Across the Island: Walking Newfoundland’s T’Railway on the Trans Canada Trail

“We do not take a trip; a trip takes us.”

John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America

 

Now that we have completed our hike on the Great Trail across Newfoundland, people are wondering about it.  We keep getting asked what it is like to hike the T’Railway Trail across Newfoundland.  While we have written a review of our time in our first province on the TCT we thought that we could give some more direct insight and advice for anyone looking at doing something similar.

 

The Journey across Newfoundland

 

Standing at Cape Spear, the easternmost point in North America, is where our #Hike4Birds began more than a month ago. Starting at the same point where the Atlantic appeared (almost endlessly) across the horizon and ocean waves crashed against the cliffs beneath the iconic lighthouse.   It was here, at the edge of the continent, that our walk across Canada began at the intersection of the East Coast Trail and the Great Trail / Trans Canada Trail.

 

At that moment, the journey felt almost unbelievable to begin. We had spent months preparing, mapping routes, studying trail logistics, and trying equipment on different sections of the national pathway. We had sold our home, given up our careers, and given away what little was left.  What we owned was in our backpacks. 

 

With that said, at the time, the realities of walking Canada’s Great Trail were still ahead of us.  Newfoundland would be the proving ground. And the path that would carry us across most of the island was a remarkable corridor of Canadian history - the T’Railway Trail.

 

Stretching roughly 890 kilometres across Newfoundland from St. John’s to Port aux Basques, the T’Railway follows the former Newfoundland Railway. Today it forms one of the longest continuous sections of the Trans Canada Trail anywhere in the country. For hikers, cyclists, ATVers and snowmobilers, it is a route through the heart of the island - across forests, wetlands, lakes, and quiet rural communities - linking coast to coast across “the Rock.”

 

Walking the T’Railway is unlike hiking many traditional trails that we have set out on.  This is not a trail with dramatic mountain climbs, or technical footpaths to navigate.  Instead, as a railtrail it is a long, steady line across the landscape, a corridor that once carried trains and now carries travellers moving slowly across Newfoundland’s wild interior.

 

It is a trail that reveals a side of the province many visitors never see.

 

Leaving the Edge of the Atlantic

 

As noted, our journey began along Newfoundland’s eastern coastline.

 

From Cape Spear we re-followed a segment of the East Coast Trail, winding along dramatic headlands as seabirds circled above us, and the Atlantic waves roared again coastline below. It was a fitting start – standing at the furthest point east in the country.

 

From here the Trans Canada Trail soon turned inland to St. John’s and the beginning of the T’Railway Trail.  After passing through St. John’s and the communities of the Avalon Peninsula, the route eventually converged with the old railway corridor near Holyrood. Over these first few days coastal footpaths gave way, at first, to the urban pathways of the Concourse in St. John’s and then to wider gravel routes where it then straightened into a long linear corridor cutting through forest and bog that would lead us across the province.

 

We had stepped onto the T’Railway Trail Provincial Park.

 

The name itself carries the echo of Newfoundland’s past. Locals refer to the former railway simply as the “T’Railway,” a familiar shorthand for the island’s once-essential rail line called the Newfie Bullet. For 71 years, trains ran the length of Newfoundland, linking remote communities and carrying goods across an island otherwise separated by rugged terrain and long distances.

 

When the freight service on the railway closed in 1988, the corridor might easily have faded into obscurity. Instead, it was transformed into a trail - a remarkable conversion of infrastructure into a provincial pathway.   For those setting out onto the Trans Canada Trail, it is the main route across Newfoundland.

 

Walking a Railway

 

Rail trails have their own unique feel as pathways.  Unlike winding footpaths that follow ridgelines or riverbanks, railway corridors were engineered for efficiency. Gradients are gentle, curves are gradual. The line is direct – well, mostly. Trains once needed smooth, predictable routes across the landscape, and that design still shapes the experience of exploring the trail today. 

 

For our time on it, day after day for more than a month, the path stretched forward in long straight segments through boreal forest and open wetlands. Birch and spruce lined the corridor. Lakes and marshes appeared alongside at times. Occasionally, the trail would rise onto an old embankment, offering views across bogs and rivers before crossing on of the many trestle bridges along the route. 

 

Walking such a route requires patience, progress is not quick, particularly owing to the nature of the trail bed.  This is without a doubt one of the greatest challenges for those seeking to trek or cycle the T’Railway Trail.  The trail itself is the same ballast rock that the railway ran along.  It was used because water drains quickly, it resists erosion, and it holds rails firmly in place.  But what is wonderful for a trail is hard on hikers and likely punishing for cyclists.  For a hiker, this ballast is uneven underfoot, it offers no give, and worst – it is very sharply edged.  The result was that our feet were soon bruised green.  It is a surface that is perfect for trains, good for ATVs and snowmobiles, and horrid for hikers. 

 

All of which is unfortunate because the scenery along the T’Railway is stunning.  The wild landscapes, the colours of the mosses and lichens, and expansive peatlands are a wonder to venture through.

 

Without a doubt, it is a landscape that rewards those who move slowly enough to notice.

 

The Top Sails of Newfoundland

 

One of the defining features of the T’Railway Trail are the quiet landscapes far removed from major highways or urban centres that it ventures to.  The interior and top sails of Newfoundland feel vast and open.  Rivers, wetlands and periodic stands of spruce forest are plentiful around the trail.  The horizon is one of rolling hills and lush landscapes.

 

Add to this the fact that the weather moves quickly across this terrain. Morning fog can give way to brilliant sun, only to be replaced by rain sweeping in from the coast. Clouds drift low over the forests, sometimes reducing the world to a tunnel of grey and green. 

 

Words do not do this area justice.  It has to be experienced.

 

Echoes of the Railway

 

En route, you are frequently reminded that this was a rail line – especially when walking over old railway trestles that cross valleys, rivers and streams. Weathered bridges carried the trail over wetlands where the ground below remained too soft for stable construction. Occasionally, the foundations of small railway stations appeared beside the path, their original buildings long gone. 

 

Though thankfully, this route has a number of winter warm-up shelters that are great for taking refuge in at night – we loved them.

 

In some communities, the history of the railway remains proudly preserved.  Local museums display artifacts from the railway era: lanterns, signal equipment, photographs of locomotives and crews. Stories of the “Newfie Bullet,” as the narrow-gauge passenger trains were affectionately known, still circulate.    For generations, the railway was Newfoundland’s lifeline.

 

Walking the route today, it is impossible not to imagine the trains that once passed through these forests, exposed top sails and friendly communities. 

 

Nature Along the Corridor

 

For birders and naturalists, the T’Railway Trail also offered us a huge number of unexpected wonders. Rail corridors often create ecological edges where different habitats meet. Open gravel lines cut through forest and wetlands, creating pockets of sunlight and varied vegetation. These transitional areas attract a wide variety of wildlife.

 

Warblers flitted through birch stands in spring. Ravens called from trees. Ducks called out from ponds beside the trail.

 

Moose tracks frequently appeared in the earth, reminders that one of Newfoundland’s most famous animals was never far away. The island’s moose population is among the highest densities in North America, and signs of their presence appeared regularly along the corridor.

 

Amid it all we spotted and had encounters with a number of black bears on the trail and around our tent at night – which made for several interesting experiences.

 

Even the quiet bogs revealed life.  Dragonflies hovered above pools of water. Wildflowers bloomed in brief bursts of colour during the early summer days.

 

The landscapes of Newfoundland around the T’Railway Trail might appear subdued at first glance, but they are definately alive and rewarding to venture through.

 

Sharing the Trail

 

Unlike many long-distance hiking trails and unlike much of the Trans Canada Trail / Great Trail, the T’Railway is a multi-use route. This means that the route is used by ATVers and Snowmobilers who are it’s most frequent users.  Particularly in rural communities, the trail is seen as a practical corridor between towns and for vacations.  For local residents, the former railway line provides a reliable route between towns, fishing holes, cabins, and hunting areas.

 

For hikers, this requires adaptation.  Some sections of the trail are quiet and remote, where hours and days can pass without encountering another traveller. In other areas the sound of approaching ATVs becomes part of the daily routine – which is actually welcome – as they those passing by are courteous, friendly and helpful. 

 

As noted before, the trail conditions of the T’Railway reflect this shared use as well. Gravel surfaces vary from smooth packed earth to coarse railway ballast that can be surprisingly hard on tired feet.  Yet these realities are part of what makes the T’Railway unique. Unlike purely recreational trails designed for hikers alone, this corridor remains woven into the daily lives of Newfoundland communities. It is not simply a path through wilderness - it is a working route across an island. 

 

This fact is an essential reality of the T’Railway which we came to really enjoy – it gave way to a sense of being part of something larger and that we were being cared for.

 

Communities Along the Way

 

Although much of the T’Railway crosses interior lands of the province, it also regularly passes through small communities where the trail intersects with residents and businesses.  These communities often include small shops, roadside cafes and public halls which offered moments to resupply, rest and chat. 

 

In each we found that Newfoundland’s reputation for hospitality is well deserved.  People asked where we were heading, how far we had come, and why anyone would attempt to walk across Canada. The conversations were often curious, sometimes amused, but always friendly and caring.  For residents accustomed to travellers arriving by car or ATV, the idea of crossing the island on foot seemed both unusual and acceptable.  Newfoundlanders are a people who are more than willing to let each person do their own thing and continue on. 

 

Those encounters became an essential part of the journey. We knew that walking the trail would connect landscapes and communities, but also found that it connects people.

 

A Trail Longer Than Thru Hikes and Pilgrimage Routes

 

One of the most striking realizations during our time on the T’Railway was its sheer length.  At nearly 900 kilometres, the trail across Newfoundland alone rivals or exceeds the length of many of the world’s most famous walking routes. Spain’s Camino Francés - one of the most iconic pilgrimage trails in Europe - covers roughly 780 kilometres from the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela.

 

Few Canadians realize that one province contains a trail longer than that entire pilgrimage route across a European nation.   Yet it seems that the T’Railway remains largely unknown outside Newfoundland.

 

Part of this is geography. Newfoundland sits at the eastern edge of the country, far from Canada’s largest population centres. Another reason is perception. Railway trails often lack the dramatic branding associated with tourism hotspots, mountain treks or historic pilgrimage routes.  Yet the T’railway trail is an amazing experience to undertake and definitely deserves consideration.

 

The First True Crossing

 

For us, the T’Railway Trail became more than just one of the first major segments of the Trans Canada Trail.  It was the first time the scale of the national journey truly began to sink in.  It took more than a month to hike across one of the nation’s smallest provinces – 1 of 10 provinces and 2 territories that we still need to cross.   From here, we still have a lot way to go.

 

Yet despite this realization, somewhere along our first kilometres and first province, the idea of walking across an entire country stopped feeling like an abstract plan and started feeling real.  Newfoundland was not simply the beginning of the journey.  It was the place where the journey began to take shape.  The T’Railway trail made us feel that walking coast to coast to coast would be possible. 

 

Why the T’Railway Matters

 

The T’Railway Trail represents one of the most successful examples of rail-to-trail conversion in Canada.  By preserving the former railway corridor, Newfoundland retained a continuous pathway across the island - one that now serves hikers, ATVers, snowmobilers, and local communities alike.

 

As part of the Trans Canada Trail, it forms a critical link in the world’s longest recreational trail network.  It allows wild camping outside of towns, there is a regular supply of water near to the trail, towns en route allow for easy resupply options, and the route offers a nice mixture of backcountry exploration and community support. 

 

For those walking the Trans Canada Trail, it also offers something rare: the experience of crossing an entire province along a single continuous route, which makes it really appealing. 

 

The only question now is whether the rest of the nation matches up?  We shall see – westward we go!

See you on the trail!

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