A loop from Whitbourne Junction
Cape Shore
Getting to the start from every airport and ferry ↓
- Electric: plan 468 km on a charge. Chargers ↓
- Distance
- 234.4 km
- Drive time
- In your maps app ↗
Google Maps is the one app that takes a loop's stops in order from a link. In another app, drive it stop by stop from the list below.
No photograph of Cape Shore yet.
Taken one? Send it and we credit you by name.
Stop 1: Argentia ferry terminalDetour
Where the Marine Atlantic ferry from North Sydney, Nova Scotia comes in. Check Marine Atlantic's schedule before planning around it.
Stopping here adds 11.9 km to the drive.
Directions →Show on map: Argentia ferry terminal ↑Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeStop 2: Castle Hill National Historic SiteDetour
The remains of a French fort above Placentia, which as Plaisance was the French capital of Newfoundland in the 17th and 18th centuries, per the province's tourism site. The view takes in the town, the water and the wooded hills.
Stopping here adds 3.2 km to the drive.
Directions →Show on map: Castle Hill National Historic Site ↑Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeStop 3: O'Reilly House Museum, Placentia
A restored Queen Anne magistrate's house with period artifacts. The province's tourism site mentions a silver tea set given by King George III.
Directions →Show on map: O'Reilly House Museum, Placentia ↑Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeStop 4: St. Bride's
The town on Route 100 just before the turn for Cape St. Mary's. The province's tourism site says to follow the signs from here.
Directions →Show on map: St. Bride's ↑Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeStop 5: Cape St. Mary's Ecological ReserveDetour
Thousands of northern gannets nest on Bird Rock, a sea stack about 60 m high, close enough to the clifftop lookout to watch from land. Razorbills and murres nest here too, and guides lead nature hikes, per the province's tourism site.
Stopping here adds 25.8 km to the drive.
Directions →Show on map: Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve ↑Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeStop 6: Salmonier Nature Park
About 20 species of native mammals and birds in natural enclosures on Route 90. The trail is boardwalk the whole way and accessible, per the province's tourism site.
Directions →Show on map: Salmonier Nature 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.
⛽ 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 92 →Whole road: 0 fuel stations mapped, longest gap 52 km. Unpaved mapped: none; 0% has no surface tag, so unknown.
- Route 91 →Whole road: 2 fuel stations mapped, longest gap 49 km. Unpaved mapped: 24 km; 0% has no surface tag, so unknown.
- Route 90 →Whole road: 4 fuel stations mapped, longest gap 34 km. Unpaved mapped: none; 55% 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 20, 2026, Whitbourne Junction to Whitbourne Junction. Your maps app gives the time on the day. How we measure
234.4 km. The province’s Cape Shore, measured as a circuit: Route 100 from the Trans-Canada to Placentia and down the shore of Placentia Bay to St. Bride’s, then inland on Routes 92 and 91 to Route 90, the Salmonier Line, and back.
Placentia has the French fort at Castle Hill and the O’Reilly House Museum. The gannets at Cape St. Mary’s are a side trip from St. Bride’s.
Sunrise and sunset at Whitbourne Junction, by month
| Month (the 15th) | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|
| January | 7:47 am | 4:39 pm |
| February | 7:10 am | 5:26 pm |
| March | 7:18 am | 7:08 pm |
| April | 6:16 am | 7:52 pm |
| May | 5:27 am | 8:32 pm |
| June | 5:06 am | 9:02 pm |
| July | 5:22 am | 8:58 pm |
| August | 6:00 am | 8:18 pm |
| September | 6:40 am | 7:18 pm |
| October | 7:21 am | 6:17 pm |
| November | 7:08 am | 4:29 pm |
| December | 7:45 am | 4:14 pm |
Worked out for the 15th of each month at this spot, in local time. The weather line at the top has today's.
Places to eat on the way
5 places to eat within 2 km of this drive, in the order you pass them.
The longest stretch with nothing mapped on it is 144.5 km — after Atlantica Inn and Restaurant, until Mary Brown's.
Every one of them, in the order you pass them
- Atlantica Inn and Restaurantrestaurantkm 85.5
- Mary Brown'srestaurantkm 230
- Tim Hortonscafékm 230.6
- Subwayfast foodkm 230.7
- A&Wfast foodkm 231
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
Short drives from Whitbourne Junction
Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeOr any of these: nearest first, measured by road from Whitbourne Junction.
- Fitzgerald's Pond Provincial Parkstop19 km
A Provincial Park Reserve, not a provincial park with a campground.
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Bellevue Beachstop33 km
A sandy beach on Route 201, in what the province's tourism site calls a popular summer cottage area.
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Cupids Legacy Centrestop35 km
A museum at Cupids.
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Clarke's Beachtown35 kmDirections →
Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Brigustown35 kmDirections →
Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Shag Rock lookoutstop36 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 - Chance Cove Coastal Trailstop38 km
A trail through the forest to the far end of Chance Cove Beach, then uphill along the coast to hidden sandy beaches, lookouts and sea caves, per the province's tourism site.
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Placentiatown40 kmDirections →
Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze
More, up to 61 km (10)
- Father Duffy's Wellstop46 km
A roadside spring right on the route, named for Father James Duffy, appointed first parish priest of St. Mary's in 1834, who spent the years after walking back and forth to the courthouse in St. John's over a dispute with the local merchant's agent.
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Salmonier Nature Parktown47 kmDirections →
Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Spirit of Harbour Gracestop49 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 Lookoutstop50 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 Gracetown54 kmDirections →
Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Butter Pot Provincial Parkstop54 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 - Seal Covestop55 km
The western end of Conception Bay South, which the province's tourism site describes as a string of shoreline communities from Seal Cove to Topsail.
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze - Railway Station Museumstop58 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 - Arnold's Covestop61 km
A side trip for the Drake Heritage House.
Directions →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
- 234 km
- the start → Whitbourne Junction, of 234 km driven
- Nearest fast charger to Whitbourne Junction
- 8 km
- by road, at Whitbourne
No fast charger at Whitbourne Junction. From the start it is 234 km there and the same back: plan on about 468 km on one charge, more in cold weather or with the heat on. Or charge at Whitbourne, 8 km from Whitbourne Junction by road, off this drive's own road.
Coming in 2026 (NL Hydro, 2026-10-22): Whitbourne (km 231). 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
Paved or not, per the map
- Mapped as unpaved
- none
- Mapped as paved
- 94%
- 208.6 km of 234.4 km driven
- No surface tag on the map
- 6%
- 13.4 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 2026-10-20. Today's road conditions: 511.
Before you go
These change, so we link to the people who keep them up to date.
MooseYear round, worst between dusk and dawn
The province states the likelihood of injury in a moose collision is twice as high between dusk and dawn as in daytime. This is a 234 km circuit before any stops, on unlit two-lane road for most of it. Start late and you finish in the dark.
gov.nl.ca →Road conditionsYear round, matters most November–April
Fog comes to the Cape Shore in any season. Route 100 along the shore and Routes 92 and 91 inland are single carriageway with no parallel road.
511nl.ca →
Questions
How far is the Cape Shore?＋
Measured here as a circuit from Whitbourne Junction, where Route 100 leaves the Trans-Canada, through Placentia, St. Bride's, Branch and the Salmonier Line and back: 234.4 km on the OSRM driving profile, before any stops. Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, which names the drive, gives about 303 km. It calls its distances estimates and does not publish its line. Cape St. Mary's and the Argentia ferry terminal are side trips here, and their extra driving is measured with each stop.
Which way round should I drive it?＋
This page follows the province's order: Route 100 to Placentia and down the shore to St. Bride's, then inland by Routes 92 and 91 to the Salmonier Line and back to the Trans-Canada. The province says its drives can be taken in reverse, and the distance is the same.
Do I need to start at Whitbourne Junction?＋
No. It is the province's stated start, so the measurement begins there. Coming off the Argentia ferry, you join the circuit at Placentia.
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/cape-shore"
width="100%" height="420" style="border:0" loading="lazy"
title="Driving route: Cape Shore, a loop from Whitbourne Junction"></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 20, 2026. Origin: OpenStreetMap way/39422177 — Argentia Access Road. Destination: OpenStreetMap way/39422177 — Argentia Access Road.