(click here to find Western Brook Pond on the map)
Western Brook Pond is the number one tourist attraction in Gros Morne National Park. As we planned our first trip to Newfoundland, we were under the impression you would just drive up to it. Maybe take a short stroll from the car to the scenic lookout where they take all the famous photos. That's not the case, you can drive right by it and not realize it's there.
To see Western Brook Pond, there's a 3km hike to the boat dock. The Western Brook Pond boat tour then runs 16km to the end of the fjord and 16km back. There's a large parking area on Route 430 between Sally's Cove and St. Paul's. You need to call BonTours to make a reservation in advance. The schedule can change from day to day. Arrive at the parking lot an hour before your tour starts. That will give you lots of time to make the hike and pick up your tickets at the dock.
At the dock you'll find a ticket office and a nice deck, where you can wait for your tour to start. In addition to the ticket office, there are washrooms, a gift shop and a lunch counter. You can grab a hot dog before you head out on the boat. When you pick up your tickets, you need to show your park pass. If you don't have one, they will sell you one there. You cannot take the boat tour unless you have a park pass.
The season, weather and number of reservations determine the number of runs in a day.
(click photos to enlarge, click caption for mapped location)
Western Brook Pond is a land-locked fresh water, glacial fjord. We've been to Norway and it compares to Norwegian fjords. There are shear cliffs down to the water, rock slide sites and numerous waterfalls. When the boat reaches the end of the fjord, you are treated to Pissing Mare Falls, which is the most spectacular waterfalls in the fjord.
There is a small dock at the far end of the fjord. If anybody is making the difficult hike up to the famous photo spot, the boat will drop them off here. You need to advise park staff if you are planning on making the hike and you'll need to have orientation skills. BonTours also offers a guided hike.
Take a pack with you containing water and extra clothing. The hike in can be quite hot in the summer, but it can get quite windy and chilly out on the fjord.
(click photos to enlarge, click caption for mapped location)
You start with the area map where they show the trails that are covered by the book. The pages about each trail include GPS co-ordinates of the trailhead and a good map of the trail. They also tell you the level of difficulty and distances.
We bought a copy ahead of our June 2015 trip to scout out the trails we wanted to do ahead of time. The book is available on Amazon and you can purchase it through this link.
