Spectacle Head Trail

Visiting the “American Man”

By: Patricia Boulter

Cupids is an old English community situated on Conception Bay. In fact it was the first English settlement in Canada, and in 2010 it celebrated its 400th anniversary. Cupids, known then as Cuper’s Cove, was founded in 1610 by John Guy and 39 other setters. The main purpose of the settlement was to provide a reliable and safe trade route for the business ventures of London and Bristol based stockholders within the Newfoundland Company. It was therefore viewed as an economic venture from the very beginning and not necessarily a permanent settlement.

In 1612, John Guy, brought 12 women to the settlement in order to create a self-replicating settlement. The first settlers were able to create a home in the cove where they fished, farmed and mined for minerals. Throughout the 1600s the colony was plagued by pirates, Peter Easton, being the most notorious. The colonists also faced many problems concerning the quality of the soil, they were able to grow vegetables, but not grain. The eventual downfall of the settlement has been argued to be its inability to ensure profits for its shareholders as well as itself. By 1700 the colony was deserted, and its original setting was lost to the outside world for nearly 250 years. Yet there are still many inhabitant that call Cupids home today.

Today Cupids Cove Plantation is located on the original colony’s site. There is also a newly established Cupids Legacy Centre where you can learn about the community’s history and cultural narrative. The centre is state of the art, as it was built to commemorate Cupids 400th anniversary, and displays over 160,000 archaeological artifacts. There is also a Cuper’s Cove Soiree that takes place on the third weekend of August with a whole host of activities for the entire family.

The day I traveled to Cupids my goal was to hike the Spectacle Head Trail. It is not very long, one can reach the top of of Spectacle Head in about 30 minutes. From the top you get a panoramic view of Cupids, Conception Bay, and neighbouring communities, such as Porte de Grave and Bay de Grave. Also at the top is a majestic cairn called the “American Man” that has silently been watching over Cupids and guiding fishermen safety into the harbour. No one really knows why the cairn was originally built, although some say it was constructed as a survey marker by James Cook when he was mapping Newfoundland in the 1760s. Others have said it was used by fisherman, who lined it up with other features in order to find the best fishing grounds. Regardless of its original purpose, the American Man makes this hike special.

A man’s best friend.

We followed the path up to the top of Spectacle Head and stayed awhile to enjoy the views. We then made our own path down the hill to rejoin the main path in order to get to Goat’s Cove and the old Lighthouse Site. Be sure to wear hiking shoes with good ankle support because there are lots of loose shale-like rocks on the side of the hill.

Remnants of an old settlement.

Goat’s Cove is an old abandoned fishing community, probably home to one or more families. The remnants of dwellings can still be ascertained by those with a keen eye. There is a lovely private rocky beach there where the capelin still roll every late Spring/ early Summer.

The old Lighthouse.

A little to the right of Goat’s Cove is the old lighthouse site. It takes a careful eye to see where the lighthouse would have once stood. There are also remains of a structure that is slowly being eroded away by the ocean.

Crab boat.

For shutter bugs this hike would be perfect early in the morning to catch the first glimpses of the sun. Be sure to bring a headlamp in order to scramble up the hill safely. A fellow blogger Stan MacKenzie captured some amazing shots on his early morning hike to see the American Man. I have added getting up at 3:30 a.m. to watch the sunrise at Spectacle Head to my bucket list. The lighting would also be interesting during the magic hour just before dusk. We went during the height of the day and still found our surroundings to be enchanting. We didn’t meet a single other person on the trail, so we felt like we had to entire region to ourselves. The only downside was that I foolishly left my camera battery in the charger at home so all the pictures were taken on my iPhone 4s. They turned out pretty well considering.

A beach to ourselves

Getting There:

The best way to get to Cupids is by car. It is approximately a 1+ hour drive from St. John’s. You can either take scenic route 60 or the more direct route via the Trans Canada Highway.