About HiddenNewfoundland.ca
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About Me
My name is Scott Osmond (he/him), and I am an avid adventurer, photographer, and writer. I grew up in Corner Brook but eventually moved to St. John’s where I completed degrees in Civil Engineering and Geography at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2014 I established HiddenNewfoundland.ca as a place to share the province’s hidden places, lost stories, and natural wonders in hopes that it would bring awareness of its history and provide others with an opportunity for adventure.
About the Website
While there were several versions of the website throughout late 2014, HiddenNewfoundland.ca was officially launched on February 28, 2015. This new website began as a place to store information, resources, and pictures of the obscure places I came across while travelling the island of Newfoundland and was originally designed for my own personal use. At this time, it was almost exclusively meant to include abandoned buildings and structures, but after it was published the website quickly expanded to include all places wonderous, obscure, and off-the-beaten-path.
Overtime, everyone from avid adventurers to historians to just passionate locals who were excited to share their own community’s heritage began sending me stories and locations they wished to share and learn more about. This incredible community engagement, along with my own passion to learn more about our secret landscapes drove me to continue to share these places and tell the story of how they shaped our communities.
In the Media
I have had the privilege of working with many incredible people over the years and as a result HiddenNewfoundland.ca has been featured in multiple media sources and has worked with numerous tourism organizations, filmmakers, and storytellers over the years.
Hidden Newfoundland: The Guide
Throughout 2020 and 2021, I had the opportunity to work with publisher, Boulder Books to produce an informative guidebook that not only expanded on places already published on the website but included the locations and stories of many more incredible places waiting to be explored across the province. The book is a collection of stories and locations that have been forgotten or lost to time, but whose significance is still felt in their respective communities. This includes resettled communities, abandoned buildings, lost ruins, aircraft crash sites, natural wonders, and much more.
My Thoughts on Hidden Places
What makes Newfoundland unique is what makes any place unique; its culture, its history, and its people. But Newfoundland stands out from many other places as even with today's modern connectivity it remains separated from the rest of the world. It is a place that is recognized for its harsh and rugged environment which somehow has produced some of the kindest and most resilient people on the planet. The history and traditions of Newfoundland culture are combined with a vastly diverse and uninhabited island producing a haven for adventure, exploration, and history. Today the island remains an unexplored oasis for those interested in experiencing all that it has to offer.
As for the places contained on this website, there is a paradox when it comes to making a site about hidden places as after it is completed the places may no longer be hidden. And while there will no doubt be those who wish for many of these places to remain secretive, it is my belief that by sharing the pictures and stories that go along with these places we can begin to raise awareness for their significance and preservation. Each place represents a part of Newfoundland culture and how it came to be the incredible place it is.
I hope then, the takeaway from this site becomes more than just a bucket list of places to explore and visit and instead lays a foundation for future preservation and respect for the province’s heritage. Similarly, for many people, the places in this book are not easily accessible and I hope by sharing this that even the people who have spent their whole lives on the island can obtain new respect for how unique the province is and discover a new side of Newfoundland’s landscape.