Islanders share their favourite hidden gems on P.E.I.

It's a long weekend on P.E.I. — time to explore! 

We asked some Islanders to share their favourite "hidden gems" with us. Some were very willing to share their favourite off-the-beaten-path spots, while other locations — although memorialized in song! — will have to remain a mystery. 

Hilary MacLeod, writer

A writer and summer resident of Sea View, P.E.I., Hilary MacLeod finds inspiration in the landscape around her, even an 1800s graveyard in Park Corner. 

"There is a place I always take my visitors to P.E.I., one of the most fantastic views on the North Shore. It's at the top of the Irishtown Road, at the T intersection with Route 20," she said.

"There's a farm with a big white barn, and a sign that invites you to park on the grass. You follow a gravelled path to the Pioneer Cemetery, back behind the barn."

There are no graves there anymore but a big stone dominates the cemetery, inscribed with a message honouring the area's early settlers. 

"You can sense as well as read about the history," MacLeod said, adding it's beautiful as well as historical. 

"It's a swath of land with a sweeping view of Cousins Shore and Sea View. A marvellous place to spend eternity." 

It was the inspiration for a graveyard in her latest work-in-progress, Cod Only Knows. It will be the sixth in her P.E.I. mystery series that also includes All is Clam. 

John Morris, photographer

P.E.I. photographer John Morris says his hidden gem is a waterfall on the North Shore, in eastern P.E.I.

"I was tipped off by one of the locals," about where the waterfall is, Morris shares. He notes the size of the waterfall can vary depending on the time of year — it's bigger in springtime.

"On P.E.I., there's only a few known waterfalls that people typically shoot over and over again," he said. "But you know what? I've never seen this one before!"

Mike Stratton, teacher

Mike Stratton is a teacher at Stonepark Intermediate School in Charlottetown who also shared his hidden gem via video — and he wrote a song about it!

The location is called Glendennings, a fishing spot where his father used to take him as a youngster, where he later proposed to his wife and where the family then continued to visit and fish.

It's on the Vernon River on private property belonging to a family friend.

"I'm not sure I should tell you more about how to get there as a secretive fisherman! But the lyrics are all true," Stratton said.

Campbell Webster, entrepreneur 

Charlottetown entrepreneur and producer of Anne and Gilbert: The Musical Campbell Webster's favourite place is hiding in plain sight — it's Victoria-by-the-Sea on P.E.I.'s south shore.

The scenic seaside village has plenty to do, places to eat and shop and stay, and you can walk the whole thing easily, even with small children. There are plenty of massive shady trees to sit under and enjoy the architecture of historic homes and a chocolate from the Island Chocolate Factory. 

"It has the appeal of a traditional village with its own collection of eccentrics and artists," said Webster, who was married at the Victoria Playhouse, where he chairs the board of directors.

"It's a dynamic, beautiful, interesting and entertaining place." 

However, Webster advises living several kilometres away, to avoid small-town politics.

"You want to be close to it but not too close!"

In my opinion

Knox's Dam in Victoria Cross near Montague is often overlooked because it is slightly off the beaten path, but it's not hard to access.

It was a grist mill in the mid- to late-1800s and then supplied hydroelectric power for the town of Montague from 1907 to 1955. An idyllic place to fish or just sit and enjoy the rushing waterfall, it was recognized in 2009 as a national Historic Place. Find a map here. 

Turns out I'm not the only one who thinks it's lovely.

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