Irish Loop: Southern Shore Highway

Route 10, the Southern Shore Highway, runs south from Goulds on the edge of St. John's down the east coast of the Avalon Peninsula. It is the eastern half of the Irish Loop, and it passes through a string of fishing communities: Witless Bay, Tors Cove, Cape Broyle, Ferryland and Fermeuse.

Off Witless Bay lie the islands of the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, where the seabird colonies include the largest Atlantic puffin colony in North America. Ferryland is the site of the 17th-century Colony of Avalon, founded in the 1620s and a National Historic Site of Canada. South of Ferryland the road crosses open country to Portugal Cove South, the community nearest Mistaken Point, whose Ediacaran fossils are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and then ends at Trepassey.

The curves are gentle, and the coast and the villages are the reason to go. It is 82.1 miles and takes about 2 hr 20 min, a leisurely pace. The full Irish Loop returns by Route 90, so this drive is only the southern-shore side.