Mayor’s Message

South River is a quiet little town that is situated approximately fifty minutes west of St. John’s on the Conception Bay Highway. It is located at the head of Bay de Grave, between Clarke’s Beach and Cupids. South River was incorporated in 1966 and presently has a population of about 750 people. South River is the first community off Roache’s Line, the connector road to the Trans Canada Highway. It is part of the Baccalieu Trail, a scenic drive around the Conception Bay, Trinity Bay areas. Politically, South River is in the Provincial District of Harbour Main and in the Federal District of Avalon.

The river from which the community takes its name flows through a broad valley into a large harbour pond south of Clarke’s Beach, known as Southern Gut. (The word Gut means fresh water that flows into and out of salt water). South River consists of areas known as The Gut, Salmon Cove, northeast of the the river, and Springfield which is inland, along the river valley. It is bordered on the north by the community of Clarke’s Beach, on the south by the community of Cupids, and on the west by the community of Makinsons. On the eastern area of the town is Bay de Grave, a picturesque bay that opens to the much larger Conception Bay.