Terra Nova

Terra Nova lies on the north-eastern coast of the island of Newfoundland, along several inlets of Bonavista Bay, and protects some 399 km². It was established in 1957, which makes it the first national park in Newfoundland and Labrador and the most easterly national park in Canada. Its name is the Latin for Newfoundland and matches the one the Portuguese originally gave the region.

The landscape is characteristic of the north-east of the island, with remnants of the Appalachian chain that produce a rugged and varied relief. The coast breaks up into several rocky "fingers" reaching into Bonavista Bay, from just north of Port Blandford to near Glovertown, and alternates exposed cliffs and headlands with sheltered inlets and coves of almost fjord-like appearance, which makes it one of the best recreational boating areas in Newfoundland. Inland the ground rolls into wooded hills, bare rock faces, peat bogs, ponds and wetlands.

The park protects everything from small mammals to large ungulates, migratory birds and a varied marine life. The moose, introduced to the island and abundant today, is the animal visitors see most, and the park holds habitat for the Newfoundland marten, a threatened subspecies endemic to the island. In the waters of the bay it is possible to see humpback whales and drifting icebergs in early summer. Sea kayaking, salmon fishing and walking are the main activities, and the colour of the boreal and deciduous forest in autumn is one of its attractions.