West Cliff, Lunenburg County

West Cliff gps location file

Pleasant Lake is at Springfield on the Number 10 highway, about 45 km from Exit 12 at Bridgewater on the 103 highway. We took the Lake Pleasant Road till the end of the Lake. On one map the side road was marked Sproule Road, another Springfield Lake Road and I believe the actual signage is Sawdust Road… In any event we followed the Road around the Lake until it became too rough for the car and started our hike…

Our May 18, 2003 track southeast of Lake Pleasant

1. Park vehicle 0352040E 4941110N NAD 83	2. Alternate route to be explored 0352118E 4941149N
	Typical road conditions, May 18, in low spots between point 2 and point 3. Tony chose to take off the footgear and plunge on through while Alexandra does her impersonation of Day of the Living Bug Gear Person 50′s B movie character. – larger image
3. Turning point 0352524E 4941582N	4. Turning Point 0353280E 4941400N
We didn’t find any sign of the road at turning point #4 but you can see by the plot we turned in just about where it should have been. Photo is at the foot of the clearcut area east and southeast of reference point 5 – larger image
5. Closest reference point for next attempt 0353412E 4941124N
Theoretical Location of The Bluff from map 0353090E 4940730N	Theoretical location of West Cliff from map 0353610E 4940560N

History of the County of Lunenburg – West Cliff
pg. 161	pg. 162	pg. 163

“There are some very remarkable rock formations in the vicinity of New Germany.

West Cliff is about six miles from Varner’s Bridge, and is well worth a visit. Immense masses of granite of great height
and extent form the cliff.

The writer visited it with Elias Varner and others, in an ox-team. A man walked ahead to find the best way, and the oxen
followed, bending down and passing over the young trees. Many obstructions were met, and the place was arrived at with
difficulty; but the sight was reward sufficient. Great blocks of stone had been detached from the main body and removed quite
a distance, suggesting that mighty forces had been some day there at work. One piece was found to be over 18 feet
long, 12 feet 4 inches wide, and 16 inches thick. It had a perfectly flat surface, and one of the men remarked, “You
could not plane it better.” Another large block had two of the sides faced. Near the cliff was a smooth carpet of the
most beautiful moss. Two red pines, about twenty-five feet high, were growing on top of the granite, where there did
not seem to be any soil. Some of the disjointed masses had so fallen as to form a large and very deep well-shaped cavity.
On one side of it was a ledge or shelf, and on this stood a large circular mass of earth, as if some hand had placed it there.
From it were growing very handsome ferns. A most enjoyable hour or two was spent in rambling about the locality. There
is now a shorter and better way to the cliff from the railway track, near the property of Jacob Meisiner.

Little Bluff is about a mile south-west of West Cliff, and five miles from Varner’s Bridge. It is only visible when close to it,
as the approach for the last half-mile is by a gradual ascent, which brings the visitor nearly to the top. Passing to the
valley below, the front of the bluff is in full view. It is about seventy feet high. There is a projection of the rock upwards,
forming a complete roof over a space of about 60 x 20 feet, where the shade is most enjoyable. Close by the rock
was found a pool of the purest water, refreshingly cool after a warm tramp through the woods. In the winter, icicles 10 feet
or more in length, and of immense thickness, hang from the projection, presenting a magnificent appearance.

About half-way to the top is a cavity twenty feet or more in width at the front, and gradually narrowing for about six-
teen feet inwards, while on the top, and nearly covering it, is a thick, flat stone. One part of the cliff is peak-shaped, and
much higher than the rest. In one place there are layers of rounded rock. Two of these are like the trunks of trees, of
great length and thickness. The crevices between many of the layers are fringed with delicate ferns. The summit of the mass is
higher than the tops of the forest trees, and is not very difficult of access. Here is a very fine and extensive view. West Lake
in the distance, and, away beyond, the district of Pleasant River, farm-houses on the hills fifteen miles off, the hilltops
at Springfield, and the New Germany railway station, with adjacent buildings are all in sight. A thrifty white pine is
growing on the top, where no soil is to be seen, and at the foot, on a flat, moss-covered rock, are three healthy spruce trees.
There is so much massiveness and grandeur about the whole bluff as to lead the beholder to use the words of the Psalmist,
“O Lord, how great are thou works.” One of the party, who had been there several times, said that when under this projection
he always thought of the passage in Revelations, “And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the
face of Him, that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.”

A boulder about twenty feet from the bluff was found, by a measuring tape, to be ninety-one and a half feet around. Out of
one part of it, which has a flat surface, blocks twenty-seven feet in length could be taken. It is about twenty-two feet
high. Ten feet from it are two others, not quite so large, and about two feet apart.

If a good road were made to the bluff, it would become a place of resort, as none privileged to see it could ever fail to
recommend others to visit a spot so full of interest.”

Judge Desbrisay, 1898