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In Spring 2024, work will begin on the East Blow Me Down Trail, a 4km backcounty hiking route that will connect the Forestry Access Road above Benoit’s Cove on the south shore of Humber Arm to the eastern end of the Blow Me Down Ophiolite Massif. The new IATNL trail will be developed by Cabox Aspiring Geopark, with funding from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), provincial department of Industry, Energy and Technology (IET), and Trans Canada Trail (TCT), of which it will form part of a spur line linked to the Newfoundland T’Railway.

At a combined federal-provincial press release at Lobster Cove Lighthouse in Gros Morne National Park, Cabox Aspiring Geopark was among a number of tourism-related projects in Western Newfoundland to share in a total of $2,744,563 in government funding intended to “help upgrade accommodations, host events and festivals, market the region, and develop new world-class attractions”. On hand for the announcement was Premier Andrew Furey and MP Gudie Hutchings, federal Minister of Rural Economic Development.

On June 24, Cabox Aspiring Geopark installed its latest interpretive panel, entitled Bay of Islands Ophiolite Complex, near the entrance to Saltbox Restaurant and Geopark Information Center in Benoit’s Cove. The panel, funded in part by the Canadian Geological Foundation (CGF), is located above a mini ophiolite rock garden containing samples from both earth’s mantle and ocean floor, and features descriptions of all four ophiolite massifs, as well as rock types and flowers found in these unique landscapes.

In June 2022, Cabox Aspiring Geopark arranged a Bay of Islands geology boat tour for Dr. John Waldron and some of his students at the University of Alberta. Aboard Saltbox/Everoutdoor’s zodiac Elmastukwek operated by skipper Rob Thomas, the tour included Humber Arm, Woods Island, Eagle (Green) Island, North Arm Point to Woman Cove in Middle Arm, and Middle Arm Point, and included sections of the Irishtown Formation, Summerside Formation, Cook’s Brook Formation, Blow Me Down Brook Formation and

After significant work over the past two years, the IATNL basecamp at Stowbridges (aka James Cook’s Stone Brook) in North Arm is nearing completion and will soon be available for public use. Serving as a basecamp for eco, geo and adventure “seefarers” and hikers interested in exploring the remotest region of the Bay of Islands and Cabox Geopark, the renovated two-storey biscuit box house in a small southeast facing cove once served as seasonal home for a local fisherman from Cox’s Cove.

As part of its support for Cabox Aspiring Geopark, in September 2020 the federal and provincial government announced funding for Cabox VR, a virtual reality project begun under the EU-funded Drifting Apart project. The funds are to be used to develop the website NLinVR, which will provide an online platform to share 3D virtual reality images and videos of representative scenes across Newfoundland and Labrador. Of course in order to share the photos and videos, they must first be filmed using a 360-degree video camera.

On October 15, octogenarian Arne Helgeland hiked up 335 meters (1100 feet) to Arne’s Lookout at the top of the new IATNL Bear Head Trail. Follow along as he takes in the bright fall colours and fantastic views of the lower Humber Valley.

From September 17 to 19, Cabox Aspiring Geopark, in collaboration with Grenfell Campus of Memorial University of Newfoundland, Navigate Entrepreneurship Centre, City of Corner Brook and Qalipu First Nation, held the first of what is hoped will be an annual Art & Adventure Festival, combining art workshops with outdoor adventure. The event began with a 7-hour group hike of the Blow Me Down Mountains above Benoit’s Cove, on a sunny, clear and calm Friday.

With sunny skies and light wind, August 9 was an ideal day for a zodiac tour of the Bay of Islands to explore and identify geosites for Cabox Aspiring Geopark. In addition to Cabox directors Paul Wylezol, Arne Helgeland and Rob Thomas (who also operated Everoutdoor Adventures’ zodiac Elmastukwek), the tour also included geologists John Waldron (University of Alberta) and Andy Kerr (Memorial University of Newfoundland), and John’s students Martin Schwangler and Jordan Koop, all of whom were in the region helping to identify significant geological features of the proposed UNESCO Global Geopark.

On Friday, June 25, after 2.5 years of intermittent work, the International Appalachian Trail Newfoundland & Labrador (IATNL) launched the Elephant Trail on the south side of Trout River Pond with a group hike of 14 people. The trail is at the northern end of the 3-day North Arm Traverse, with the southern end located at the IATNL Basecamp at Stowbridges on the north side of North Arm, Bay of Islands.