Argentia ferry terminal → Brigus
Argentia ferry terminal to Brigus
- Distance
- 78 km
- Drive time
- In your maps app ↗
Use another map app
Apple Maps · Google Maps · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze
.jpg){kind=link}
You arrive by ferry — North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Argentia
Marine Atlantic gives this crossing as about 16.5 hours over 518 km of water, mid-June to late September, up to three times a week — against seven hours year-round and daily into Port aux Basques. People choose it for where it lands. Marine Atlantic publishes sailings and fares.
Operated by Marine Atlantic. The drive below starts where the boat lands.
Crossings & current schedule →Faded lines are other drives from Argentia ferry terminal into this area: Clarke's Beach (78 km), Harbour Grace (96 km), St. John's (133 km), Heart's Content (107 km). Each splits off where its line leaves this one.
Stop 1: Fitzgerald's Pond Provincial Park
A Provincial Park Reserve, not a provincial park with a campground. ParksNL defines these as pre-1997 parks whose campground area was deproclaimed and privatised, with the rest kept to protect natural features. It states that park reserves have no visitor services, so there is no washroom. It sits on the driven line and costs no extra driving.
Directions →Show on map: Fitzgerald's Pond Provincial Park ↑Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze
Scan with your phone to open this page there. Then tap Keep for offline before you lose signal.
Drive measured Oct 2, 2026, ferry terminal to the town. Your maps app gives the time on the day. How we measure
Add to a trip →Staying here? Days out ↓Keep for offline ↓Download GPX (offline, Garmin)Ferry info: Marine Atlantic →
78 km. Argentia ferry terminal to Brigus: the Trans-Canada across the isthmus, then Routes 71, 70 and 60 down to Conception Bay.
Flying in instead? From St. John’s airport the drive takes about the same time and is three kilometres shorter, so the boat buys you nothing here.
Why people come. Hawthorne Cottage, the family home of Captain Bob Bartlett, now a National Historic Site. Parks Canada describes him as the commander of more than twenty Arctic voyages.
When you get to Brigus
- Where to eat near Brigus → — 4 places the open map records, alphabetically, with addresses and phone numbers.
New place to eat, or one that's missing? This list comes from OpenStreetMap, so nobody can pay to be on it. Add it to the map yourself (about twenty minutes on a phone), or email us the details and we'll put it on the map.
What has been recorded near here
Wildlife people have reported within 10 km of Brigus, and the months they saw it. Tap a name for everywhere else on our drives it turns up.
- Humpback whalewhaleMegaptera novaeangliaeReports cluster in July, June, May329 reports on record
- Northern gannetseabirdMorus bassanusReports cluster in May, July, October81 reports on record
Reports, not counts: busy harbours report more. No sighting is promised, and the list covers only the species we look up. Source: GBIF, the international record of wildlife sightings, checked 2026-10-07.
Short drives from Brigus
Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeOr any of these: nearest first, measured by road from Brigus.
- Cupids Legacy Centrestop4.6 km
A museum at Cupids.
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Clarke's Beachtown9.8 kmDirections →
Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Spirit of Harbour Gracestop27 km
A 1943 Douglas DC-3 that served in North Africa in the war and later flew freight between Stephenville and Goose Bay until 1988; Air Labrador's owner donated it to the town in 1993 as the Spirit of Harbour Grace, for the town's part in early transatlantic flight (explorenewfoundlandandlabrador.com).
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Danny Cleary Lookoutstop28 km
A viewpoint OpenStreetMap records on the way into town.
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze The 1884 Harbour Grace railway station, kept as a museum.
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze- Harbour Gracetown31 kmDirections →
Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Railway Station Museumstop35 km
Carbonear's station was built in 1917-18 by the Reid Newfoundland Company, replacing an earlier station destroyed by fire, and stayed the northern terminus of the Brigus Junction to Carbonear branch line until passenger trains ceased in 1984.
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Salmonier Nature Parkstop40 km
Run by the province's wildlife division, further along the Salmonier Line.
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze
More, up to 63 km (10)
- Butter Pot Provincial Parkstop44 km
The drive runs along this park's boundary, but the park reaches well inland.
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Shag Rock lookoutstop46 km
A viewpoint OpenStreetMap records beside Route 80, close enough to the driven line that stopping costs nothing.
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Manuel's River Interpretation Centerstop51 km
The interpretation centre stands beside the river valley in Conception Bay South.
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Heart's Contenttown56 kmDirections →
Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Heart's Content Cable Stationstop56 km
In 1866 the first successful permanent transatlantic telegraph cable was landed at Heart's Content, cutting the time to communicate across the Atlantic from weeks to minutes.
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Heart's Content Lighthouselighthouse59 kmDirections →
Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Bay Bulls harbourstop60 km
On screen: where Wade and Jerry head out at night from the marine base to harvest an iceberg.
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Mickeleens Pathtrail · 7.2 km point to point, one way · moderate61 kmDirections →
Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Witless Baytown61 kmDirections →
Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Spout Pathtrail · 16.2 km point to point, one way · strenuous63 kmDirections →
Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze
Distances by road, measured on OpenStreetMap October 16, 2026, from where this route ends. Your maps app gives the time on the day. How we measure
Doing it electric
- Fast chargers on this drive
- none
- Longest stretch without one
- 78 km
- the ARG door → Brigus, of 78 km driven
- Nearest fast charger to Brigus
- 29 km
- by road, at Holyrood
No fast charger at Brigus. From the ARG door it is 78 km there and the same back: plan on about 156 km on one charge, more in cold weather or with the heat on. Or charge at Holyrood, 29 km from Brigus by road, off this drive's own road.
Coming in 2026 (NL Hydro, 2026-10-10): Whitbourne (km 46). Not counted until it opens.
NL Hydro fast chargers within 3 km of the drive. Check the app for one that's working. Exported 2026-10-10. How we measure
Paved or not, per the map
- Mapped as unpaved
- 5 km
- Hodgewater Line (4.97 km, 14 km from Brigus)
- Mapped as paved
- 72%
- 52.7 km of 78 km driven
- No surface tag on the map
- 21%
- 15.3 km: surface not recorded
Why it matters: Hertz Canada’s terms say “use off paved roads or on roads which are not regularly maintained” voids the damage waiver. Check your own agreement. The terms themselves. Source for these figures: OSRM driving profile, stored route query, with node annotations; OpenStreetMap surface tags via Overpass, checked 2026-10-02. Today's road conditions: 511.
Before you go
These change, so we link to the people who keep them up to date.
Hawthorne CottageA published operating season, shorter than the summer
Parks Canada runs the National Historic Site and publishes its hours and season, which change year to year. The house and gardens can be seen from the street at any time; going inside depends on the season.
Check it now →The crossing you arrive onSeasonal — Argentia is not the year-round door
Port aux Basques runs through the winter; Argentia does not. Confirm the sailing first, because the other landing is on the far side of the island.
Check it now →MooseYear round, worst between dusk and dawn
The province puts the likelihood of injury in a moose collision at twice as high between dusk and dawn as in daylight. Routes 70 and 60 run unlit along the Conception Bay shore.
Check it now →Road conditionsYear round, most of all November to April
The isthmus catches weather from both bays at once, and the Trans-Canada across it is the only way on or off the Avalon. Check before you go, and again before the drive back.
Check it now →
Questions people actually ask
Is Argentia actually closer than St. John's for Brigus?＋
No: 78 km from the ferry terminal against 75 km from the St. John's airport, measured the same way on the same day. Treat it as a tie. This is the one Argentia route on the site where the ferry door does not win. If you are flying in, fly into St. John's and drive from there.
What is at Brigus?＋
Most people come for Hawthorne Cottage, a National Historic Site. It was the family home of Captain Bob Bartlett, who Parks Canada describes as the commander of more than twenty Arctic voyages in the twentieth century. Its page describes artefacts from those expeditions, period furnishings and heritage gardens. The town around it is a Conception Bay outport of narrow lanes and stone walls.
Can this be done off the boat in a day?＋
Yes, for the driving: 78 km each way on good highway. The day depends on the sailing time and whether the historic site is open. Both are linked above.
No recorded track yet.Drove it? Send yours →
Put this map on your site
Run a place to stay, a tour or a town page on this drive? Add this map to your site. It answers how far from the airport? Free, no account, and we keep the figures current.
<iframe src="https://fromtheairport.xyz/embed/arg-brigus"
width="100%" height="420" style="border:0" loading="lazy"
title="Driving route: Argentia ferry terminal to Brigus"></iframe>?lat=&lon=&label= to the URL to pin your own property on the map.Every distance and coordinate on this page was checked against its source on October 2, 2026. Origin: OpenStreetMap node/605220569 — Argentia. Destination: OpenStreetMap node/475374276 — Brigus.