Where and when: Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland, Canada, August 2025
0900: This morning we have one more attraction to see in Gros Morne before continuing on our way; Westernbrook Pond.
0930: It was a 20 minute drive from Norris Point, (where we stayed overnight) to Westernbrook.
Westerbrook pond is actually an inland fijord – to explain how this came about needs a short Geology lesson, so bear with me.
During the last ice age, much of the Northern Hemisphere was covered in glaciers. Over time, the glacier weight pushed down on the mountains and the land, carving a deep gorge and pushing down the lowland. After the ice melted, sea water rushed into the gorge making the fjord. Overtime the lowlands that had been pushed down rose back up, cutting off the fjord from the sea. The freshwater flushed out the sea water, leaving a 165m deep, 16 km long, inland fjord.
The best way to see Westernbrook pond is on a boat tour with BonTours. The boat dock is a 40 minute walk from the car park (but there are golf carts available for an additional charge of you don’t want to walk).
Tip: The walk is actually across the re-risen lowlands, so there are plenty of things to look at. So I suggest giving yourselves 1hr for the walk to leave time for taking in the surroundings and photos.
1045: Our tour was at 11 and the boat started to load up about 10 minutes prior. The tour was fully booked, but there was just about enough space on the boat for everyone to get a good view.
Tip: This is one of the most popular attractions in Gros Morne, so book ahead in the summer months. I booked 6 weeks in advance and was able to get the date and time I wanted. Also, arrive early and queue up to get the best seats on the boat.
1100: The first part of the tour the boat left the dock and headed out to the wide expanse of water before entering the narrow gorge.
First stop was a detour to see a little hidden beach. This looked idyllic in the summer sun. You can only get there by hiking, which makes it even more special (and very empty).
As we entered the fijord with the granite rockfaces rising either side of us, it felt a little bit like the canoe scene from Lord of the Rings. The photos below don’t really don’t do it justice (Blame my awful photography skills and having to take photos facing the sun)
Some of the highest cliffs on either side reach more than 600m. This makes them taller than the CN tower which is 553m tall. I found this really hard to believe (the cliffs really didn’t look that high), until the boat crew pointed out the BonTours boat on the other side of the gorge; against the cliffs, it looked like a 3/4 inch miniature from Little Canada (which I visited a few days earlier).
We reached the dead end of the pond after about 1 hour. Here, several hikers disembarked. They were going to hike from the shore to the top of the mountains for an even better view of the Westernbrook pond. In case you are wondering why it is called a “pond” the crew told us every enclosed body of water in Newfoundland is called a pond no matter how large (or small).
We also saw several hidden waterfalls in the coming down from the cliffs.
As far as scenery goes, this definitely makes it into the top 10 (maybe even the top 5) of the Natural Wonders I have seen. (My top 10 list to date includes The Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Iguazu Falls, Canadian Rockies, Lauterbraunn Valley in Switzerland and Wadi Rum in Jordan amongst other things)
And, because I mentioned little Canada, here is a photo of the Westernbrook pond and cliffs in miniature.
1300: Tour over, there is time for a quick lunch at the cafe before heading back. We decided to walk back to take in a last bit of scenery, but also give ourselves a chance to stretch our legs before setting off for several hours of driving.
1430: Back into the car and on our way. We need to get to Gander, which is where our overnight stop. But first we have to make our way back to Trans Canada highway at Deer Lake.
The roads in Gros Morne offers spectacular scenery, but the road surfaces are terrible. There were so many potholes I wasn’t sure the hire car would make it to the end of the trip with it’s suspension intact. (And swerving to avoid potholes is not an option on single track, windy roads with blind corners).
To be fair, there are a lot of road surface to keep maintaining in this part of the world, and they can only do it in the summer months which are short and also has the highest traffic. (As our tour guide told us in Toronto, “Canada has two seasons – Winter and Construction”)
Back in the Trans Canada highway. The road is better, 2 lanes and mostly straight, but still a fair few potholes.
There are many signs on the road advising to keep an eye out for moose. Traffic accidents due to moose are not uncommon in Newfoundland. A male moose could weigh 500-800kg, so a collision with one at 100km/hr will leave the car and the moose both in very bad shape. The trees either side of the highway are cut back for a dozen or so meters to give good moose visibility.
I originally considered making another detour between Deer Lake and Gander to go to Twilingate, the self-proclaimed, “iceberg capital of the world”. In the spring months you can see many icebergs float right past this little coastal town. You can also take Whale Watching tours there. However it is 2-3 hours from the Trans-Canada highway (4-6 hours round trip), and would have added an extra day to the trip. Since it was August, there was no chance of seeing icebergs, so we decided to leave this out of the itinerary.
With a couple of stops on the way we finally got to Gander around 1900. We were staying at the Comfort Inn in Gander. This was a quick overnight stop, so not much to see.
We didn’t have time to look around Gander, but wish we did. Historically, Gander International airport was a transatlantic fuel stop. In more recent times, Gander rose to prominence on September 11, 2001, when they provides space for 38 commercial aircraft to land after the twin tower terror attack. Overnight it added 6700 people to the town population increasing it by over 60%. The story of Gander’s generosity on 9/11 has been widely celebrated, including through the musical “Come From Away”.
Tomorrow, we continue our journey onto St John’s, with another couple of stops on the way. More details in the next post!
Quick Links
Overnight Accommodation: Comfort Inn, Gander
Visited: Westernbrook Pond Trail and Westernbrook Pond Tour
Diary of a Tourist 
Gorgeous scenery. Top five or ten? That’s high praise indeed! Had to laugh at the winter/construction saying. We have that saying here in Minnesota, too. Interesting to hear about Gander’s generous spirit during that awful time.
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I always like anything to do with water, so maybe a bit bias with this one 🙂 but yes, still breathtaking.
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