This scenic, wild and rocky, coastline stretches to both Placentia Bay and Fortune Bay. The quaint fishing villages of Boat Harbour and Rushoon will captivate you. Visit the once isolated community of Petite Forte where you can catch a boat ride to South East Bight or Great Paradise. These are towns where no car has ever been and generations of families still make their living from the sea. Warm, friendly people welcome vacationers with great hospitality at every stop. The Heritage Run is a journey for the senses.

The four distinct drives that encompass the Heritage Run include: Mariner Drive which begins at the Trans Canada Highway traveling southwest on route 210 to Marystown; Captain Cook Drive, covering the "heel" of the "boot", on routes 220, 221, 222 to Epworth; Captain Clarke Drive, southwest from Little St. Lawrence to Point May; and French Islands Drive, completes "the loop" around the "toe" of the Burin Peninsula, and back across the "ankle".

The Heritage Run still rings loud with the echoes of colonial industry. The famous Grand Banks, was once a rich fishing ground and was the world's "bread & butter" for centuries. Codfish were plentiful here, attracting first the European fleets and then French and English settlers. From Placentia Bay's collection of islands and the communities that are tucked into the head of Fortune Bay, to the unsheltered vistas and haze covered French outposts of the peninsula's tip, the Heritage Run is a rare land of horizons.

When traveling the Heritage Run you'll discover the rich history of Basque, English, French, Portuguese and Spanish fishermen in towns such as Beau Bois and Grand Le Pierre, drawn to these shores by bountiful cod in the late 15th century. Look for names with a literal English spin: Jacques Fountaine is locally known as Jack's Fountain!

Their legacy is born of the sea, and unique with strength and fortitude that is legendary. Step back in time as you walk along the same beaches as they once did and where the descendants of these ancient mariners can still be found hugging its cold clear waters.

Life on the Heritage Run can be experienced by visiting any of the region's museums and heritage attractions. Recreational opportunities are endless. Outdoor enthusiasts can tour the Eco Museum, visit an ecological reserve, play at an established 9-hole golf course in a beautiful seaside setting, or hike to the brink of delight on a wide range of developed and natural trails.

Larger communities are home to shopping malls and a wide range of stores and specialty shops. There are beautiful motels, bed and breakfasts, rental cabins and a hotel on the Heritage Run.

How about a trip to France on your visit to the Heritage Run? The French islands of St. Pierre et Miquelon are only 19 km (12 miles) to the west with a daily ferry from Fortune.

So go ahead,
"Drop Down & Stay a Spell"!!
Where the Sea is a Way of Life

As men & their families were drawn by a sea filled with cod and a jagged coastline of harbours, coves and inlets that provided ample shelter from the Atlantic's harsh climate, this peninsula became home to English, French, Basque, Portuguese and Spanish fleets. It's a modern history, filled with incredible tales of amazing strength and courage. This has become our Heritage.

Men and women came here for the "fish". No matter where you travel on the Heritage Run, the Atlantic Cod will be called "fish", meaning "codfish". But to the Burin Peninsula folk it will always be "fish".

Cod was plentiful, and the harbours were practically ice-free all year-round. Throughout the centuries the fishery evolved from seasonal visits and scattered outposts, to the development of the bank fishery and lively towns with many schooner masts in their harbours. Inspired by their trade with Nova Scotia and the New England States, powerful captains and merchants built grand Victorian style homes on the waterfronts.

IN PERSON

Life along the Heritage Run is a story of harmony, one with the wind and tide. A variety of interpretation, from provincial displays to personal collections, in a wide variety of museums and heritage homes. Sometimes a good ol' yarn down on the wharf with one of the local skippers can tell you all you need to know!

The Heritage Run is home to traditional music groups, dancers and to a Living Interpretation heritage theatre group. Summer festivals with music, customary local cuisine and games of chance are all must-sees.

ABOARD A DORY

"Fishing off the Grand Banks" is a phrase that rings throughout the world today. This peninsula was homeport to scores of banking and trading schooners built for voyages to the Europe and the Caribbean. But then, there's the "dory", a sharp profiled rowboat. Schooners carried the "dories" to compliment their vessels and each had a crew of two men. The "dories" were used to jig by hook and line all day and at night the fishermen would bring their catch back to the schooner.

Stories that depict the bravery of life at sea are abundant on the Heritage Run. . When you visit the Heritage Run ask this question: "How many days a crew had to be "lost" before they opened their food supply?"

THE FRENCH CONNECTION

The Heritage Run is the only place in North America where a short ferry ride brings you to France. After the 1763 Treaty of Paris, France was given control of the western islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon. Many English families that inhabited the island moved to Grand Bank and Fortune. Ferries depart Fortune daily for the 70-minute, scenic run to the islands.

HERITAGE ATTRACTIONS

There are a multitude of attractions and historical sites in the small communities on the Heritage Run:

• Placentia Bay West Heritage Home, Boat Harbour East
• Seamen's Museum, Grand Bank
• Harris House, Grand Bank – Museum of Local History
• Burin Heritage House
• St. Lawrence Miners' Museum
• Marystown Museum
• Fortune Museum
• Beau Bois Museum
• Jerome Walsh's Museum, Little Bay – an eclectic trip to the past
• The Heritage Walk, Grand Bank – 24 historically prominent buildings
• By-Gone Days Heritage Museum, Lawn
• Garnish Fishermen's Lodge – Community Museum
• GLADA Building, Lamaline – Tidal Wave display

HISTORICAL MOMENTS

The Heritage Run is the site of many events that stand out in Newfoundland and Labrador's history:

• In 1696 the French Naval Fleet hid in Burin Harbour to avoid Sir John Norris's English Fleet
• Between 1763 – 67 Captain James Cook did extensive cartography and surveying – Cook's Lookout, Burin Bay, was named in his honour
• Burin was fortified in 1800 – 05 to prevent raiding by American privateers
• On April 12, 1912, the largest ocean liner of its time, the unsinkable Titanic, hit an iceberg and sank off the Grand Banks, killing 1552 of the 2255 aboard
• In 1929, a 50 ft. tidal wave resulting from an offshore earthquake swept the southern end of the peninsula, killing 27