Gros Morne National Park, North Side Edition: RVing Newfoundland with Kids and Teens

1 Shares

Travel dates: June, 2023

To the extent that Gros Morne National Park has a busy side, it’s the area north of Bonne Bay, where you’ll find the touristy little town of Rocky Harbour, popular excursions like the Western Brook Pond Tour, and Gros Morne mountain itself. After our aborted trip up the Great Northern Peninsula, we returned to Gros Morne to spend an entire week checking out this part of the park. This was a change of plans for us; we’d originally had only two full days scheduled here, but we had absolutely no trouble finding ways to fill our time here. (Even though, as you can see, the wildfire smoke returned to haunt us during much of our time here):

I’ll get this out of the way first thing: we did not hike up Gros Morne. For one thing, we couldn’t: we were here in June, and the trail doesn’t open until the last Friday of June, to protect wildlife who are trying to raise babies through the spring. For another thing, it looks really, really hard. It’s long: 17 km/10.6 miles round trip (estimated 8-9 hour hiking time), and, of course, it’s all up hill for the first half (Gros Morne is the second tallest peak in Newfoundland, and you’ll gain around 2100 feet of elevation over the course of the hike). But, having become an expert through YouTube videos, I can confidently say that it’s hard even compared to other hikes of similar length/steepness, because the terrain as you approach the summit is a field of loose rock. And I’m betting going back down the mountain is even tougher with a sprained ankle! Also note that bringing dogs on this trail is not recommended, both because it’s tough on their paws with all the rock and because of the potential for disturbing wildlife (Newfoundland seems incapable of actually prohibiting dogs on any trails. Although actually I’ve found some places that say they recommend you not bring dogs and some places that do in fact say they’re not allowed).

So. We were not too sad about how we didn’t have the option of hiking up the mountain.

But here’s what we did do:

Western Brook Pond Tour

This is one of the big things everyone will tell you to do in Gros Morne. It’s a boat tour through a fjord–although, we learned on the tour, not a real fjord because it’s land-locked–with all the accompanying jaw-droopingly gorgeous views, with 2000 foot cliffs rising up on all sides of you, surrounding the pond/fake fjord that was formed by glaciers during the last ice age.

The tour is operated by Bontours, and it’s pricey, at $79CAD for adults and $49 for kids (up to 17, which is nice). Tickets do sell out, so buy well in advance. So–super honestly? I don’t think I’d spend the money if I had it to do over again. The views were great, but…they’re great for free from land, too. And the boat was uncomfortably crowded, and the whole thing was a little long and dull for Abe, who was 10 at the time. I can see this being a great experience for a couple (i.e. not as expensive as a family), maybe for someone who doesn’t have the time or ability to do much hiking in Gros Morne, but for us I think there are other splurges I’d pick instead.

That said, we still had a great time. We had Milo back from his summer music adventures by this point and the skies had cleared.

My number one tip about the Western Brook Pond tour is to get an early start! It’s about a 20-30 minute drive from the Rocky Harbour area to the parking lot, and then there’s a 3 km hike to get to the boat dock. The hike is flat and easy (and beautiful), but, of course, it does take some time.

We knew about the hike and the drive and thought we were leaving ourselves plenty of time. We got to the boat dock about 45 minutes before the boat was scheduled to leave and sat down at the picnic tables out back to eat the lunch we’d packed (there’s also a small cafe here to buy food from if you didn’t pack any). By the time we’d finished lunch, this was the line we found ourselves in:

You are, of course, guaranteed a spot on one of the boats (there were two the day we were there) if you’ve bought tickets, but they pack the boats pretty full, and you’re NOT guaranteed a place to sit down. By the time we boarded all the prime spots on the top decks were full. We managed to snag seats on a bench in the back of the boat, but there was a lot of shuffling around during the tour as people got up to look at things and eventually we lost some of our seats in one such shuffle. The top deck people are supposed to stay seated, so I’d imagine you have a much better chance of keeping your seat up there. And probably just better views of the fjord and fewer views of people’s butts.

The boat takes you down the length of the pond, with lots of narration along the way about the things you’re passing, then back out the same way, this time with less narration and more music playing. And then the return hike to the car, which feels longer than on the way in.

Incidentally, you might wonder whether it’s worth doing the 6km round trip hike without the expensive boat ride. To which I would say…maybe. The views are great, and there are some fun interpretive signs along the way (love a good interpretive sign!), and there’s the little cafe and gift shop at the end (and more interpretive signs about how the pond was formed), which can be motivating, especially with kids. But the hike itself is just a flat straight route along a narrow gravel road (golf carts drive on it, too, taking in supplies and employees), and it definitely wasn’t one of our very favorite hikes of the trip. But it’s short and easy, so if you find yourself in the area it might well be worth the detour.

Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse

At Lobster Cove Head, you can tour the lighthouse itself, but there’s tons more to see as well. The general advice, which we followed and which we heartily endorse, is to get here at low tide to take advantage of the excellent tide-pooling and rock-scrambling down at the shore (as you can see, the wildfire haze was with us on this day).

There are a few short trails that take you around the area to assorted view points as well. And then the lighthouse itself has a ton to see and do inside, with all sorts of hands on exhibits about the history of the area.

I don’t remember what this game was, but I guess it was a favorite of lighthouse keepers, and also Dave, and Abe, and Gus, who spent a long time playing it:

There were different activities in all of these drawers:

Particularly cool feature of this lighthouse is how it’s built into the rocks. The signal flags are spelling out a message, which one can decode if one is doing the Xplorers book, like Abe was.

Bakers Brook Falls Trail

Every hike in Newfoundland is amazing! Well, most all of the ones we did, anyway. This was another great hike made slightly less great by wildfire smoke. The Bakers Brook Falls Trail is on the longer side, at 9.2 km roundtrip, but it’s mostly very flat and easy (a lot of it is boardwalk) except for a couple of the optional detours and the stretch right around the actual waterfall.

You start with a long stretch through balsam fir forest, with lots of really interesting interpretive signs that tell you about things like the effects of moose browsing in the area and what the assorted plants have been used for over time. Note: lots of this section is boardwalk, and Fergus did not love it; the boards were spaced in such a way that it was kind of tough for him to find his footing. We would have left him at the campground if we had realized this beforehand.

Much happier now that he’s off the boardwalk!

The falls themselves are lovely and a nice payoff at the end of the trail.

There are a couple of optional loops off the main trail–one takes you to see a moose exclosure…a large area that’s fenced off to keep moose out and give the trees and other plants a break from moose munching so they can regrow. We didn’t take that one, but we did do the pond loop, which has some nice views and adds a good bit of elevation change (which made Abe sad).

Coastal Trail

The wildfiriest day yet! The Coastal Trail, as the name implies, is a flat path along the rocky coastline–6 km out and back. The trail is sandwiched between the ocean and scrubby, dense forest known locally as “tuckamore.” This is a really cool feature of this trail, and there are a number of places where you can find an opening into a group of trees and feel like you’ve discovered a secret hideaway.

Now is a good time to tell you that Newfoundland has SO MANY pretty wildflowers:

This trail is easier on doggie feet than Baker Brook Falls:

Green Point Campground is at the end of this trail (or the beginning, depending on how you do things), and there are bathrooms available there, should you need them.

Rocky Harbour

Rocky Harbour is the closest thing Gros Morne has to bustling tourist town. It’s no Pigeon Forge, but you will find plenty of restaurants, ice cream, souvenirs, etc. There’s even a hardware store in case, say, your carbon monoxide monitor in your RV suddenly goes crazy and you need to buy an emergency backup. This is where the visitor centre for the National Park is located on this side of things as well. And there’s also the Anchors Aweigh dinner show, the Newfoundland equivalent of Dolly Parton’s Stampede, if we want to continue the Pigeon Forge comparison.

Anchors Aweigh has been performing in Rocky Harbour at the Ocean View Hotel now for many years. It’s an adult-only (19 and up) show that features 2 1/2 hours of music and bad jokes, or, according to the website, “a taste of Newfoundland humour without being over the top.” Which is to say there’s occasional sexual innuendo that won’t offend anyone and would go over the head of any kids in the audience, were kids allowed. I think we might have been the youngest people in the audience; it’s a very tour bus type crowd and super touristy. But also tons of fun!

It sells out regularly, so you definitely want to buy tickets in advance. Seating is first come, first served, with the caveat that if you’re planning to eat dinner while you’re there you can call the restaurant in advance to reserve a table. We did this…and were kind of surprised to find out when we arrived that we were sharing a table with another couple. This was fine–they were lovely and we had a nice time chatting with them before the show started–but a good thing to be aware of. And afterwards, maybe you’ll walk out to a gorgeous view of the harbor:

We also ate at the Anchor Inn another night, on the patio overlooking the harbor. There’s another, more upscale restaurant in the hotel as well. We also ate at Buoy & Arrow one evening, where the fare goes slightly beyond the usual fried fish offerings (the night we were there, the specials included barbecue pulled moose or bear! Dave got the pulled moose, which he said tasted pretty much like pulled pork. He said he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to eat bear and, when pushed for an explanation, could only come up with, “because bears stand on their hind legs.”)

Insectarium

The Insectarium isn’t really in Gros Morne; it’s nearly an hour’s drive away in Deer Lake. But it is often recommended as a thing to do in the area on rainy days, because there’s really not a lot of indoor stuff to do in Gros Morne. We only had one rainy day while we were there, luckily, and it just happened to be the day we needed to go to Deer Lake anyway, to pick Milo up at the little airport there. He’d just spent two weeks doing a music program in Nova Scotia, outside of Halifax, and it worked out well that he just happened to be staying near one of only about 6 airports in the world (well. All of them are in Canada) with direct flights to Deer Lake, Newfoundland.

We had time to kill before getting Milo, though, so we stopped in at the Insectarium. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it the exhibits were well done and surprisingly extensive. It was also very crowded; being the only rainy day-friendly attraction for miles around on the only rainy day all week pays off. There’s a really nice butterfly garden:

And then an large upstairs exhibit area with an axolotl (not an insect):

and a stick bug who’s friendly and will hang out on you!

On the way home, we took a detour to check out Crooked Feeder Brewing Co, the first of several great breweries we visited in Newfoundland, which serves up excellent beer and barbecue:

Moose

I wasn’t sure where to fit moose in, because I don’t have any pictures of them, and it’s not like I can tell you exactly where to go to see moose. But I think for many people who travel a lot in North America and love wildlife-spotting, moose can be a frustratingly hard box to check. You will have no such problem in Newfoundland. Moose are not native to Newfoundland; the first ones were brought over in the early 20th century, and they’ve done enormously well for themselves. They’re mostly considered a nuisance–a reason for warnings to tourists not to drive after dark to avoid moose-vehicle encounters–but if you don’t live in Newfoundland, they’re really cool to see. There are over 100,000 moose on the island today, and Gros Morne is definitely a hotspot for moose sightings. We saw at least five; mostly hanging out at the side of the road, but we also spotted one from the Western Brook Pond boat.

And then it was time to say goodbye to Gros Morne until next time (which I hope will be soon!) For even the roadside pull-offs in Gros Morne are amazing!