Point Amour Lighthouse

Point Amour light was built between 1854 and 1857 and stands thirty-three metres, the tallest lighthouse in Atlantic Canada and the second tallest in the country, on a point commanding the Strait of Belle Isle where currents, fog and ice have wrecked a long list of vessels; HMS Raleigh, a British cruiser, ran aground here in 1922 and was later blown up. Visitors can climb the tower. The keeper's house is furnished to the 1850s. Nearby, the Maritime Archaic burial mound at L'Anse Amour is around seventy-five hundred years old and is the oldest known funeral monument in North America.

Highlights

• The 33-metre tower - the tallest lighthouse in Atlantic Canada, climbable.
• The keeper's house - furnished to the 1850s station period.
• The wreck history - the Strait of Belle Isle and HMS Raleigh.
• The L'Anse Amour mound - a 7,500-year-old burial mound, the oldest known funeral monument in North America.

When to go

June to September; the site closes for winter and the ferry from Newfoundland is seasonal. Icebergs pass through the strait in early summer. Fog is very frequent.

Before you go

Reaching Labrador requires a ferry that weather cancels. The tower can be climbed. The site closes for most of the year.

Nearby

Red Bay lies east; the ferry to Newfoundland runs from Blanc-Sablon.

Key facts