Three Days Around Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador
Published October 10th, 2025
Photography by Jennifer Bain
When people visit Corner Brook, they’re usually roadtripping from Deer Lake Regional Airport and Gros Morne National Park in the north or the Port aux Basques ferry in the south.
But this proudly adventurous and ATV-friendly city of nearly 20,000 lies between the ocean and mountains at the mouth of the Bay of Islands, making it the perfect urban base to explore Newfoundland and Labrador’s wild west coast and not just a convenient pitstop.
Here’s what I packed into a recent visit.
DAY ONE
Heading south from Deer Lake, I drove through the lush Humber Valley and past the pulp-and-paper mill before arriving downtown at the Hew & Draw. The 36-room boutique hotel uses an old dig — “hewers of wood and drawers of water” — to celebrate Newfoundlanders who work on the water and in the forest.
This revitalized century-old building is full of nods to the forest industry. Floors are natural hardwood and Newfoundland-inspired wallpaper showcases pine martens, caribou and other forest creatures. Rooms are stocked with Newfoundland-made East Coast Glow toiletries, Gros Morne Coffee Roasters coffee and a milled wool blanket artfully draped on the bed alongside two local chocolates.
Downstairs, the hotel’s unnamed restaurant and Boomstick Brewing Co. share space. There’s also a wee growler shop full of cans like Wild Bologna, an IPA that speaks to how much locals still worship the retro luncheon meat. Sadly, there’s no actual bologna flavour here.
Corner Brookers are justifiably proud of Newfound Sushi. Maybe it’s because there’s a dearth of creative vegetarian options in this province and this place has veggie ramen and a tempura yam/avocado roll called the yamacado. Or maybe it’s because the cod bao bun celebrates Newfoundland’s beloved fish.
Whatever the reason, be sure to make reservations because this tiny eatery is only open five days a week from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Or get takeout like I did.
After a quick supper, it was back to the hotel for those goodies from Chocolate de Champ that were waiting on my bed. They’re the work of Sri Lankan-born local Chamira Milinda. From the in-room snack menu, I scored my favourite wild blueberry energy bars from the St. John’s-based Oat Co.
It was late spring, so I bypassed the rooftop deck, hot tub and sauna and simply admired the urban sunset through my room’s huge windows.
DAY TWO
Corner Brook has made quite the name for itself since becoming Newfoundland’s first ATV-friendly town in 2019. Riders on four-wheel all-terrain vehicles (side-by-sides and quads) can drive select streets to hotels, restaurants and shops but only seasonally from June to October and between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Craig Borden, owner of the outdoor lifestyle emporium Rugged Edge, pushed for the ATV routes as a missing link to trails on either side of town. On a private quarter day tour, we picked up his wife Melissa Young and spun by the Hew & Draw just to say we did.
We zipped up to the Captain James Cook Historic Site for sweeping city, mountain and sea views, and the statue of the British explorer/cartographer who charted the coast here in the 1700s. We briefly connected to the trail system looking in vain for moose before popping into Fox’s General Store where owner Michelle Payne uses skills honed at Dairy Queen to create frozen treats and ice cream cakes.
There was a sobering stop reading an interpretive panel about Crow Gulch, a marginalized community where many Mi’kmaw once lived while working pulp and paper mill jobs. Payne, who has Indigenous roots, showed me the Crow Gulch Mural by Jordan Bennett and Marcus Gosse, and the Mikwite’tm Garden, a memorial to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
After a quick lunch at Samuel’s Sammiches & Filipino BBQ (they do cold plates on Thursdays), and some shopping for knit socks at the Newfoundland Emporium, it was time to get active. It's just 12 kilometres to Steady Brook to downhill ski at Marble Mountain Resort in winter, and zipline or do a high ropes course with Marble Zip Tours in summer.
Since hiking is more my speed, I met Paul Wylezol to walk on a little-known exposed portion of the Earth’s mantle just like at Gros Morne’s famed Tablelands.
Wylezol chairs the International Appalachian Trail’s Newfoundland chapter and is spearheading a UNESCO application for the Cabox Aspiring Geopark. With some of his friends, we tackled East Blow Me Down Trail, scrambling over those gorgeous otherworldly orange rocks known as peridotite and I was grateful to have expert guides.
Much-needed interpretive signage has since gone up so people can find their own way without resorting to GPS.
You’re not allowed to pocket rocks in Gros Morne since it’s a national park, and while you can pick up peridotite around Corner Brook, I bought the much lovelier cut open and polished version at Meyer’s Minerals in Pasadena. Jamie Meyer’s tiny shop turns rocks from around the province into jewelry, sculptures and other gifts.
With a carefully chosen piece of peridotite in hand, I doubled back to Little Rapids for dinner at Pollen Nation Farm. Chef Nathan Hornidge and “queen bee” Amanda Oake have won an Indigenous culinary tourism award for their work celebrating the Newfoundland honeybee.
The downstairs café serves lunch and my memorable three-course dinner upstairs at the “Beestro” started with a Humber Valley salad starring nut honey and ended with honey maple crème brûlée.
DAY THREE
If you’re an early riser, Darren Park runs Four Seasons Tours out of Cox’s Cove, leading private sightseeing tours down a double-arm fjord in his orange Bay of Islands wooden dory with forest green trim.
He loves to go out at sunrise but will find a time that works for you.
For two hours, Park proudly pointed out Bald eagles and geological wonders as we searched for whales and dolphins and did a little catch-and-release cod fishing. We squeezed in pan-fried fish and bakeapple cheesecake at his cabin before he sent me off with a precious chunk of local quartz crystal.
The day was still young so I roadtripped two hours south to Robinsons to Pirate’s Haven ATV Friendly RV Park, Chalets & Adventures for one Paul and Ruth Gale’s raucous side-by-side tours.
We followed the Newfoundland T’Railway, an abandoned railway line turned multi-use recreation path, before veering off along a rocky creek. Eating grilled moose burgers by the ocean, “Pirate” Paul confided that he loves introducing people to ATVing: “We enjoy it so much, we feel like we’re robbing them.”
In a perfect world, you’d stay a night or two at Pirate’s Haven but I needed to head north to Gros Morne National Park and so hit the road once again. There was a final pitstop in Corner Brook at the newish Mighty Valley Coffee, and a quick swim at Deer Lake’s impressive beach before making my way to the farming community of Cormack.
The draw here is Upper Humber Settlement, a bed-and-breakfast farm stay that offers meals and experiences even for those not spending the night. I’ve done farm tours, farm-to-table storytelling dinners and Indigenous fire circle experiences to learn about owner Lauralee Ledrew’s journey as an Acadian Mi’kmaq.
On that day in June there was time to squeeze in a farm and foraging experience that involved tromping around the gardens and forest and feasting on sautéed fireweed and cod tongues seasoned with spruce salt.
I got to pluck yarrow and mint from jars full of dried ingredients and concoct my own foraged tea, sipping on the earthy brew and reflecting on just how much there is to do in this rather unsung part of Newfoundland.
Jennifer Bain
After a career at daily newspapers, Jennifer began travelling the world in search of quirk in 2018. She goes wherever the story is, but has a soft spot for Canada and has been to all 10 provinces and all three territories. Jennifer has won multiple awards and written two cookbooks and three travel books. She lives in Toronto but has a vacation house on Fogo Island, Newfoundland, which some cheekily say is one of the four corners of the supposedly flat earth.