Snug Harbour

Follow an unmarked route to scenic Snug Harbour on the shores of Western Brook Pond. This secluded cove is located at the base of the escarpment of the Long Range Mountains where you can enjoy a close-up view of Western Brook Pond’s 650 metre cliffs.

Route Information

Follow the Western Brook Pond trail and take the side loop to Western Brook and the start of the Snug Harbour route. To access the route, you will need to ford or wade across Western Brook. Hikers are advised to head up stream and ford the brook just above the outflow from the pond where the water is at its shallowest and the current at its weakest.

Caution: The water in the brook can be very deep after a rainfall. During periods of high water, hikers can expect water depths of up to 1 metre. Do not attempt to cross when water is high, currents are strong, or water is cold.

From Western Brook to Snug Harbour, the route is unmarked and requires wilderness navigation skills.  The route follows a combination of shoreline and an unmaintained and unmarked trail. The trail is in poor condition and in places is very muddy and overgrown with vegetation. The route ends at the Snug Harbour primitive campsite.

Return by the same route.

Operating season: June 28 to September 30

Reservations

Reserve the Snug Harbour primitive campsite:

• All campers require a Primitive Camping Permit plus a National Park Entry Permit which must be valid for the entire duration of their stay.
• Important: Permits must be picked up before 4:00 p.m. at the park Visitor Centre, Discovery Centre, or at the registration kiosks of one of our 5 campgrounds.
• Campsite equipped with a pit toilet and food locker.
• Campfires are not permitted. Carry a stove. Do not rely on fires for cooking, staying warm or drying out.

Trip Planning Information

Hiking in the Long Range Mountains should only be attempted by persons who are physically fit, have good wilderness navigation skills and are experienced in backcountry travel and backpacking. There are no trails on the Long Range. In places you will encounter beaten pathways from previous hikers but they are often indistinguishable from game paths. Route finding can be further complicated when low cloud and other weather conditions reduce visibility. Hikers need to be experienced at navigating unmarked routes.

If nobody in your group has the necessary navigation skills you need to learn and practice them before you arrive or have other hikers with the needed navigation skills join your group.

For more information on what to expect please review the Hiker Preparation Guide to the Long Range Mountains (PDF, 4.86 MB)

Topographic Map:

• 12H/12 Gros Morne
• 12H/13 St Pauls

Download:

• Long Range & Northern Traverse Backcountry Hiking Map (PDF, 6.9 MB)  
• Hiker Preparation Guide to the Long Range Mountains (PDF, 4.86 MB)
• GPS track files are available for download of the complete Northern Rim and Long Range Traverse (GPX, 319 KB)

WARNING: This file(s) contains information on hiking within GMNP. The file(s) may include GIS data of the hiking areas, or GPS track files of commonly used Long Range routes within Gros Morne National Park. These hiking areas or routes are neither marked nor maintained in any manner by Parks Canada. Weather conditions change frequently. It is the user's responsibility to ensure conditions are safe for travel along these routes at all times. This information was prepared by Parks Canada using its best judgment and information available at the time of preparation. Any use you make of this information and any reliance on or decisions made based on these files are your own responsibility absolutely. Parks Canada, its employees and its agents accept no responsibility for damages, if any, suffered by you or any third party as a result of decisions made or actions based on these maps or files. For greater certainty, under no circumstances whatsoever will Parks Canada, its employees, or its agents be held liable for any loss or damage that may occur to you and any person or persons or property by reason of your or their reliance upon these track files or maps.