Gros Morne National Park

Gros Morne, on the wild west coast of Newfoundland, is one of the most geologically remarkable places in the world, which is why it was made a World Heritage Site. Its centrepiece, the Tablelands, is a stretch of bare, rust-orange rock that is actually a piece of the earth's mantle forced up to the surface, so barren that almost nothing grows on it, a landscape that helped prove the theory of plate tectonics. Elsewhere the park could not be more different: deep landlocked fjords like Western Brook Pond, carved by ice and now cut off from the sea, are ringed by cliffs hundreds of metres high and explored by boat. The Gros Morne mountain itself, the second highest in Newfoundland, gives a long, demanding day-hike. Between the geology, the fjords, the moose and the coastline, it rewards several days.

What you actually see

• Western Brook Pond - the landlocked fjord, seen on a boat trip beneath towering cliffs.
• The Tablelands - the exposed orange mantle rock, walked on a guided or self-guided trail.
• Gros Morne Mountain - the long climb to the barren summit, the park's namesake peak.
• The coastal lowlands - beaches, lighthouses and moose in the boggy flats.

When to go

June to September is the walking and boat-tour season; the Western Brook Pond boat runs in summer. Autumn brings colour but colder, wetter weather. Winter closes most services. Black flies and mosquitoes are fierce in early summer.

Honest expectations

It is remote: several hours from the nearest airport, and Newfoundland weather is famously changeable, with fog and rain possible any day in summer. The Western Brook Pond boat requires a 3 km walk each way to reach it and books out. The Gros Morne and Tablelands hikes are long and exposed. Biting insects in June and July are a genuine nuisance.

Nearby

L'Anse aux Meadows, the Norse site at Newfoundland's northern tip, is a long drive north; the town of Rocky Harbour has services.