Gros Morne National Park, worth the long journey
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- Summitting Gros Morne Mountain
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- Ten Mile Pond, from Gros Morne Mtn
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- Many lakes are visible from Gros Morne Mountain
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- Green Gardens trail
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- Gulf of St. Lawrence, from Green Gardens trail
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- Headlands above Green Gardens trail
Keen hikers should definitely visit Gros Morne National Park. The terrain is vast, wild, exotic.
The Long Range Traverse, a 4- to 6-day backpack trip, across the lake-splashed, fiord-slashed, heart of the park is an exciting adventure for very strong hikers with infallible, cross-country navigation skills. But you can overlook much of the route from 806-m Gros Morne Mountain.
Reasonably fit, moderately-experienced hikers can easily summit Gros Morne Mtn in a single day (5 to 7 hours hiking time) via an excellent, 16-km circuit trail. The park’s namesake mountain is Newfoundland’s second-highest peak, and it feels like it. The broad, level summit is an island of arctic felsenmeer. Allow yourself an hour or two on top and along the far side of the circuit to fully appreciate the astonishing 360° view.
A trip to Newfoundland is a commitment, no matter how you arrive here. The overnight ferry from North Sydney, Nova Scotia, takes 7 hours to complete the crossing. So as rewarding as Gros Morne Mtn is, don’t let it be your only hike in this unique national park.
We also recommend the Green Gardens circuit. It too is a 16-km dayhike requiring 5 to 8 hours. For about 5 km, the trail follows a spectacular, rugged stretch of coastal cliffs along the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Green Gardens and Gros Morne Mtn will give you a superb, bookend experience.
Expect to see lots of moose. We saw five in one day: two above the trail, and three crossing the highway just past dusk, on the way back.