On the Viking Trail - The Tablelands

After leaving Twillingate, we drove south and west.  We overnighted in Deer Lake before driving Route 340 toward Norris Point and Rocky Harbour with our destination being Port au Choix, further north up the coast.  Not quite an hour into our journey, we entered Gros Morne National Park.

The western coastline of Newfoundland has been called The Viking Trail because there is plenty of evidence these legendary explorers sailed along this coastline around one thousand years ago.  I think we saw the first sign we were on this route just south of when we crossed the border into Gros Morne Park.  As an aside, Gros Morne Park is a must-see if you visit Newfoundland.  

The park's website has this description:  Soaring fjords and moody mountains tower above a diverse panorama of beaches and bogs, forests and barren cliffs.  Shaped by colliding continents and grinding glaciers, Gros Morne’s ancient landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Wander coastal pathways and beachcomb among sea stacks. Cruise the dramatic, sheer-walled gorge of Western Brook Pond.  Spot moose and caribou.  Hike to alpine highlands where Arctic hare and ptarmigan thrive on tundra, and explore the colourful culture of nearby seaside communities.

Near Norris Point, we saw the sign for Tableland Drive.  Although we’d planned to visit the Tablelands in a few days, we decided to do it then to take advantage of great weather and the available time.  Along that route, we got our first glimpse of the Tablelands.  As well, there was a lovely view over Woody Point and across Bonne Bay. Just past Woody Point, we stopped at the Discovery Centre.  

Gros Morne in the distance

At the Discovery Centre, we watched a film about the park and its many features which include trails, coastline, ponds (aka lakes) and mountains. The centre also has lots of information and exhibits about the Tablelands, the rocks and fossils found there, and why they are such a geological phenomenon.  The Tablelands merited a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation because discoveries here have contributed significantly to the understanding of the earth’s formation and the ground here exposes the earth’s mantle.  They are truly a geologist’s dream!  We could have actually spent a lot longer at the centre than the 1 hour so we were there.  Once again, I wish I had studied more geology than what you used to be taught in Grade 9!  The exhibits here were fascinating but very detailed – more than I could retain – or understand!

There is additional information on the NL Tourism website indicating that:  it was here geologists discovered that the ancient North American trilobite fossils of the area differed from those in eastern Newfoundland, which matched ones found in Spain and North Africa, helping prove the theory of continental drift. Plus, there are the Tablelands, a mesa-like formation of rock usually found only deep in the earth but here pushed to the surface by tectonic forces.

The Tablelands were half a billion years in the making – formed deep in the middle layer of the Earth, in the mantle.  It was thrust up as ancient continents collided, building the Appalachian Mountain chain and assembling a supercontinent called Pangea.  More than 400 million years of those towering mountains eroding were needed to reveal what we see today:  a surreal barren, orange landscape -- the Earth's inner soul – its mantle - exposed here in a way that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. 

While we didn’t drive the entire distance between Woody Point and Trout River, the website says one of the most spectacular sights you'll see [on this route] is the contrast of colour between the mountains that tower above you:  one side is lush green; the other, a brilliant, amber colour - all divided, it would seem, by the yellow line of the highway.  We found out that was true when we continued about 2 or 3 km past the Discovery Centre where there was an up close viewing place to see the mantle as well as a hiking trail that would let you experience walking on it.  Fossils and interesting rocks can be found here and we saw a sign indicating it is forbidden to remove them.  We then drove about 3 km further toward Trout River and certainly could appreciate the effect described on the website.

I have to say the scenery was unbelievable, particularly because of the weather.  While the scenery could be compared to places like the Grand Canyon to the untrained eye, the important thing to remember is that this is not the earth’s surface that has been eroded but the earth’s core forced up by two tectonic plates coming together.  It is perhaps the only place on earth that you can see this.  [As an aside, two days later, when we came back along this route, the mountains were barely visible because of the rain and low cloud so we were very lucky to have seen it when we did.]

After the memorable experience of the Tablelands, we continued our drive north.  We stopped at The Arches, a Provincial park, where there is a spectacular rock formation at the ocean’s edge.  I had thought we might have to hike into it like many of the wonderful sights we have missed on this trip but, no, it is right beside the parking lot.  This is a very photogenic rock formation and well worth stopping at.

We continued driving north with our destination being Port au Choix.  This is also a national heritage site.  Our accommodation was a motel – sort of a retro experience – and we spent the evening in the restaurant drinking Iceberg beers (mine “cut” with 7Up) and having a what has become typical dinner – too much fried food!  We did have a nice view of the harbour.

Tomorrow, our next destination is another UNESCO World Heritage Site – and the first one to be designated as such in Canada – L’Anse aux Meadows.