Two Sore Backs

Gros Morne celebrates 50 years as a national park in 2023. We are eager to learn why this park earned UNESCO World Heritage status back in 1987.

Fortunately the park offers many great interpretive experiences and we took advantage of seven. (Warning: this post is photo dense)

Green Point remains a small fishing village. It is also an important geological site at the edge of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The differing layers of rock and how they explain significant geologic movements – this is all on display on a walk of less than one kilometre. There are important fossil finds here as well.

Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse displays provides historical context.

Tablelands is an interpretive hike that explains how this large piece of the Earth’s mantle was exposed. Africa and America collided pushing these rocks (the mantle below the ocean) to their present position on land. This phenomenon – peridotite rock – is very rare at the earth’s surface and Gros Morne is the most convenient location on earth to view it.

Despite being inhospitable there are some plants and trees that grow (albeit slowly).

Discovery Centre has an exhibit called The Story of Stone. These four boards are an excellent summary:

There is an excellent exhibit Miawpukek: The Middle River exploring the stories and traditions of Conne River, a Mi’kmaw community on Newfoundland’s south coast. I thoroughly enjoyed this exhibit and forgot to take any photos 😦

Lookout Trail provides a panorama view.

Western Brook Pond Boat Tour is another must-do at Gros Morne. There is a lovely 30 minute hike through coastal bogs and wildflowers to reach the dock for the two hour boat tour into the fjord. (Technically, the pond is no longer a fjord as there is only fresh water in the pond.)

While it had been chilly a day earlier at Tablelands, we are blessed with warmth and sunshine for the boat tour.

We head to Shallow Bay Beach next. We are wanting some R&R so skip the 9 hole golf course at nearby Cow’s Head (next time) and hit the beach for a swim and a nap.

Fun fact ….. we hit 15,000 km for the trip while in Gros Morne