Gros Morne & The Viking Trail
A couple of years ago we took a late fall trip to western Newfoundland on assignment for Saltscapes to do a story on the many things to see and do along the Viking Trail which runs from Deer Lake to St. Anthony. It includes two UNESCO World Heritage Sites – Gros Morne National Park and L’Anse aux Meadows, the only authenticated Viking settlement in North America. The trip started just outside Corner Brook where we zip-lined over Steady Brook Falls and drove Captain Cook’s Trail to some of Newfoundland’s iconic little fishing towns. Next up was a couple of fabulous days in Gros Morne National Park where we managed to get caught in a blizzard at the top of that fabled mountain and missed out entirely on the famous panorama from the summit. While the scenery in Gros Morne is just about as good as it gets anywhere in the world, the rest of the Viking Trail is not too shabby with the Long Range Mountains on the one side and the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the other. Just about every small harbour seems to have a scenic lighthouse with the occasional shipwreck thrown in. The drive ends just after St. Anthony where Sir Wilfred Grenfell’s mission is the must see attraction. It is also the base for exploring the Viking settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows. While the site won’t blow you away because of its location or natural beauty, the very fact that it was a European settlement that pre-dated Columbus’ voyages by almost 500 years is astounding. Here’s a link to the Saltscapes story.
