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Gros Morne National Park is located on the west coast of Newfoundland. At 1,805 km², it is the second largest national park in Atlantic Canada (surpassed by Torngat Mountains National Park's 9,600 km²).

The park takes its name from Newfoundland's second-highest mountain peak (at 806 m) located within the park. Its French meaning is "large mountain standing alone," or more literally "great sombre." Gros Morne is a member of the Long Range Mountains, an outlying range of the Appalachian Mountains, stretching the length of the island's west coast. It is the worn-down remnants of a mountain range formed 1.2 billion years ago.

The Tablelands, found between the towns of Trout River and Woody Point in Gros Morne National Park, look more like a barren desert than tradional Newfoundland. This is due to the ultramafic rock - peridotite - which makes up the Tablelands. It is thought to originate in the earth's mantle and was forced up from the depths during a plate collision several hundred million years ago. Peridotite lacks the usual nutrients required to sustain most plant life, hence its barren appearance. The rock is very low in calcium, very high in magnesium, and has toxic amounts of heavy metals. Peridotite is also high in iron, which accounts for its brownish colour (rusted colour). Underneath this weathered zone, the rock is really a dark green colour.

• Gros Morne National Park map

Source : Wikipedia