Coastal Current — September 2026
Photo by 📷Braeden Reeves
Message from our Executive Director
Welcome to this edition of the Coastal Current—where every story, every community, and every step brings us closer to building something extraordinary together!
Home Is a Future Tense
There are places we are quietly expected to give up on.
Places described by what they lack, people, services, workers, infrastructure, until decline begins to sound inevitable and disappearance almost reasonable.
I do not accept that.
Our rural communities have been studied, consulted, promised to and planned for. Then, too often, they are left to manage their own decline.
I have no interest in managing decline.
That is the spirit behind the The Great Coastal Trails Conference 2026: The Long Walk Home.
The name may sound nostalgic, but it is not about going backward. Home is not only where we came from. Home must also be somewhere people can build a future.
The walk is long because there are no shortcuts to that future. Trust takes time to develop.
Partnerships take work. Meaningful development is rarely neat, fast or convenient. It is built by people who stick around when the progress is slow, who tell the truth when it would be easier not to, and who keep walking when the path is not yet clear.
Can a trail save a place?
No, not by itself.
But a trail can become a line of connection through communities that have been treated as separate and small. It can carry stories forward, move people and investment through a region, create opportunities and remind us that our isolation does not make us insignificant.
This conference is not about rescuing rural communities. They do not need rescuing.
They need to be respected, heard and trusted to shape what comes next. They need investment that remains long enough to build something that lasts. They need partners who understand that local people are not scenery surrounding a project; they are its knowledge, its workforce and its reason for existing.
Last year, I asked everyone in the room one question:
Why are you here?
I will ask it again this year.
Not what title is on your name tag. Not which organization paid for your registration.
Why are you here?
What place do you love enough to fight for?
What are you unwilling to watch disappear?
What responsibility comes with the influence, knowledge or position you carry?
Maybe you have asked yourself these questions. Maybe it’s time you do.
Because the future of rural Newfoundland and Labrador will not be secured by another conversation about what is possible.
It will be secured by what we decide to do when the conversation ends.
This October, we begin another part of the long walk.
Not back to what was.
Home, to what could still be.
See you there!
Erika Pardy
Executive Director
Great Coastal Trail Authority
Great Coastal Trails Conference 2026 - The Long Walk Home
The Great Coastal Trail Authority (GCTA) is looking forward to welcoming trail builders, community leaders, tourism operators, municipal representatives, partners, and residents to the 2026 Great Coastal Trails Conference.
This year’s conference will be an opportunity to explore how trails can support stronger communities, celebrate local heritage, encourage outdoor recreation, and create sustainable economic opportunities throughout the region. The program will include speakers and panel discussions featuring people working in trail development, tourism, conservation, community planning, and related fields.
Find more details about all the exciting activities planned for the GCT Conference in our event’s Agenda!
The GCT is on CBC!
The Great Coastal Trail recently had the pleasure of speaking with journalist Marie-Ève DuSablon for a Radio-Canada/CBC feature on the project.
The interview was a valuable opportunity to share the Great Coastal Trail’s vision, current progress, and community-first approach with francophone audiences in Canada and beyond. Reaching people in both official languages is an important part of making sure the project is accessible, welcoming, and representative of the diverse communities and audiences connected to the Great Northern Peninsula.
You can read the article here: Le Great Coastal Trail veut relier les communautés de la péninsule Nord.
Progress Update
This summer has been a busy one for the GCTA. Our team has continued to build relationships, collect field information, document local assets, and advance the planning work needed to shape a connected and practical trail network across the Great Northern Peninsula.
Much of this work happens behind the scenes: walking proposed routes, speaking with residents and organizations, reviewing local conditions, and bringing field observations back into our mapping and planning process. Each conversation and each kilometre explored helps us better understand what is possible and what communities want to see reflected in the trail.
2026 Ground Truthing
A major part of this summer’s work has been ground-truthing: getting out on the ground to walk and assess proposed trail routes, community trails, and connecting roads.
Maps, satellite imagery, and existing data are valuable planning tools, but they cannot tell the whole story. By visiting a route in person, our field team can see what conditions are really like: whether an area is passable, what safety considerations may be present, where wetlands or watercourses occur, what infrastructure already exists, and what may be required to develop and maintain a route over time.
During these field visits, the team also records local features that could help tell the story of the trail, including cultural and heritage sites, scenic viewpoints, tourism assets, and areas where cellular service may be limited. This information will support future route planning, visitor information, interpretation, maintenance planning, and trail activation.
As of August 12, 2026, GCTA staff had recorded 1,839 georeferenced field observations, supported by more than 1,000 location-based photographs and detailed field notes. These records are managed through Esri’s ArcGIS tools, including ArcGIS Field Maps, allowing staff to review and update information from the field or the office.
This summer alone, the GCTA ground-truthed nearly 300 kilometres of proposed corridors, community trails, and connecting roads. The final route lengths will be confirmed through GIS quality control, but the work completed so far represents an important step toward developing a trail network that is realistic, safe, and shaped by local conditions.
East Summer Crew
On the eastern cluster of the Great Coastal Trail, our summer crews have been making meaningful contributions in Englee, Roddickton-Bide Arm, and Conche.
Throughout the season, the crews have been connecting with local knowledge holders, gathering stories from the communities, researching historical sites, and supporting community-focused projects. Their work is helping preserve information that may one day be shared through trail interpretation, storyboards, visitor experiences, and other initiatives connected to the Great Coastal Trail.
Just as importantly, this work reflects the GCTA’s commitment to building the project with communities rather than simply bringing a plan to them. Local stories, lived experience, and knowledge of place are essential to creating a trail that feels authentic to the Great Northern Peninsula.
Consultation Sessions
Community consultation remains at the heart of the Great Coastal Trail’s work.
Since the last edition of The Coastal Current, the GCTA has met with the Straits Development Association, the St. Barbe Development Association, and the town councils of Port Saunders, Bellburns, and Daniel’s Harbour. These conversations are opportunities to introduce the project, listen to local priorities, answer questions, and learn more about the opportunities and concerns that matter in each community.
We are always encouraged by the enthusiasm people bring to the Great Coastal Trail vision. At the same time, we recognize that new ideas can raise valid questions or concerns. When that happens, it is important to listen carefully and understand the reasons behind them.
The Great Coastal Trail is intended to be a bottom-up project. While it has the potential to support tourism and economic development, its foundation is community benefit: strengthening connections, celebrating local heritage, supporting healthy outdoor activity, and creating opportunities that reflect the values and goals of the people who live here.
Send questions, comments, suggestions to
Info@greatcoastaltrail.com
Send submissions, stories, photos, recipes to
Heritage@greatcoastaltrail.com
