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Pissing Mare Falls

Pissing Mare Falls, as seen over the Western Brook Pond, Canada
Pissing Mare Falls, as seen over the Western Brook Pond / Aconcagua, Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

WorldBlue  In short

One of the tallest waterfalls in eastern North America is Pissing Mare Falls in Gros Morne National Park, Canada. This waterfall is 343 m tall.

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GPS coordinates
49.7106 N 57.6607 W
Location, address
North America, Canada, Newfoundland, Gros Morne National Park, at the eastern end of Western Brook Pond
Total height
343 m
Drops
1 + section of steep flow
Width
2 – 3 m
Stream
Burnt Woods Brook
UNESCO World Heritage status
Part of "Gros Morne National Park", 1987, No. 419.

Map of the site

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WorldYellow In detail

Western Brook Pond

Pissing Mare Falls in August - dry period of the year
Pissing Mare Falls in August – dry period of the year / Chris Gushue, Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

Waterfall is located at Western Brook Pond – one of the most beautiful places in Eastern Canada. This spectacular lake is surrounded by nearly vertical cliffs, which are up to 600 m high. This is a former sea fjord that was formed by the force of glaciers. Earlier it was inundated, similar to fjords in Norway. After the heavy glacier melted away, the land rose up and the entrance part of the fjord rose above sea level, turning the sea bay into the lake with unusually clean water.

Description of Pissing Mare Falls

Pissing Mare Falls, Canada
Pissing Mare Falls / D. Gordon E. Robertson, Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

There are many waterfalls around Western Brook Pond and some eyewitnesses consider that some are even more impressive than Pissing Mare Fall. Nevertheless the later is the best known local waterfall.

Pissing Mare Fall consists of two parts. Most impressive is the upper part of falls – approximately 250 m tall vertical leap. When a strong wind is blowing, water is carried away or even thrown upwards.

The lower part of falls consists of a very steep section, where water flows down along cliff towards Western Brook Pond.

In summer the fall is not too impressive as there is not much water in it, especially in dry periods. But in spring it is very impressive. Nevertheless, most tourists come here in vacation period – summer, thus it is hard to find images from other seasons of the year.

Name of waterfall

The intriguing name of the waterfall is a traditional name of Newfoundlanders: small ponds above the fjords with trickles of water falling down towards the fjords here are called piss-a-mare. (2)

Western Brook Pond. Pissing Mare Fall are seen as a thin white line over the cliffs in the left side of image
Western Brook Pond. Pissing Mare Fall are seen as a thin white line over the cliffs in the left side of image / VisitGrosMorne, Flickr / CC BY 2.0

This is not the only waterfall with such name: some 150 km to the east, at the end of Badger Bay is found another beautiful waterfall – approximately 30 m tall Pissamare Falls.

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Gros Morne National Park


Gros Morne is the largest and most spectacular national park in eastern Canada-one of the best-known parks yet one of the least visited. It is renowned as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and for its unexpected landscapes: massive cliffs, fjords, alpine tundra, white sand beaches, and the golden Tablelands plateau. The geology, plants, and wildlife have drawn naturalists and researchers for decades, and the human story of the coast stretches back over 4,500 years.


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