Trans-Labrador Highway: route guide

The highway runs through central and southern Labrador as two provincial roads. Highway 500 links the Québec border near Labrador City to Goose Bay; Highway 510 continues from Goose Bay south to Red Bay and on to the coast at Blanc-Sablon, where a ferry crosses to Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula.

Most of the route sits above 52° north in sub-Arctic wilderness. There are no towns of any size between the stops listed below, and no services at all on some stretches. Treat the map as a chain of fuel points rather than a corridor of towns.

Coordinates for the route centre: 52.8644, -67.1116 (approximate).

Distances below are road distances between service points. Times assume a loaded vehicle, photo stops and slower gravel sections; they are not best-case times.

The Québec approach matters as much as the Labrador road. Québec Route 389 from Baie-Comeau to the Labrador border is about 566 km and takes roughly eight hours, much of it on poor-quality gravel with logging and mining traffic. The only services between Manic 5 and Fermont are at Relais-Gabriel, which has fuel, a restaurant, a motel and an outfitter's camp; the next fuel is about 250 km away.

Once in Labrador, Highway 500 between Labrador City and Goose Bay was paved by June 2015, and the long stretch from Goose Bay to Red Bay and Cartwright was paved by 2022. The Cartwright Access Road remains unpaved gravel.

The practical window is June to September. Outside it, snow, ice and unplowed sections make the route unreliable, and some services close for the season. Early summer can still bring ice along the Atlantic coast and the Strait of Belle Isle, as bergs break free further north and drift south; harbours can be blocked into early summer.

The aurora borealis is visible in Labrador on roughly 240 nights a year, which favours late August and September for dark skies without deep winter. The bakeapple (cloudberry) is usually ripe for picking in early August.

Blackflies and mosquitoes are heavy in June and July. Carry repellent and a head net if you plan to camp.

Lodging is concentrated in the few towns: Labrador City and Wabush, Churchill Falls, Goose Bay, Port Hope Simpson and the Forteau / Blanc-Sablon area. Book ahead in summer, because each place has only a handful of motel and hotel rooms and crews working on the mines and hydro sites take a share of them.

Between towns there is nothing. If you camp, use established sites or Crown land away from the road, and carry everything out. Fuel, food and phone signal are the limiting factors, not campsites.

On the Québec approach, Relais-Gabriel has fuel, a restaurant, a motel and an outfitter's camp; it is the only service point between Manic 5 and Fermont.

This is a remote road, not a scenic drive with services. Carry a full-size spare tyre, a jack that works on your vehicle, tyre plugs, extra fuel if your range is under about 500 km, a first-aid kit, water for at least 24 hours and a paper map or offline maps. Phone signal is absent for long stretches.

Check your rental agreement before booking. Many companies restrict gravel roads or forbid them outright, and towing from the middle of Labrador is expensive. If you are renting, confirm in writing that the Trans-Labrador Highway and Québec Route 389 are allowed.

Fuel up at every opportunity, even with a half tank. The longest gaps are on the Québec approach and between the smaller Labrador communities. Drive with headlights on, watch for moose and trucks, and expect sudden surface changes where pavement gives way to gravel.