Planning a trip to Newfoundland!

[Matt92101]

Doing a roughly one and half month trip from San Diego-Maine (Upper US)-Newfoundland and back (middle US ish) Me, wife and 3 year old son. July 2017.

Newfoundland

Looking for tips for camping, on road travel, off road travel and ferry info. I'll be pulling our Turtleback trailer.

Or any other suggestions from our great group of people here!

Thanks, Matt

 

[mark and the bear]

Hey Matt,

I am doing an Canadian east coast trip in June covering Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador. I just recently joined this form and will be posting most of the trip planning/route fairly soon and a blog/vlog from the trip as I am going.
To get you started here is some stuff to look into:
1. For Canada's 150. Parks Canada is offering a Discovery Pass fee. just go to the Parks Canada website and order one.
2. Eastern Canada places to see and do
A. UNESCO world Heritage Sites: Lunenburg; Joggins Fossil Cliffs; Grand Pre (all in Nova Scotia)
Gros Morne ; L'Anse Aux Meadows; Red Bay (all in NFLD)
B Cities and places: Halifax; St John; Old Quebec City; Bay of Fundy; Peggy's Cove; Cape Bretton; Charlottetown; Hopewell Rocks; Cape Enrage
3. Campsites
A Bay of Fundy National Park;
B Norris Point (Gros Morne Park)
C Cheticamp Campground (Cape Bretton)
4. Ferry info
To NFLD from Sydney nova scotia there are 2 routes one is 8-9 hours one is 16 hours depending on which side you want to end up on close to St John or close to Gros Morne
Ferry is run by Marine Atlantic Ferry. www.marine-atlantic.ca 1-800-341-7981
My recommendation is that if you know when you will be needed the ferry to book it in advance because they do tend to book up especially long vehicles with trailers.
5. Driving
On Canada's east coast there are a few main highways ranging from 2 to 4 lanes, i recommend if you have time to try to drive the coastal roads as there area a lot of cool little fishing towns and great seafood places near the ocean.
Be sure to check out the Light House Drive in Nova scotia and the Cabot Trail in Cape Bretton.

Good luck with your planning and your trip. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[Matt92101]

Hey Matt,

I am doing an Canadian east coast trip in June covering Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador. I just recently joined this form and will be posting most of the trip planning/route fairly soon and a blog/vlog from the trip as I am going.
To get you started here is some stuff to look into:
1. For Canada's 150. Parks Canada is offering a Discovery Pass fee. just go to the Parks Canada website and order one.
2. Eastern Canada places to see and do
A. UNESCO world Heritage Sites: Lunenburg; Joggins Fossil Cliffs; Grand Pre (all in Nova Scotia)
Gros Morne ; L'Anse Aux Meadows; Red Bay (all in NFLD)
B Cities and places: Halifax; St John; Old Quebec City; Bay of Fundy; Peggy's Cove; Cape Bretton; Charlottetown; Hopewell Rocks; Cape Enrage
3. Campsites
A Bay of Fundy National Park;
B Norris Point (Gros Morne Park)
C Cheticamp Campground (Cape Bretton)
4. Ferry info
To NFLD from Sydney nova scotia there are 2 routes one is 8-9 hours one is 16 hours depending on which side you want to end up on close to St John or close to Gros Morne
Ferry is run by Marine Atlantic Ferry. www.marine-atlantic.ca 1-800-341-7981
My recommendation is that if you know when you will be needed the ferry to book it in advance because they do tend to book up especially long vehicles with trailers.
5. Driving
On Canada's east coast there are a few main highways ranging from 2 to 4 lanes, i recommend if you have time to try to drive the coastal roads as there area a lot of cool little fishing towns and great seafood places near the ocean.
Be sure to check out the Light House Drive in Nova scotia and the Cabot Trail in Cape Bretton.

Good luck with your planning and your trip. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Mark

Mark thank you very much for the reply and info!

Got one of the things out of the way.

 

[CampWithChin]

Mark already cover a lot of info. But I can add my info to the trip.

We went to Newfoundland in 2016. I posted my exploration info on my blog.

http://www.chinpoptrip.com/2016/06/2016-summer-camping-trip.html

If you can secure the ferry reservation in advance, it will help a lot. I went with the ferry from Sydney NS to Port Aux Basques. That's a shorter and cheaper route. Also taking the ferry at day vs night will add extra cost.

There is also another way to Labrador via trans-Labrador hwy. Then, you can take a ferry and cross to Newfoundland. This route need to be planned as fuel consumption might be a problem. You might need to carry extra fuel.


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[mark and the bear]

Hi Matt,
I finally got around to setting up my blog for my trip in June.
http://beartrekseast.wordpress.com
Cheers,
Mark

 

[TOMB]

Doing a roughly one and half month trip from San Diego-Maine (Upper US)-Newfoundland and back (middle US ish) Me, wife and 3 year old son. July 2017.

Newfoundland

Looking for tips for camping, on road travel, off road travel and ferry info. I'll be pulling our Turtleback trailer.

Or any other suggestions from our great group of people here!

Thanks, Matt

I did the same trip, summer of 1976. Yes they had roads and cars back then. You will have a great time. Just keep an eye out for moose. Those things are huge and they like to walk right down the middle of the road at night.


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[w_m_photo]

I did the same trip, summer of 1976. Yes they had roads and cars back then. You will have a great time. Just keep an eye out for moose. Those things are huge and they like to walk right down the middle of the road at night.


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Not to mention that the moose population on Newfoundland is larger than human population!!!
I would add a couple of things. The Parks Canada campgrounds are great... But, the last time I was up there you were allowed dispersed camping with a few rules... Sorry, I can't remember them at the moment.
Things to see that were not mentioned... The Table Lands (Just south of Gros Morne), Western Brook Pond(Actually an inland Fiord) Take the boat ride to the end, St. Barbe there is a ferry crossing to Quebec... From there you can go north up to Red Bay Labrador before things start getting too sparce. There are a bunch of cool little towns along the way up in Labrador to Red Bay... And a cool little museum in Red Bay the last time I was up there.
Taking the Ferry from Cape Bretton to NFL, there are two different ways as mentioned above. If you go in one, I highly recommend returning from the other. That way you are not back tracking on the Island...
Also, there is a French Territories still left in North America... St. Pierre and Miquelon. They are two little islands just off the south eastern coast of NFL... Worth the visit
And finally, see Cape St. Mary... I've attached a pic below from the last time I was there...

 

[w_m_photo]

Almost forgot... If you make it over to Labrador at all... Be prepared... Black Flies will be there and they suck!
Not dangerous... just annoying!

 

[CampWithChin]

Speaking of Moose vs human population, I didn't have any encounter with Moose on our last trip. This must be my bad luck for the trip as no real moose sighting. 8 days in Newfoundland and I travel between Port Aux Basques to Terra Nova National Park. The only dead moose sighting is on the last day. 4am in the morning on TC-1 about 6 miles from Port Aux Basques, a moose incident with a semi. It was a bloody scene and the local authorities quickly remove the carcass from the highway. The semi travelling TC-1 is all prepared with front roll bar, but still see some damage from the hit.

 

[Matt92101]

Thank you all for the replies and info!

 

[CDN Offroader]

I did a Labrador and Newfoundland trip in 2013. I didn't see it mentioned, but Cape Spear is the most eastern point in North America, worth checking out just south east of St Johns. If you are heading farther up, there is a really cool drive-on beach in Lumsden, Twillingate is a cool historic harbour, if you head up to Grates Harbour, you can take a small detour down the old highway 80, just a short section of gravel road along the western coast of the peninsula by driving into Old Perlican and continuing on down Main street.

Here's a link to my Home Club forum(Southern Ontario Toyata Trucks) on the trip highlights if you are interested, pictures are from page 3 on. http://www.sontt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2966&start=20
Feel free to ask questions if you have any.

 

[Overlandllama]

Great information offered here... much appreciated as we're making the trip in August. We unfortunately will have to rush a lot of it (13-days) as we're limited for time. But, I'll take that over no trip at all! It's probably time I start a build thread... I'll be doing some of the work and have asked Mainline Overland of West Chester, PA to do the more involved stuff. Thanks to those who provided input for Matt. More to come...

 

[CampWithChin]

Newfoundland is a huge island. There are many places to explore. I spend about 10 days/9 nights and it's just a scratch on this massive land. I will be planning a trip back to Newfoundland using the Trans-Labrador highway and cross the Gulf of St. Lawrence via Blanc Sablon QC ferry.

Here is the list of area I visited.

1. Port Aux Basques (stay one night).
2. Gros Morne National Park (stay 5 night, must visit is western brook pond)
3. L'Anse Aux Meadows
4. St. Anthony
5. Port au Choix
6. Corner Brook
7. Terra Nova National Park (booked 3 night, but only stay 2 night)
8. Trinity
9. Elliston
10. Bona Vista

It's a 9+ hr drive (900+ km) from port aux basques to St. John (West to East). I would suggest avoid driving overnight on TC-1. The moose population and accident cause by this giant animal is very deadly. Also, not all gas station on TC-1 open 24 hrs. I found only handful gas station open when I'm driving from Terra Nova National Park to Port Aux Basques. Lastly, There are no gas station within Terra Nova National Park. The closest gas station is about 12 miles away.

I traveled in the summer time. The weather is very unpredictable. 3 out of 5 days was raining when I'm staying in Gros Morne National Park. I'm able to reschedule the Western Brook Pond boat tour to avoid the rainy weather. The temperature dip as cold as 32F and as warm as 80+F.

 

[Overlandllama]

As Matt, we'd appreciate any gouge on camping rules, as applied to a truck with RTT. From what I can tell, the parks allow camping for a fee (if not Canadian), however, mostly interested in some of the more remote areas like Trans-Lab Hwy.

 

[w_m_photo]

My understanding is that as long as you are 50 feet from the road's right away, and not on someone's specifically marked " no trespassing " property, you are allowed dispersed camping. Including in your vehicle.

I did a Labrador and Newfoundland trip in 2013. I didn't see it mentioned, but Cape Spear is the most eastern point in North America, worth checking out just south east of St Johns. If you are heading farther up, there is a really cool drive-on beach in Lumsden, Twillingate is a cool historic harbour, if you head up to Grates Harbour, you can take a small detour down the old highway 80, just a short section of gravel road along the western coast of the peninsula by driving into Old Perlican and continuing on down Main street.

Here's a link to my Home Club forum(Southern Ontario Toyata Trucks) on the trip highlights if you are interested, pictures are from page 3 on. http://www.sontt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2966&start=20
Feel free to ask questions if you have any.

Also, I took a look at your blog. Nice. I'm a little jealous. I'd love to do that trip this summer... My trip back up there with my family in tow keeps getting pushed back. Now it's not going to happen till 2019 probably... Unless I can figure it out for this summer.

One thing I wanted to point out. Just incase you missed it.
I read that you added additional fuel carrying capacity to your jeep. Remember that the ferries will not allow portable fuel containers on board. Like Jerry cans and the such. They are pretty strict about that one.

 

[Matt92101]

My understanding is that as long as you are 50 feet from the road's right away, and not on someone's specifically marked " no trespassing " property, you are allowed dispersed camping. Including in your vehicle.




Also, I took a look at your blog. Nice. I'm a little jealous. I'd love to do that trip this summer... My trip back up there with my family in tow keeps getting pushed back. Now it's not going to happen till 2019 probably... Unless I can figure it out for this summer.

One thing I wanted to point out. Just incase you missed it.
I read that you added additional fuel carrying capacity to your jeep. Remember that the ferries will not allow portable fuel containers on board. Like Jerry cans and the such. They are pretty strict about that one.

If they are empty is it OK?

 

[CampWithChin]

For Marine Atlantic, fuel and propane information can be found on their website. This is for the ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland.

I can't find info for Labrador Marine which operate the ferry from Quebec to Newfoundland.

My propane tank is ok as long as the tank is shut off and inspected. They recommend not to fill up gas before the ferry. From the website, fuel can is allowed if C.S.A. Certified. Up to 25 litre of fuel per vehicle.


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[w_m_photo]

It was not allowed the last time I was up there... I lost a can due to those rules...
The way they explained it. If it was empty/new never been used. Then you could transport it. Otherwise it was a no go period.
That was 14 years ago...

 

[CampWithChin]

As Matt, we'd appreciate any gouge on camping rules, as applied to a truck with RTT. From what I can tell, the parks allow camping for a fee (if not Canadian), however, mostly interested in some of the more remote areas like Trans-Lab Hwy.

I like to know too. I have been looking to revisit Newfoundland again via trans-Labrador highway. If you find good info, please share.

As of camping within National Park, I think it's prohibited except designated camp site. You can camp at the National Park camp site which cost less than $25 Canadian per night. I use freecamping.net for info and do find a few spot to camp. There are also many provincial park with campsite. The cost for camping is the same as buying a day pass. Also, ask the local. The Newfoundlander always great to talk and they will offer help without hesitation.



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