Camping in Newfoundland

The sheer scale of its wildness — the empty highways lined with boreal forest, the sudden appearance of a 20-metre iceberg offshore, the moose standing in the fog — creates an experience unlike any other in Canada.

Getting There: The Marine Atlantic Ferry

• Unless you're flying in, you will arrive by Marine Atlantic ferry from North Sydney, Nova Scotia.
• Two routes operate: the shorter crossing to Port aux Basques in western Newfoundland (6–7 hours, year-round), and the overnight ferry to Argentia near St.
• John's (14–16 hours, mid-June to early October).
• Both accommodate RVs and trailers of all sizes — vehicles are loaded onto car decks, and passengers can access cabin accommodations, dining, and lounges during the crossing.

The ferry is one of Canada's most competitive bookings in summer. Book the ferry as soon as your dates are firm; summer sailings, especially Argentia, fill early.

Gros Morne National Park

• Berry Hill Campground is the main full-service facility near Rocky Harbour, offering pull-through sites for large RVs with electrical hookups and access to the visitor centre, boat tours on Western Brook Pond, and the Long Range Traverse hiking route.
• Lomond Campground sits at the southern end of the park on the shores of Bonne Bay — a more sheltered site popular with sea kayakers.
• Trout River Campground gives access to the extraordinary Tablelands and Trout River Pond boat tours.

• Parks Canada launch dates are staggered by park each January — check reservation.pc.gc.ca for this year's schedule.
• Gros Morne fills quickly once its date opens.
• Split your stay across Berry Hill, Lomond and Trout River, or use one as a base.
• The park's hiking trails range from easy walks to multi-day backcountry routes — the Long Range Traverse across the Highlands requires a permit and weather briefing from the park.

Driving Newfoundland: Trans-Canada and Beyond

• Newfoundland's Trans-Canada Highway (the TCH, or Route 1) stretches 905 kilometres from Port aux Basques to St.
• John's.
• The key is to leave the TCH frequently.
• Route 430 north up the Northern Peninsula to St.
• The Burin Peninsula (Route 210), the Bonavista Peninsula (Routes 230/235), and the South Coast (where many communities are accessible only by boat or floatplane) all reward exploration.

Moose collisions are a serious hazard — the province records several hundred moose-vehicle collisions a year. Drive carefully after dark, dawn, and dusk. Moose are most active in May–June and September–October.

Iceberg Season

If seeing icebergs is on your bucket list, time your visit for late May through late June. Icebergs calving from Greenland's glaciers drift south on the Labrador Current past "Iceberg Alley" — the northeast coast of Newfoundland. The best locations are Twillingate, Fogo Island, the Bonavista Peninsula, Ferryland on the Avalon Peninsula, and St. Anthony in the north. The website IcebergFinder.com tracks bergs in near-real-time during the season.

Wildlife Encounters

• Newfoundland has a healthy black bear population on the island — roughly 6,000-10,000 — so store food properly (Labrador adds polar bears along the coast).
• It also has caribou, lynx, red fox, arctic hare, and an abundance of seabirds.
• Puffins are accessible at several colonies: Witless Bay (accessible by boat tour from Bay Bulls), Elliston near Bonavista (you can walk among puffin burrows on the headland), and Gull Island.
• Whales are commonly seen from shore, particularly along the northeast coast in summer, and humpbacks are frequently spotted on whale-watching tours from Trinity, Twillingate, and St.
• Anthony.

Provincial Parks in NL

• Newfoundland and Labrador has 32 provincial parks; 13 of them offer camping.
• The best camping provincial parks include Butter Pot (Avalon Peninsula), Barachois Pond (west coast), La Manche (Avalon), Pistolet Bay (Northern Peninsula), Frenchman's Cove (Burin Peninsula), and Catamaran (central Newfoundland).
• Serviced sites ($30.90/night, 2026) are limited; most sites are unserviced ($20.15).
• Full-service RV campers should book national parks or private campgrounds and use provincial parks for shorter stays or day hikes.