American Ruins; Newfoundland Cliffs
Today I hiked the Red Cliff portion of the East Coast Trail, a popular and dangerous trail system that stretches for hundreds of kilometres along the coast of the Avalon Peninsula.
Interestingly, Red Cliff is also the site of the now closed Red Cliff Air Station of the United States Air Force. Like most of the numerous American military bases and other installations in Newfoundland, the Red Cliff Air Station was closed in the 1960s.
Tourists often remark that Newfoundland must not have a very litigious society given the dangerous places and situations they are allowed and encouraged to get into. Tourist deaths aren't common, but we usually lose one every few years.
Like most dangerous areas in Newfoundland, the crumbling ruins are fully accessible to the public. You can even climb the still-operational communications towers, though I was too afraid to do so.
This is where Red Cliff is located in relation to St. John's, Newfoundland's capital:
And here's a song for your little virtual hike...
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The trail begins at the end of a rural residential street approximately 1 kilometre from the coast. As you get closer to the cliffs, the trees start to clear and you begin to see the remarkable views.
There are numerous ruined buildings and other structures dotted throughout the site. Some are in worse shape than others. This structure has almost completely collapsed.
Some of the ruins look more dangerous to enter than others.
Graffiti covering the ruins spans the decades since the 1960s. Some of the buildings even have tags left by American servicemen.
Oh, yes. We're going up.
St. John's looks much closer than it is with a zoom lens.
The view of the coastal cliffs is especially nice from Red Cliff.
And you can see most of the suburban town of Torbay, which celebrated its 450th birthday last year.
This ruined building was making noises so I was afraid to go inside.
The main flight path for airplanes landing at St. John's International Airport still passed directly beside Red Cliff.
Directly beside the Red Cliff Air Station is a particularly vertigo-inducing section of the East Coast Trail.
Most of this stretch of trail is just a slightly-worn, overgrown foot path. But sections of it a little easier to follow.
The views that peek through the trees are enticing - but you have to wait until you come to a clearing.
And then, if you're brave enough, you can look down...
There's some small-scale logging in the area.
One of the Red Cliff Air Station's main building is far removed from the rest, and still has a paved lane leading to it.
Unknown to me, there was another photographer (you can see her on the left). We scared the living shit out of each other inside that building.
This building is located just a few steps from the cliffs.
You can see the Ocean Sciences Building of the Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Mmm...
Defensive bunkers line many areas of Newfoundland's coastline, and Red Cliff is no exception. This is the entrance to the cliff-hanging bunker, which you can climb down into using a pretty rusty ladder.
It had a great view.
You can see all sorts of boats on the water, from container ships to small fishing craft.
The East Coast Trail continues well beyond Red Cliff, and offers stunning views the whole way.
If you look closely, you can see a couple enjoying the trail in the bottom right (partially covered by the S):
But they're dwarfed by the Rock.
Hope you had fun!
American Ruins, Newfoundland Cliffs, and Dead Tourists
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