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Corner Brook is a town at the center of Newfoundland adventure – Marble Mountain ziplining, Rugged Edge ATV tours, and hiking Southhead Lighthouse Trail plus Bottle Cove.
Corner Brook serves the western region of Newfoundland as a hub. Hills fringe three sides of the city, offering dramatic views of the harbor and the Bay of Islands.
The town, with a population of 19,050 is about 85km from Gros Morne National Park, and makes a good base for sightseeing and hiking in Western Newfoundland – an area renowned for its outdoor adventure activities.
We’ve selected three adventure activities to get your heart pumping and adrenaline surging – ziplining, ATV riding, and hiking.
Zip line at Marble Mountain, Corner Brook
“Are you ready to send it?” my guide asks.
“Yes b’y!” I scream, just as excited to be playing linguistics with my new Newfoundland phrase, as the prospect of hurling myself off the platform to fly suspended on a wire, across a waterfall.
We’re standing at the top of our first zip line launch on Marble Mountain. Safely hooked on and having reviewed instructions, it’s my first zip line experience ever. The virgin of the group doesn’t want to let on that there’s any hesitation.
Marble Mountain guides are absolute professionals, and according to friends who have zip lined many times all around the world, Marble Mountain’s attention to safety and top notch gear was the best they ever experienced. That’s a glowing endorsement, especially if this is your first introduction to zip lining.
Marble Mountain Ski Resort is just 10km out of Corner Brook. In addition to boasting the best ski terrain east of the Rockies during the winter, experiencing zip lining with Marble Zip Tours during the summer will be an adrenaline highlight of touring Western Newfoundland.
Featuring eastern Canada’s longest, tallest and most exhilarating zip line rides, nine lines zig zag across Steady Brook Falls and provide incredible views of Humber Valley and Marble Mountain Resort.
ATV tour out of Corner Brook
What could be more exciting than driving an 4-wheel drive ATV through the backwoods trails of Corner Brook, peeling around corners, throwing a wave of mud and water, and then encountering a moose? While moose spotting is far from guaranteed, it’s not infrequent according to our guide from Rugged Edge, where we rented ATVs to tour Corner Brook.
Miles of back woods terrain are easily accessed from the city, but renting from Rugged Edge also allows you to drive an ATV through the city with your guide, which will leave you feeling like a bad ass. Driving an ATV in town was a unique experience, complete with a stop at the famous Corner Brook sign, and in front of City Hall, plus venturing up to the Captain James Cook monument on the hill overlooking the city.
Be prepared to eat some dust if you’re following another vehicle, and be sure to wear sunglasses or protective eye wear. ATV vehicles are noisy if you’re not used to them, but they’re incredibly capable in challenging terrain, and a blast to drive. Expect some mud to fly, rendering your dirt speckled face and dirty clothing evidence of a good time, as you cruise through the town of Corner Brook.
Hiking
Bottle Cove and Southhead Lighthouse Trail are just 45km from Corner Brook on the south shore highway route 450, near Lark Harbor. The drive out is stunning, and the hikes are scenically rewarding.
Bottle Cove
Bottle Cove trail is an easy 2km flat trail that leads to Miranda Island Cove, Sunset Rock, Bottle Cove Beach and Captain Cook’s Trails End Monument. The trail offers majestic scenery, spectacular sunsets and whale watching. But it’s also a great warm up trail for the main event: Southhead Lighthouse Trail.
Southhead Lighthouse Trail
This 5km out and back trail is moderately difficult but the big views at the summit are definitely rewarding, and worth the drive from Corner Brook. The trail leads to a lookout overlooking the site of the former Southhead Lighthouse. Remnants of the original lighthouse are on display at the trail head parking lot.
The moderately difficult rating is mostly due to the elevation gain and steepness of the climb. Once the trail emerges from the lower forest, it climbs steadily, sometimes relentlessly, pretty much straight up through the meadows to the top.
The lower portion of the trail can be muddy if weather has been wet, and it’s mostly shaded with the trail having been cut through dense small tree forest. The open meadow portion is exposed to sun and wind, and either or both will quickly tire even the most physically fit hiker. Be sure to take plenty of water, and stop for breaks. Curiously, the trail doesn’t have switch backs, so you also need to be mindful of the steep decline on the return. Some members of our group found hiking poles helpful.
It’s certainly possible to do this hike on your own, but guides are available from Everoutdoor Adventures, which can add to understanding the history, flora and fauna of the area, plus provide an element of safety should a member of your group become injured or suffer from sun or heat exposure. Our guide also packed along a fine charcuterie as reward for the climb, making the view that much more enjoyable.
Whitecaps out on the bay are an indication of the strong winds in the area. In fact our guide told of countless shipwrecks in the area, where explorer sailboats simply couldn’t point high enough into the relentless wind to ever escape the bay. Strong winds sweep across the top plateau too, so having a layer to put on once you reach the top is a good idea.
Be careful on the descent, since the path points pretty much straight down through the brush, with no switch backs. Using hiking poles or taking it with a gentle jog seemed to be the easiest way to approach the path going down.
On our way back to Corner Brook from hiking, we stopped by The Saltbox Restaurant, which also share an ocean side location with Everoutdoor Adventures, for a traditional seafood boil-up, and beautiful views of the Bay of Islands at sunset. The deck offers a casual atmosphere and perfect setting for drinks, snacks or dinner, which was the perfect way to wrap up an afternoon hike.
Be sure to check out this post about two other hikes in Gros Morne National Park you don’t want to miss, when you’re planning your adventure in Newfoundland. Gros Morne National Park: Two must do hikes.
Useful links
Rugged Edge in Corner Brook https://www.ruggededge.ca/
Marble Mountain Zipline tours https://marbleziptours.com/
Ever Outdoor Adventures – hiking guides and tours https://everoutdoor.ca/
Accommodations in Corner Brook
Check out this accommodations map for options in planning your stay in the Corner Brook area.
Alternatively, you can search directly through Booking.com or Expedia. If you’re looking for something a little up scale right in Corner Brook proper, the Hew & Drew is a revitalized century-old downtown site, newly renovated into the city’s most elegant hotel, complete with onsite craft brewery and restaurant.