Backpack and Snorkel Travel Guide for Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland - Newfoundland Purple Travel Guide
With a size of 697 sq mi (1,805 km2), Gros Morne National Park is the largest and one of the most exciting national parks in Newfoundland. We provide detailed information and a self-guided tour with the best things to see and we show lots of photos so you know what you can expect.
Gros Morne National Park is named after the second-highest mountain peak (at 2,644 ft, 806 m) whose French name translates to: ‘large mountain standing alone’ or ‘great sombre’.
Gros Morne National Park sits at the northern end of the Appalachian Mountains. It was established as a National Park Reserve in 1973 and became a national park in 2005.
Table of contents
Tablelands
South of Rocky Harbour near Woody Point lie ‘The Tablelands’.
The mountain range formed 1.2 billion years ago from oceanic crust and mantle rock that was lifted up by plate tectonics. Over the last 400 mio years, the barren, orange landscape (the Earth's inner soul) that we see today has been laid bare through erosion.
It is very different from the landscape that you see in the rest of Newfoundland.
The easy Tablelands Trail follows an old roadbed. It is a 2.5-mile (4 km) return hike during which will see beautiful broad panoramic views and lots of plants and rocks that are different from what you have seen in Newfoundland so far.
The trail ends in the Winter House Brook Canyon, which was carved by ice-age glaciers.
Southeast Brook Falls
Southeast Brook Falls is a 130 ft (40 m) waterfall that can be accessed by an easy 1,200 ft (350 m) (one way) trail. There are 2 viewpoints, the first is halfway up the falls and the trail ends at the top of the falls.
Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse
Before the lighthouse was built in 1898, a local fisherman kept a small light burning and every inhabitant of Rocky Harbour contributed a pint of oil each week.
The Lobster Cove Head Exhibit is open from the second half of May until early October.
There are trails and you can walk down to the beach, where you may see some sea creatures in the tide pools at low tide.
This concludes your tour for today.
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