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Argentia ferry terminal → Terra Nova National Park Visitor Centre

Argentia ferry to Terra Nova National Park

Distance
217.2 km
Drive time
In your maps app ↗
Roads
1001
Open in Google Maps →
Use another map appApple Maps · Google Maps · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze

Stops and map ↓

Looking over the boreal forest of Terra Nova National Park to one of its sheltered sounds reaching in from Bonavista Bay.
Looking over the boreal forest of Terra Nova National Park to one of its sheltered sounds reaching in from Bonavista Bay.Photo: rcheng30 · source · CC BY-SA 4.0

You arrive by ferry — North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Argentia

Marine Atlantic runs this crossing seasonally, against year-round sailings 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 →
Driving route from Argentia ferry terminal to Terra Nova National Park Visitor Centre: 217.2 km by road, via Routes 100 · 1.Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Tiles by OpenFreeMap. Route line computed with OSRM.

Faded lines are other drives from Argentia ferry terminal into this area: Burnside ferry terminal (248 km), Salvage (252 km), Dover (279 km), Clarenville (147 km), White Hills Resort (154 km), Trinity (217 km), Port Rexton (215 km). Each splits off where its line leaves this one.

  1. 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 →
    Other map appsApple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze
    Show on map: Fitzgerald's Pond Provincial Park ↑

  2. Stop 2: Sandy PondDetour

    One of the park's officially designated observing sites under its Dark-Sky Preserve status: the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada designated Terra Nova on 26 February 2018, and Parks Canada's own night-sky page calls Sandy Pond the darkest skies in the park. RASC notes the designated sites have paved parking with a walk to the observing spot. The pond also has a beach and a trail for daytime. After dark, the drive back to the highway is moose country.

    Stopping here adds 4.8 km to the drive.

    Directions →
    Other map appsApple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze
    Show on map: Sandy Pond ↑
⛽ Fuel and gravel, road by road ▾
  • Route 100 →Whole road: 3 fuel stations mapped, longest gap 63 km. Unpaved mapped: none; 0% has no surface tag, so unknown.
  • Route 1 →Whole road: 54 fuel stations mapped, longest gap 119 km. Unpaved mapped: none; 68% has no surface tag, so unknown.

Drive measured Oct 19, 2026, Argentia ferry terminal to Terra Nova National Park Visitor Centre. Your maps app gives the time on the day. How we measure

Add to a trip →Staying here? Days out ↓Ferry info: Marine Atlantic →

217.2 km. Off the ferry at Argentia to Terra Nova National Park Visitor Centre, on Routes 100 and 1.

Places to eat on the way

25 places to eat within 2 km of this drive, in the order you pass them.

The longest stretch with nothing mapped on it is 47.2 km — after Subway, until Meghan's Restaurant.

Every one of them, in the order you pass them
  • Mary Brown'srestaurantkm 45 · 835 m off the road
  • A&Wfast foodkm 45
  • Tim Hortonscafékm 45.1 · 224 m off the road
  • Subwayfast foodkm 45.1 · 180 m off the road
  • Meghan's Restaurantrestaurantkm 92.3
  • Robin's Donutscafékm 116.5
  • Breen'srestaurantkm 116.8
  • Tim Hortonscafékm 143.3
  • Tim Hortonscafékm 143.3
  • Brownings Pubpubkm 145 · 1212 m off the road
  • Flannigans Pubpubkm 145 · 1229 m off the road
  • Pizza Delightrestaurantkm 145.1 · 1264 m off the road
  • Tim Hortonscafékm 146.6 · 593 m off the road
  • Mary Brown'sfast foodkm 146.6 · 676 m off the road
  • KFCfast foodkm 146.7 · 773 m off the road
  • McDonald'sfast foodkm 146.7 · 539 m off the road
  • Jungle Jim'srestaurantkm 146.7 · 488 m off the road
  • Jungle Jim'srestaurantkm 146.7 · 488 m off the road
  • Rod's Restaurantrestaurantkm 146.9 · 508 m off the road
  • Don Cherry's Sports Bar & Grillrestaurantkm 146.9 · 200 m off the road
  • A&Wfast foodkm 147 · 585 m off the road
  • A&Wfast foodkm 147 · 585 m off the road
  • Robin's Donutsfast foodkm 147.1 · 1142 m off the road
  • Snack shack.fast foodkm 176.2 · 624 m off the road
  • Happy Adventure Cafecafékm 216.3

Not ranked or complete, and nobody pays to be here. No opening hours: phone ahead. Open map data, swept 2026-10-18. How we measure · Add a missing place

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.

Short drives from Terra Nova National Park Visitor Centre

An easy day out from Terra Nova National Park Visitor CentreLouil Hill Trail 9.7 km awayA walk: 3.7 km loop · easyDirections from where your phone is now:
Directions →
Other map appsApple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze

Or any of these: nearest first, measured by road from Terra Nova National Park Visitor Centre.

More, up to 72 km (10)

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
Goobies km 118, Port Blandford km 176
Longest stretch without one
118 km
Argentia → Goobies, of 217 km driven
Nearest fast charger to Terra Nova National Park Visitor Centre
9.3 km
by road, at Glowertown

Coming in 2026 (NL Hydro, 2026-10-22): Whitbourne (km 45) and Clarenville (km 144). Not counted until it opens.

NL Hydro fast chargers within 3 km of the drive. Check the app for one that's working. Exported 2026-10-22. How we measure

Every route compared →NL Hydro: plan your road trip →

Paved or not, per the map

Mapped as unpaved
none
Not proof it is all paved: 53% has no surface tag.
Mapped as paved
47%
94.3 km of 217.2 km driven
No surface tag on the map
53%
108.4 km: surface not recorded

In a rental car: 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. Hertz’s terms ↗. Source for these figures: OSRM driving profile, stored route query, with node annotations; OpenStreetMap surface tags via Overpass, checked 2026-10-19. Today's road conditions: 511.

Before you go

These change, so we link to the people who keep them up to date.

  • The crossing you arrive onSeasonal — Argentia is not the year-round crossing

    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.

    marineatlantic.ca →

  • MooseYear round, worst between dusk and dawn

    The province says the likelihood of injury in a moose collision is twice as high between dusk and dawn as in daytime. This is 217.2 km, much of it unlit two-lane highway; plan the drive for daylight where you can.

    gov.nl.ca →

  • Road conditionsYear round, matters most November–April

    Conditions change fast on this coast. Check before you set off.

    511nl.ca →

The trail, measured

Louil Hill Trail: the mapped path is 3.7 km with 83 m of climbing, from 92 m up to 147 m.

01002000 km123
to ~8% grade8–15%steeperheight exaggerated ~4×

Every cited segment →OpenStreetMap way/123274050; elevation from AWS Open Data Terrarium tiles (z14), sampled ~30 m, ascent over a 3 m noise threshold.
A line that ends at a different height from where it starts is a loop, not an out and back.

Questions

How far is Terra Nova National Park Visitor Centre from the Argentia ferry?＋

217.2 km from the ferry terminal to Terra Nova National Park Visitor Centre.

What route do I take?＋

Routes 100 and 1. Your maps app has the turns.

Do I need a car?＋

You came off the ferry with one, so this is your own drive.

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 shows your guests the drive and its distance. It is free, needs no account, and we keep the figures current.

<iframe src="https://fromtheairport.xyz/embed/arg-terra-nova"
  width="100%" height="420" style="border:0" loading="lazy"
  title="Driving route: Argentia ferry terminal to Terra Nova National Park Visitor Centre"></iframe>
Add ?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 19, 2026. Origin: OpenStreetMap node/605220569 — Argentia. Destination: OpenStreetMap node/1600343274.

Going with someone?

Hear when iceberg season looks worth the trip

One or two emails a year: where icebergs are showing up, and which drive gets you there.

Pressing Email me signs you up for iceberg-season email only, never shared. Unsubscribe any time. Sent by From the Airport, 582 St. Clair Ave W, Suite 326, Toronto, ON M6C 1A6, [email protected]. More about it.