height of 814 m (2,671 ft) in the Lewis Hills in the southwest. This region is also sometimes called the Long Range Mountains.

The Atlantic Upland forms most of the south and east of the island. This region is mostly a flat or rolling plateau with an average elevation of about 300 m (about 1,000 ft). There are some rugged hilly sections in the southeast on the Avalon Peninsula. Bogs, ponds, and small lakes are numerous in this region.

The Central Lowland occupies the north central part of the island. Most of this region is flat or gently rolling, with almost all elevations less than 150 m (500 ft).

The Canadian Shield, which occupies nearly half of Canada’s total area, covers all of Labrador apart from its southeastern corner. The region is mostly a vast plateau made up of ancient, hard rock. However, some areas of Labrador contain softer sedimentary rock, including a region in the west called the Labrador Trough, which holds some of North America’s richest iron ore deposits. Elevations range from 450 to 600 m (1,500 to 2,000 ft) in the interior, but the edge of the plateau along the coast is more rugged, with slightly higher elevations. The Torngat Mountains in extreme northern Labrador rise to a height of 1,652 m (5,420 ft) at the summit of Mount Caubvick, the highest point in the province.

Rivers and Lakes

Both Labrador and Newfoundland have many rivers and lakes. The Churchill River in Labrador is the province’s longest river. It rises in the west and flows eastward for 335 km (208 mi) before emptying into Lake Melville, a saltwater lake linked to the Atlantic Ocean. On this river is Churchill Falls, with a vertical drop of 75 m (245 ft). It is one of the single greatest sources of hydroelectric power in North America. Other large rivers in Labrador are the Naskaupi, the Eagle, and the Romaine.

On Newfoundland the Exploits River is the island’s longest waterway. It begins in southwestern Newfoundland and flows for 240 km (150 mi) to empty into the Bay of Exploits in the north. The second-longest river on the island is the Gander River, which flows in a northeasterly direction.

The largest natural lake in the province is Lake Melville in eastern Labrador. It has an area of 3,069 sq km (1,185 sq mi). Lake Melville is really a 140-km (87-mi) extension of the Hamilton Inlets and is connected with the ocean by a narrow inlet. Smallwood Reservoir in western Labrador was created by the dams of the Churchill River and is the largest body of freshwater in the province, with an area of 6,527 sq km (2,520 sq mi). Grand Lake, Red Indian Lake, and Gander Lake are the largest lakes on the island of Newfoundland.

Libraries and Museums

The public libraries board, an independent board established by the provincial government in 1935, is responsible for public library services throughout the province. It administers more than 90 public libraries throughout the province, including three public libraries in St. John’s.

The Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador, headquartered in St. John’s and with branches in Grand Falls-Windsor and Grand Bank, has a collection exceeding one million artifacts. The museum contains provincial historical materials, a natural history collection, and a rich archaeological collection, which includes relics of the indigenous Beothuk people—inhabitants of the island of Newfoundland who were encountered by European explorers in the 16th century. The Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador (AGNL) in St. John’s is the largest public art gallery in the province. The primary focus of the gallery, which is owned by Memorial University of Newfoundland, is on contemporary Canadian art. There are many local museums, such as the Conception Bay Museum in Harbour Grace, the South Newfoundland Seaman’s Museum in Grand Bank, and the Labrador Straits Museum in L’Anse au Loup.

Other Places to Visit

At the top of Signal Hill is Cabot Tower, which was built in 1897 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of John Cabot’s first voyage to the region. The site where Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland for Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1583 is marked by a memorial in St. John’s. A monument at Cupids, a site along Conception Bay, marks the colony founded there in 1610 by John Guy. Other famous sites include Ferryland, where Lord Baltimore, the founder of Maryland, established a colony in the 1620s; Placentia, in Placentia Bay, the old French capital; and Carbonear Island, which defied all French attempts to capture it in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Source: MSN Encarta: Online Encyclopedia