Trail · from Deer Lake (YDF)
The Western Brook Pond Rim Trail
- Mapped path
- 12.1 km
- One way — the two ends lie 7.91 km apart, so the way back is this path again unless you have arranged a lift.
- Climbing
- 725 m
- To the trailhead
- 1h 16m
challengingderived: 12.1 km + 725 m of climb ≈ 17.9 effective km — the rule is stated in code, not opinion
Drive: 97.1 km from the Deer Lake (YDF) terminal door to the trailhead — not the town. OSRM driving profile, terminal door to the trailhead, checked 2026-09-03.
The trail, measured
Western Brook Pond Rim Trail: the mapped path is 12.1 km with 725 m of climbing, from 18 m up to 645 m. How long that takes is yours to know; what it climbs is not a matter of opinion.
Every cited segment →
OpenStreetMap way/191045101 + way/1449912000 + way/141657508 + way/39968756 + way/436231907 + way/436231908 + way/421835898 + way/1444537103 + way/436231911 + way/1444541067; elevation from AWS Open Data Terrarium tiles (z14), sampled ~30 m, ascent over a 3 m noise threshold.
Today's trail conditions and seasonal closures are Parks Canada's — check before you climb →Park bulletins →
Drive it with your own nav:Organic Maps →OsmAnd →Apple →Google →Waze →The first two run on OpenStreetMap and don't track you — the same map this site is built from.
Download the GPX → works in Organic Maps, OsmAnd, Garmin and Strava alike — it's just a file, no account, nothing tracked.
No one has sent a recording of this walk yet.Be the first — send the track →
Getting here
- 1h 16m from Deer Lake — 97.1 km to the trailhead.
The measured drive is YDF → Cow Head — 4 stops on it, with the road numbers, the surface and where to eat along it.
What has been recorded near here
Species reported within 50 km of Rim Trail trailhead (Western Brook Pond parking) and shared to GBIF, the international record of species occurrences. The useful column is when — the months the reports cluster in.
- Northern gannetseabirdMorus bassanusReports cluster in August, July, June541 reports on record
- Minke whalewhaleBalaenoptera acutorostrataReports cluster in July, June, May30 reports on record
- Atlantic puffinseabirdFratercula arcticaReports cluster in August, December, January9 reports on record
- Fin whalewhaleBalaenoptera physalusReports cluster in October, July7 reports on record
What this is not
- Not how many there are. A report means somebody looked, saw and wrote it down. A busy harbour with tour boats reports more than an empty coast with the same animals in it.
- Not a sighting you are promised. Nothing here says you will see one.
- Not complete. Only species we ask GBIF about appear, and only where somebody reported them.
From GBIF, queried 2026-09-14 — their record, not a copy of it.
Eating, when you come off
Everything the open map data records within 20 minutes' drive of the trailhead, measured by road and ordered by nothing but how long it takes to reach. 0 of 5 have positions two independent maps agree on.
- Country StyleRoute 430 · (709) 458-20248 min · 8 kmunconfirmed — go by the address
- Snack ShackHWY-430 · (709) 458-20248 min · 8.1 kmunconfirmed — go by the address
- Greco Pizza193 Main St · (709) 243-247118 min · 21.6 kmunconfirmed — go by the address
- Greco Pizza193 Main St · (709) 243-247119 min · 21.6 kmunconfirmed — go by the address
- Neddy's Pub & Eatery19 min · 21.6 kmunconfirmed — go by the address
No opening hours anywhere on this site, for anywhere — the open data holds none, which is an absence in the source rather than caution on our part. The telephone number is the only reliable answer to whether a kitchen is serving. Built 2026-09-14.
No photograph yet — the profile and the map are the honest visuals until someone who has walked it sends theirs.
Every photograph of Newfoundland you have ever seen from above was taken near this line: the Rim Trail climbs from the Western Brook Pond parking toward the gorge’s rim — 12.1 mapped kilometres with 725 measured metres of ascent, sharing its first flats with the Snug Harbour walk before it commits to the hill.
Committing is the word: this is backcountry-adjacent, the upper reaches answer to weather that the coast does not advertise, and Parks Canada’s guidance on preparation is the authority this page defers to entirely. The geometry is cited above because that is what this site can certify; the judgment is yours and the park’s.
The full drive, with stops, moose notes and road links: the Deer Lake (YDF) route this trail hangs off →
Measured September 3, 2026. Trailhead: OpenStreetMap way/191045101 — trail start at the Western Brook Pond parking.