Lobster Cove Head and Cow Head Lighthouses

After visiting the Woody Point side, or the Southern Arm, we will now drive around the bend to the Northern Arm.

In 2007 we stayed in Rocky Harbour. After checking into our B&B, we took a short drive to the Lobster Cove Head lighthouse. The lighthouse was activated in 1898. There is a small museum in the house, but unfortunately no access the light structure.

The next day we drove further up the coast to visit the beautiful Western Brook Pond. This is the best example of the quaint Newfoundland tradition of calling virtually anything less than the ocean a pond. The lake was formed by glaciers which carved the steep rock walls. After the glacier melted the lake was cut off from the ocean, leaving the lake to become fresh water.

It is an easy hike to the pond.

We passed a moose.

Parks Canada controls access to the pond itself, allowing for only a couple tour boats to operate. Be sure to book ahead to get a place on the boat. It was mostly overcast during our ride.

The lake is fed by Stag Brook and several waterfalls. One, with the picturesque name of Pissing Mare Falls, is one of the highest in eastern North America.

We finally had some sun at the end. I was sure that I was annoying my fellow boat passengers since I seemed to be only person taking lots of photos. Now I jumped up to take a few more.

There are some great hiking trails in the park. I have shown you photos from the easy Tablelands and Western Brook Pond hikes. We had specific plans to do a couple others, part of the Trout River Pond Trail and Green Gardens. In my last post I mentioned that we gave up on the Trout River hike since we could not see a thing in the fog. We had to skip Green Gardens because of pouring rain and fog.

There are several other hikes to keep you busy. If you want a real challenge, try out the Gros Morne Mountain trail, a 16 km loop that takes you up the mountain. Tourist information shows a dramatic photo from a mountain top with Western Brook Pond in the background. Historically that required a multi-day back country hiking trip. I see that there is now a day tour (about 8 hours, with 4 hours of hiking) that takes hikers to that spot. Like the Gros Morne Mountain trail, I assume that this hike requires a good level of fitness.

On the same rainy day that we skipped the Green Gardens hike, we also visited the town of Norris Point, which is across the bay from Woody Point. We stopped on top of the hill before the town, where it seemed that there must be a spectacular view. But not that day. I did not bother to take a photo in the rain and fog. I was able to get some photos at the bottom of the hill.

Cow Head is on the north side of the park. We spent a night there in order to take in a play at the Gros Morne Theatre Festival.
There is also a lighthouse which was activated in 1909. It is easy to find. The lighthouse needed a paint job that day. With the fog we could barely see the ocean behind it.

Once you leave your adventure in Gros Morne to come to The Arches Provincial Park. It is an easy walk to the arches.

We did these visits back before the proliferation of the Air B&B's and vacation home rentals. So this advice might be outdated. But in those days, anyone visiting during the busy time of July and August were advised to book accommodation in advance. I started looking a few weeks before our trip and found places, but not necessarily the ones that I would have preferred. We had to share bathrooms in Woody Point and ended up with a "luxurious" room in Cow Head, giant jacuzzi and big screen TV, which was twice as much as the standard rooms.