EXPEDITION 51° A ROAD TRIP THROUGH THE GREAT NORTH! ROUTE 389 AND FERMONT THE TRANS-LABRADOR HIGHWAY (ROUTES 500 AND 510) AND LABRADOR THE CHICOUTAI SCENIC ROAD AND THE LOWER NORTH SHORE _ © Jocelyn Blanchette 2 EXPEDITION 51° EXPEDITION 51° © Patrick Canuel TABLE OF CONTENTS North West River 27 Expedition 51°– An Introduction 4 Labrador Heritage Society Museum 27 Visitor Information Centres 5 Sunday Hill Lookout 27 Full circuit map 6 Labrador Interpretation Centre 27 Battle Harbour 28 Fermont and Route 389 8 Battle Harbour Historic District Information Table 10 28 National Historic Site of Canada Road Conditions 11 Red Bay 28 Driving Rules 11 Red Bay National Historic Site 28 Animals on the Road 11 Right Whale Exhibit Museum 29 Gas Stations 12 Pinware 29 Hospitals 12 Pinware River Provincial Park 29 Washrooms 12 L’Anse-Amour 30 Accommodation and Restaurants 12 L’Anse Amour National Historic Site of Canada 30 Planning your trip 12 Pointe Amour Lighthouse 30 Must-have items 13 L’Anse-au-Clair 31 Other important items 13 Labrador Pioneer Footpath 31 Tourist Attractions on Route 389 14 Hiking Trails 31 Hydroelectric Dams 14 The Chicoutai Scenic Road 32 Manic-2: Jean-Lesage Generating Station 14 and the Lower North Shore Manic-5: Daniel-Johnson Dam 14 Weather 34 Monts Groulx 15 Fermont 16 Gas Stations 34 Accommodation and Restaurants 34 Hiking Trails 16 Internet 34 Northern Lights 17 Cell Phone Service 34 3 Birding 17 Banks 35 Mont-Wright Mine 17 Schefferville, North of Fermont 17 Health Care Services 35 Time Zones 35 The Trans-Labrador Highway 18 (Routes 500 and 510) and Labrador Les attraits touristiques 36 Road Conditions 20 de la Basse-Côte-Nord Driving Rules 20 Lourdes-de-Blanc-Sablon 36 Animals on the Road 20 Musée Scheffer (museum) 36 EXPEDITION 51° Planning your trip 21 Middle Bay 36 Gas Stations 21 Middle Bay Interpretation Centre 36 Accommodation and Restaurants 21 Rivière-Saint-Paul 36 Grocery Stores 21 Bioproducts Solidarity Cooperative 36 Washrooms 21 (Coop Solidarité Bioproduits) Satellite Phones 21 Bonne-Espérance – Rivière-Saint-Paul 37 Hospitals 22 Aqua Labadie Scallop Farm 37 Health Care Services 22 Whiteley Museum 37 Time Zones 22 Blanc-Sablon: The Crossroads 37 Labrador’s Tourist Attractions 24 Voyage Coste 37 Labrador City and Wabush 24 The Lower North Shore aboard the Bella-Desgagnés 38 Edmund Montague Exhibit Hall 24 Relais Nordik 37 Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help Newfoundland Island 39 24 (Notre-Dame-du-Perpétuel-Secours) Blanc-Sablon: ferry to St. Barbe 39 Hiking Trails 25 Churchill Falls 25 Iceberg Alley 40 Churchill Falls Hydroelectric Station 25 Gros Morne National Park 41 Happy Valley-Goose Bay 26 Nova Scotia Ferry (Port aux Basques to North Sydney) 42 Labrador Military Museum 26 TABLE OF CONTENT For people who want to step off the beaten track and go beyond the 51st parallel north. Manic-2 © Hydro-Québec This crescent-shaped route is sure to be a favourite for Following this route is like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure 4 adventure-lovers who enjoy long road trips through trip; you can stay on it for a few days, the whole summer endless stretches of unspoiled wilderness. Starting or throughout the winter. The trail passes through boreal in Baie-Comeau on Route 389 and passing through forest and taiga; it winds in and out of charming towns Fermont, the 1,700-km route takes at least 26 hours. It and villages where you can discover the lifestyle and crosses Labrador from west to east on the Trans-Labrador culture of the francophone, anglophone and Aboriginal Highway then continues down to the Lower North Shore. populations, as well as the Métis and Inuit communities. Once in Blanc-Sablon, a scenic detour beckons: a 150-km There are lakes, rivers and mountains where you can EXPEDITION 51° EXPEDITION 51° trip along the Chicoutai Scenic Road to Vieux-Fort and hunt and fish, rough it in the wilderness, hike and kayak, back, to view the majestic waterways of the Gulf of St. and, at the end of the day, camp out under the northern Lawrence. lights. Lifelong learners can visit hydroelectric dams and open-pit mines. When winter comes, the North Shore Once back at Blanc-Sablon, you and your vehicle could is the perfect place for snowmobilers, dog sledders, travel by ship back to your starting point of Baie-Comeau. snowshoers and skiers. The M/V Bella-Desgagnés brings supplies to the Lower North Shore’s picturesque coastal villages that can only This guide is chock-full of practical information to help be reached by boat. From the ship’s deck, you can watch you prepare for your Expedition 51o adventure. Being 500 km of scenic coastline glide by in 25 hours; you can well prepared will ensure you have a safe and pleasant even get off at the various ports of call! All too soon, trip. Just flipping through its pages is sure to get you you’ll be arriving in Kegaska (or Natashquan) where dreaming of a trip to the Great North! you can pick up Route 138 for the 650-km, 8-hour drive along the north shore of the St. Lawrence back to Baie- Happy Trails! Comeau. The sailor’s life is not for you? You can always take the ferry from Blanc-Sablon to Newfoundland and then another ferry to Nova Scotia. EXPEDITION 51°– AN INTRODUCTION 1Chicoutais, or cloudberries, are small flavourful, amber-coloured berries native to Quebec’s North Shore. VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRES If you need information or advice on TIP how to prepare for your trip, stop Our travel consultants in at one of the Visitor Information will tell you about all the Centres listed below or check out many things you can enjoy their website. discovering on your trip. Baie-Comeau (Québec) Regional Tourism Association _ 10 avenue Roméo-Vézina 1-888-463-0808 Tourisme Côte-Nord Fermont (Québec) Visitor Information Centre 100 rue Le Carrefour 418-287-5339 or 1-855-FERMONT (337-6668) Manic-2 © Hydro-Québec MRC de Caniapiscau Labrador City (Newfoundland and Labrador) Gateway to Labrador Visitor Centre 1365 Route 500 5 709-944-5399 Gateway Labrador Happy Valley-Goose Bay Northern Lights © Kathleen Dubé (Newfoundland and Labrador) Labrador North Chamber of Commerce EXPEDITION 51° EXPEDITION 51° 6 Hillcrest Road 1-877-920-8787 or 709-896-8787 Chamber Labrador L’Anse-au-Clair (Newfoundland and Labrador) Gateway to Labrador Visitor Centre 38 Main Highway 709-931-2013, 709-927-5825 Labrador Coastal Drive Blanc-Sablon (Québec) Tourisme Basse-Côte-Nord 1550 Blvd Camille Marcoux 418-461-3961, 418-461-3450 Tourisme Basse-Côte-Nord Randonnée mont Serverson © Sylvain Imbeault EXPEDITION 51°– AN INTRODUCTION Legend of pictograms Kawawachikamach Matimekush-Lac John Place to eat Accommodation Scheerville Gas station Grocery store / Convenience store Hospital International Airport M/V Bella-Desgagnés Ferry LABRADOR Emergency phone on the road SEA Free satellite phone rental Cartwright Paved road MELVILLE LAKE Gravel road North West River Whale Route (Route des baleines) Churchill 520 Railway 500 Falls 516 Newfoundland and Labrador Happy Valley- Goose Bay Côte-Nord Tourist Region Charlottetown 514 Bordering regions 500 Monts Severson Labrador City Wabush 510 Mont Wright Fermont 510 510 Km 547 Km 511 Port Hope Simpson 513 Km 495 NEWFOUNDLAND St. Lewis L’Anse-au-Loup Battle Harbour Km 464 Fire Lake AND LABRADOR Mary’s Harbour 389 510 Forteau Km 418 L’Anse 510 Amour 6 L’Anse- au-Clair Red Bay Km 365 510 AventureUapishka.com Km 364 Station Uapishka Bonne-Espérance 138 St. Anthony Monts Groulx Vieux-Fort Blanc-Sablon Km 316 Relais Gabriel Saint-Augustin EXPEDITION 51° EXPEDITION 51° Km 272 St. Barbe CÔTE-NORD Km 212 Manic-5 La Tabatière Port au Choix Motel de l’Énergie Tête-à-la-Baleine Km 202 Harrington Harbour Km 165,4 Chevery 389 Sept-Îles 138 138 Kegaska Km 96 138 Relais Manic-Outardes Havre-Saint-Pierre La Romaine Natashquan Gros-Morne Port-Cartier National Park Port-Menier 389 138 GOLFE OF ST. LAWRENCE Manic-2 Km 52 Baie-Trinité ANTICOSTI Godbout ISLAND Baie-Comeau Deer Lake ST. LAWRENCE RIVER 132 138 NEWFOUNDLAND MAP Matane AND LABRADOR 132 Rimouski Legend of pictograms Kawawachikamach Matimekush-Lac John Place to eat Accommodation Scheerville Gas station Grocery store / Convenience store Hospital International Airport M/V Bella-Desgagnés Ferry LABRADOR Emergency phone on the road SEA Free satellite phone rental Cartwright Paved road MELVILLE LAKE Gravel road North West River Whale Route (Route des baleines) Churchill 520 Railway 500 Falls 516 Newfoundland and Labrador Happy Valley- Goose Bay Côte-Nord Tourist Region Charlottetown 514 Bordering regions 500 Monts Severson Labrador City Wabush 510 Mont Wright Fermont 510 510 Km 547 Km 511 Port Hope Simpson 513 Km 495 NEWFOUNDLAND St. Lewis L’Anse-au-Loup Battle Harbour Km 464 Fire Lake AND LABRADOR Mary’s Harbour 389 510 Forteau Km 418 L’Anse 510 Amour L’Anse- 7 au-Clair Red Bay Km 365 510 AventureUapishka.com Km 364 Station Uapishka Bonne-Espérance 138 St. Anthony Monts Groulx Vieux-Fort Blanc-Sablon Km 316 Relais Gabriel Saint-Augustin EXPEDITION 51° EXPEDITION 51° Km 272 St. Barbe CÔTE-NORD Km 212 Manic-5 La Tabatière Port au Choix Motel de l’Énergie Tête-à-la-Baleine Km 202 Harrington Harbour Km 165,4 Chevery 389 Sept-Îles 138 138 Kegaska Km 96 138 Relais Manic-Outardes Havre-Saint-Pierre La Romaine Natashquan Gros-Morne Port-Cartier National Park Port-Menier 389 138 GOLFE OF ST. LAWRENCE Manic-2 Km 52 Baie-Trinité ANTICOSTI Godbout ISLAND Baie-Comeau Deer Lake ST.