Newfoundland

If you’re looking to escape the crowds and experience breathtaking landscapes and miles of roads with just you and the wilderness this is the place for you. It’s a long way to get there, but truly worth it. 

There are two options to get to Newfoundland, you can take the ferry or fly, we chose the latter. We spent a day driving to Halifax and overnighted there before taking an early morning flight to St. John’s. We enjoyed exploring St. John’s and the surrounding area. Our favorite spots were:

• Signal Hill: beautiful overlooks of St. John’s and hiking trails along the coast. If you’re here make sure to stop at the Geo Museum to learn about the interesting geological features of Newfoundland.
• Pouch Cove: this is a tiny little town on the coast where you can learn a little history about the fishing industry in Newfoundland. 
• Cape Spear Lighthouse and the East Coast Trail: The East Coast Trail is an amazing coastal trail that runs 270 kilometers along the Newfoundland coast with many easy access points so you can hike different portions of the trail.
• Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove: This tiny fishing village is so picturesque and definitely worth a visit. 

After having a wonderful time enjoying the area around St. John’s it was time to start the trek to the other side of the island. We decided to split the drive up and stop in Clarenville for a few nights and explore the interior of the island. It is definitely worth spending some time in this area, we saw some beautiful landscapes as well as some puffins and whales!

• Chance Cove: We stopped for this hike on the way to Clarenville and were rewarded with seeing a whale swimming in the cove!
• Trinity and Fort Point Lighthouse: The views of Trinity from the lighthouse are well worth the bumpy drive to get there. 
• Bird Island: If you want an excellent view of puffins without going on a boat tour, this is the spot. While it’s very remote and a short hike to the location it was so much fun to watch the puffins nesting and flying around! Bird Island is located right off the shore, but completely inaccessible and the puffins love it, so if you are there during nesting season you will see lots of them. There were quite a few people enjoying the view and photographers taking pictures, but it wasn’t too crowded….let’s hope it stays that way!

About an hour’s drive from Clarenville is Terra Nova National Park. Although the park is on the smaller side, the stunning views and great hiking trails made it worth the stop.

Ochre Hill: This 5km trail loops around Ochre Hill Pond, with a branch trail to Bread Cove look-off with breathtaking views of Bread Cove and Clode Sound.

On our drive to Gros Morne National Park we stopped in Gander to see the airport and the North Atlantic Aviation Museum. In the 1950’s Gander Airport was one of the busiest airports in the world, and was also the site where 38 flights were diverted on 9-11 and the small town’s population doubled in size in a few hours. The town welcomed the passengers, housed and fed everyone for the entire time that flights were grounded in the United States.

We also stopped for lunch and a short hike to Thunder Falls. The trail is right off the highway so it was a perfect spot to stretch our legs and relax a little before the last part of the drive to Deer Lake.

Gros Morne National Park is absolutely breathtaking and if you go all the way to Newfoundland you must go there! We spent three days exploring the park. The one thing we missed out on was a boat tour of Western Brook Pond and the fjord. We did not realize how busy it would be and that it would be sold out the entire time we were there. This is the one thing we truly missed doing because it’s the only way to see the fjord. We did hike the 1.5 miles to the boat launch area and got a good view of the fjord from far away, but there is no other way to get up close to the fjord except by boat.

• Green Gardens: This was my favorite trail of the park with jaw dropping views of the coastline. We even happened upon a herd of sheep that had wandered down to the beach!
• Tablelands: This otherworldly section of Gros Morne has barely any vegetation and looks like you’ve landed on the moon. It’s the Earth’s mantle that was forced up when continents collided. Brendan walked part of the trail, I was too tired so I waited in the parking lot. This is an easy trail with such unique features so be prepared for lots of people, the tour buses stop here.
• Bakers Brook Falls: This is a beautiful hike, but be prepared for lots of  mud, especially as you get closer to the falls. Unfortunately some of the views of the falls were obscured by tree growth, but you can still see the huge falls. There is also a fenced in area on the hike that shows the impact moose have on the ecosystem.
• Coastal trail: This trail can be as long as you like since it’s out and back, with beautiful view of the coastline.
• Southeast Brook Falls: This is a really short hike to a beautiful falls, well worth the quick stop to check it out.
• Lobster Cove Lighthouse: Lots of little trails around this lighthouse and a small museum inside.

We had such an amazing time in Newfoundland, it’s definitely worth a visit!

Brendan & Jen {August 2024}