Tablelands - Gros Morne

We’d wanted to hike Tablelands the first time we were in Gros Morne but the weather didn’t cooperate. So we came back for an afternoon hike and had a glorious, if windy, hike. Uniquely, the Tablelands offers a rare chance to walk on the Earth’s mantle that we didn’t want to miss!

The Tablelands are composed of peridotite, a rock typically found deep beneath the Earth’s crust in the mantle. Around 500 million years ago, during the collision of ancient continents, a slice of the mantle was thrust upward in a process called obduction. This geological upheaval exposed mantle rock at the surface—a phenomenon so rare it’s found in only a handful of places worldwide.

Unlike the surrounding green hills, the Tablelands are stark and treeless. That’s because peridotite is rich in heavy metals like nickel and chromium but poor in nutrients essential for plant life. Its high iron content also gives the rock its distinctive ochre hue, as it oxidizes (rusts) in the open air.

We hiked up the valley and I continued on a loop hike up to the upper plateau, also taking the opportunity to tag the summit. It wasn’t easy, it required a relatively rocky scramble, lots of rock hopping and route finding, battling 40mph wind gusts, and about an hour of navigating through peat bogs. But I was rewarded with caribou and incredible views in a truly unique landscape!Read more