The Humber River, 153 km long, drainage basin 7680 km
2, is the principal river of western Newfoundland. Named for the English river, it rises in the
LONG RANGE MOUNTAINS west of White Bay and flows southeast and then southwest to Deer Lake, where it is joined by a tributary draining the 100-km-long
GRAND LAKE. The Humber flows southwest from Deer Lake into Humber Arm at
CORNER BROOK and on into the Bay of Islands, having fallen nearly 660 m from its sources. The river is rich in
ATLANTIC SALMON and was, from the 1800s, a waterway for European trappers. Though its mouth had been charted by James
COOK in the 1760s, there was little permanent settlement in the region until the mid-1800s. Flowing through great stands of timber, the Humber has been used by loggers since the late 1800s.
Author
ROBERT D. PITT