Gros Morne National Park

Gros Morne National Park is a Canadian national park and World Heritage Site on the west coast of Newfoundland. It is the second largest national park in Atlantic Canada.

The park is named after Newfoundland's second-highest mountain, which stands at 806 meters. Its French name means "large mountain standing alone". The park is part of the Long Range Mountains, a range of the Appalachian Mountains.

In 1987, the park became a World Heritage Site because it shows a rare example of how continents move. The park was made a national park in 2005. In 2011, it was featured in a film as part of the National Parks Project.

Geology

Gros Morne National Park has special rocks that help us learn about Earth. Some rocks come from deep inside the planet and were pushed up a long time ago. There are also rocks made from water and old sediments. These rocks show how Earth changed over millions of years.

The park is on the Great Northern Peninsula in western Newfoundland. One special place is called the Tablelands. It looks like a dry desert because of its special ultramafic rocks. These rocks come from deep inside Earth and are hard for plants to grow in. They are also a rusty brown color because they have lots of iron.

Soils

The park has many kinds of soil because it is on many types of rock. In the northeast, the most common soil is Silver Mountain. This soil is made of tiny rocks and sand.

In the southeast, soils are on rocks like dolomitic limestone. These soils are sandy and have small rocks. Near the coast, there is a thin layer of soil from shale, slate, limestone, and sandstone. North of Bonne Bay, the soils have a lot of peat. South of Bonne Bay, the soils are stony and poor in nutrients.

Western Brook Pond – Fjord

Western Brook Pond is a beautiful freshwater fjord shaped long ago by glaciers during the ice age. After the glaciers melted, the land rose up and blocked the fjord’s connection to the sea. This left a long, narrow pond filled with very clear water.

The water in Western Brook Pond is very clean. Pissing Mare Falls, the tallest waterfall in eastern North America, flows into this stunning pond. The rocks along its edges show parts of Earth’s history, with different types of stone found in various parts of the shore.

Nature and wildlife

Gros Morne National Park has many animals, both on land and in the sea. You can find them in coasts, forests, bogs, and mountains.

Moose are very common in the park. They came to Newfoundland from nearby areas around 1900 and there are more of them here than in other parts of Canada. Other large animals include a special type of caribou that only lives in Newfoundland, black bears, and Canada lynx.

Smaller animals you might see include Arctic foxes, beavers, red foxes, red squirrels, river otters, and snowshoe hares.

In the waters near the park, you can often see harbour seals. During early summer, several types of whales and dolphins may visit the area, including Atlantic white-sided dolphins, fin whales, harbour porpoises, humpback whales, killer whales, minke whales, and pilot whales.

The park also has many bird species. Along the coast, you’ll find shorebirds, while bogs and forests have their own birds. In the alpine areas, you can see rock ptarmigan and willow ptarmigan.

World Heritage Site

In 1987, the park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its beautiful scenery and important rocks. The rocks and landforms show us how Earth’s plates move and change.

In 2022, scientists called the International Union of Geological Sciences chose this area as one of 100 important places for geology. The Mohorovičić discontinuity at Gros Morne is part of this special list.

Trails

Hiking is a fun activity at Gros Morne National Park. There are about 20 marked trails for day trips. You can explore both the coast and the inner parts of the park. One of the more challenging hikes is a 16 km trail over Gros Morne Mountain, called the James Callaghan Trail. This trail was named after a former British Prime Minister who visited the park in 1976.

Arts and culture

Gros Morne National Park has many arts festivals. Some of these are the Gros Morne Theatre Festival, Writers at Woody Point, Gros Morne Summer Music, and Trails, Tales and Tunes.