What is special about Gros Morne National Park?

The Tablelands expose the Earth's mantle at the surface, which is extremely rare and helped confirm plate tectonics. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on geological grounds.

How many days do you need in Gros Morne?

Three to four. The park splits into a northern and southern half about an hour apart, and the Western Brook Pond boat plus the Tablelands each take most of a day.

Do you need to book the Western Brook Pond boat tour?

Yes, well ahead in July and August. It is the park's signature experience and capacity is limited.

Is Gros Morne hard to get to?

Less than you would think. Deer Lake airport is 30 minutes from the southern boundary with direct flights from several Canadian cities. A car is essential once there.

National parks

Gros Morne National Park: fjords and the Earth mantle

Where: Western Newfoundland
Best months: June to September
Time needed: Three to four days
Nearest airports: Deer Lake

A steep-walled freshwater fjord under cloud in Gros Morne National Park — Western Brook Pond, a landlocked fjord with walls 600 metres high. Photo: Adavyd / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Gros Morne is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for a geological reason rather than a scenic one, though it has both. The Tablelands are a slab of the Earth's mantle pushed to the surface by continental collision, and walking on them is walking on rock that belongs 20 kilometres underground. It helped prove plate tectonics.

The essentials

Western Brook Pond: a freshwater fjord with 600 metre walls, reached by a three kilometre walk across bog followed by a boat tour. The tour is the reason to come and books out in summer.
The Tablelands: barren orange peridotite that almost nothing grows on because it is toxic to plants. A flat, easy interpretive walk that is unlike anywhere else you will stand.
Gros Morne Mountain: a hard 16 kilometre scramble up a scree gully to Newfoundland's second highest summit. Closed in early summer for caribou calving.
Green Point: layered rock recording a global extinction boundary, readable straight off the cliff face.
Lobster Cove Head lighthouse and the outport communities of Trout River and Woody Point, which are the human half of the park.

Gros Morne National Park Open the full map

Getting there and getting around

Fly into Deer Lake, which is about 30 minutes from the park's southern edge, or drive from the Port aux Basques ferry, which takes around three hours. You need a car. The park straddles an arm of the sea, so the northern and southern halves are around an hour apart by road, and it is worth staying a night in each.

Weather and blackflies

Newfoundland weather changes hourly and fog can sit on the fjord for days, which is why locals will tell you to do the boat tour on the first clear morning you get rather than the day you planned. June and early July bring blackflies in force. Bring a head net if you are hiking then and you will look ridiculous and be comfortable.

Book it and check it

Common questions

What is special about Gros Morne National Park?: The Tablelands expose the Earth's mantle at the surface, which is extremely rare and helped confirm plate tectonics. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on geological grounds.
How many days do you need in Gros Morne?: Three to four. The park splits into a northern and southern half about an hour apart, and the Western Brook Pond boat plus the Tablelands each take most of a day.
Do you need to book the Western Brook Pond boat tour?: Yes, well ahead in July and August. It is the park's signature experience and capacity is limited.
Is Gros Morne hard to get to?: Less than you would think. Deer Lake airport is 30 minutes from the southern boundary with direct flights from several Canadian cities. A car is essential once there.

Tip

Newfoundland has its own half-hour time zone, 30 minutes ahead of Atlantic time. Treader handles the offset on your flights, but it still catches people out at the airport.