Discover Cow Head Tourism Development Plan

Client

Town of Cow Head

Location

Cow Head, NL

Date Completed

March 2020

Project Team

Lydia Lewycky Planning & Design

Recognition

2021 Award for Planning Excellence, Canadian Institute of Planners

2020 Award of Excellence, Atlantic Provinces Association of Landscape Architects

Project Summary

Gros Morne National Park is one of the province’s most significant attractions, drawing visitors and adventure-seekers from around the world every tourism season. Despite being located within the boundary of the Park, tourism growth in the town of Cow Head has been slow, representing significant lost opportunity for the rural community. In an effort to capitalize on this potential, the Town engaged Mills & Wright to lead a planning process aimed at unlocking the potential of the community’s tourism assets.

The process included extensive community engagement and stakeholder meetings to develop a shared vision for tourism in the community. Through these consultations, it quickly became evident that Cow Head already has everything it needs to excel as a travel destination, including a regional theatre; a stunning stretch of pristine sandy dunes; an ecological treasure trove of rare flora and fauna; a rugged peninsula rich with one-of-a-kind geological and archaeological artifacts; and world-class hiking trails with stunning views of the nearby Long Range Mountains. The project aimed to leverage these unique assets and landscapes as catalysts for tourism growth in rural Newfoundland. The project suggested a series of light interventions, each bite-sized and manageable for the small town that, on their own and together as a whole, presented steps toward achieving the overall goal of growing tourism in Cow Head.