Gander International Airport (YQX) → Fortune

Gander Airport (YQX) to Fortune and the France ferry

Drive time: 5h 28m
Distance: 378.5 km
Routes: 1 · 210 · 220

Conservative model estimate, Gander International Airport (YQX) to Fortune — no stops, dry roads. Many of Newfoundland's provincial routes carry no speed limit in the open map data, so the router assumes a slow default: a driver who knows the road will beat this. The ferry after it is not included. Source: OSRM driving profile, terminal door to the town, checked 2026-09-05.

⛴ Then the ferry to Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon — sailings & schedule →

Drive it with your own nav:Organic Maps →OsmAnd →Apple →Google →Waze →The first two run on OpenStreetMap and don't track you — the same map this site is built from.

Or take the whole route with you: Download the GPX → — the measured drive plus every stop as a waypoint, for Organic Maps, OsmAnd or any Garmin, no account and no signal needed once it's on the device.

No one has sent a recording of this drive yet.Be the first — send the track →

The terminal side — parking, arrivals, ground transport — is the airport's own information: Gander International Airport →

This is the site’s longest Gander drive and its strangest reward: at the end of five and a half measured hours, a wharf where the next stop is the French Republic. Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon sits an hour off Fortune — euros, gendarmes, baguettes, the works — and the boat from this route’s mapped terminal is how you get there without an aircraft.

The peninsula earns the drive on its own terms. Route 210 rides the high barrens down the Burin’s spine — wind country, fog country, with the boot’s outports hanging off it on spur roads. Marystown breaks the run with fuel and food; Frenchman’s Cove offers the barachois beach and the mapped campground that makes this an honest overnight; Grand Bank arrives all widow’s walks and schooner money, the Grand Banks fishery’s home port keeping its own story.

And then Fortune, where the two headline acts share a headland: the ferry to France on one side of the point, and on the other the exact spot — agreed by the world’s geologists — where the Cambrian explosion begins in the rock record. Half a billion years of life’s history, a working lighthouse, and another country on the horizon. No other road on the island ends like this one.

Driving route from Gander International Airport (YQX) to Fortune: 378.5 km, about 5h 28m, via Routes 1 · 210 · 220.Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Tiles by OpenFreeMap. Route line computed with OSRM.

Faded on the map: the other measured drives from Gander International into this same region, each its own page — Harbour Breton (4h 9m). Where a faded line leaves the solid one is where that drive forks from this one.

Then a ferry to Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon

The boat at Fortune's mapped terminal sails to France — the actual republic, in the form of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, an hour offshore. It is an international crossing: passports, euros, French time. Sailings and fares are the operator's to state, and the season matters.

Operated by SPM Ferries.

Current schedule →

Worth stopping for

Frenchman's Cove Provincial ParkDetour
The ParksNL campground on this route, on a barachois beach two-thirds of the way down the peninsula — the mapped campsite sits behind the beach with Fortune Bay in front. The honest overnight for a drive this long; season and sites are ParksNL's calendar.
Stopping here adds about 5 min and 4 km to the drive.
navigate: Organic · OsmAnd · Apple · Google · Waze
Marystown
The Burin Peninsula's service centre and shipbuilding town at the head of Mortier Bay — the fuel, food and hardware stop that the outports around the boot rely on, and the last big one before the road commits to the toe.
Stopping here adds about 3 min and 1.5 km to the drive.
navigate: Organic · OsmAnd · Apple · Google · Waze
Grand Bank
The banking-schooner capital, minutes before Fortune — the town the Grand Banks fishery built, with widow's-walk merchant houses that look more Lunenburg than Newfoundland. Its heritage is the salt-bank fleet's story, kept by the town that sailed it.
Stopping here adds about 1 min and 0.5 km to the drive.
navigate: Organic · OsmAnd · Apple · Google · Waze
Fortune Head Geology Centre and light stationDetour
The headland past the ferry wharf holds one of geology's global reference points: the boundary where the Cambrian begins — the moment complex life took over the rock record — is formally defined at Fortune Head, and the mapped centre in town curates it. Half a billion years, a lighthouse, and France on the horizon, all from one gravel road.
Stopping here adds about 5 min and 2.5 km to the drive.
navigate: Organic · OsmAnd · Apple · Google · Waze

What has been recorded near here

Species reported within 50 km of Fortune and shared to GBIF, the international record of species occurrences. The useful column is when — the months the reports cluster in.

Northern gannetseabirdMorus bassanusReports cluster in June, August, October500 reports on record
Atlantic puffinseabirdFratercula arcticaReports cluster in July, August, June394 reports on record
Humpback whalewhaleMegaptera novaeangliaeReports cluster in July, May, June341 reports on record
Fin whalewhaleBalaenoptera physalusReports cluster in August, September, June198 reports on record
Minke whalewhaleBalaenoptera acutorostrataReports cluster in August, June, July93 reports on record

What this is not

Not how many there are. A report means somebody looked, saw and wrote it down. A busy harbour with tour boats reports more than an empty coast with the same animals in it.
Not a sighting you are promised. Nothing here says you will see one.
Not complete. Only species we ask GBIF about appear, and only where somebody reported them.

From GBIF, queried 2026-09-14 — their record, not a copy of it.

When you get to Fortune

Where to eat in Fortune → — 5 places the open map records, alphabetically, with addresses and phone numbers.
Fortune Arena → — the venue here, with what you can reach and be back from between games.

Doing it electric

Fast chargers on this drive: Gander km 3, Glowertown km 68, Port Blandford km 116, Goobies km 174, Marystown km 318
Longest stretch without one: 144 km; Goobies → Marystown, of 378 km driven
Nearest fast charger to Fortune: 60.6 km; 56 min by road, at Marystown

NL Hydro lists an ultra-fast site coming in 2026 at Gander (km 2) and Clarenville (km 148) — not counted above until it opens.

Source: NL Hydro's published fast-charging network map, exported 2026-09-13 — sites within 3 km of this route's measured line, the km read along it, the drive to the nearest site priced by OSRM. NL Hydro lists these as 62.5 kW DC with CCS and CHAdeMO plugs on a ChargePoint account; whether one is free or working right now is the app's to say. Level 2 chargers in towns are not counted.

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

Paved or not, per the map

Mapped as unpaved: none
Mapped as paved: 68%; 224.9 km of 378.5 km driven
No surface tag on the map: 32%; 107.1 km the map does not describe either way

Why it matters: Hertz Canada’s published rental terms — the one set of Canadian rental terms we could read in full, quoted not recommended — list “use off paved roads or on roads which are not regularly maintained” as misconduct that voids the damage waiver. Read the agreement you sign before leaving the lot. The terms themselves. Source for these figures: OSRM driving profile, origin to destination, with node annotations; OpenStreetMap surface tags via Overpass, checked 2026-09-06. A road with no tag is unknown, not paved; what any road is like today is on 511.

Eating on the way — measured, not recommended

57 places to eat that the open map data records within 2 km of this drive, in the order you would pass them. No stars, no prices, no opinions, and no opening hours — distance along the road is the one thing measured here that a directory cannot give you.

The longest stretch with nothing mapped on it is 104.9 km — after Robin's Donuts, until The Tea Rose. That is the figure worth planning around.

The Newfoundland Tea Co. Restaurant & Shoprestaurantkm 1.8 · 783 m off the road
Rosie's Restaurant & Bakeryrestaurantkm 1.8 · 898 m off the road
Jumping Bean Coffee Companycafékm 2 · 661 m off the road
Lilly's Landing Family Restaurantrestaurantkm 2 · 620 m off the road
KFCfast foodkm 2 · 248 m off the road
Subwayfast foodkm 2
McDonald'sfast foodkm 2
Ches's Fish & Chipsrestaurantkm 2 · 518 m off the road
A&Wfast foodkm 2 · 1553 m off the road
Little Caesarsfast foodkm 2 · 895 m off the road
Wing 'n Itrestaurantkm 2 · 705 m off the road
The Shawarma Stationrestaurantkm 2 · 349 m off the road
Tim Hortonscafékm 2 · 419 m off the road
Louis Geesfast foodkm 2 · 743 m off the road
Jade Garden Restaurantrestaurantkm 2 · 676 m off the road
New Highlight Restaurantrestaurantkm 2 · 668 m off the road
Pizza Housefast foodkm 2 · 664 m off the road
East Ocean Restaurantfast foodkm 2 · 665 m off the road
Grecofast foodkm 2 · 672 m off the road
Tim Hortonscafékm 2 · 290 m off the road
Subwayfast foodkm 2.1 · 1526 m off the road
Mystic Roomrestaurantkm 2.1 · 417 m off the road
Pizza Delightrestaurantkm 2.2 · 277 m off the road
Mary Brown'sfast foodkm 2.2 · 1378 m off the road
Swiss Chaletrestaurantkm 2.2
Robin's Donutsfast foodkm 2.2
Tim Hortonscafékm 2.4 · 1265 m off the road
DQ Grill & Chillfast foodkm 2.5 · 1054 m off the road
Copper Kettle Restaurantrestaurantkm 31.9
Family Pizzarestaurantkm 38.7 · 1870 m off the road
Mary Brown'srestaurantkm 68.3
Happy Adventure Cafecafékm 76.4 · 1230 m off the road
Snack shack.fast foodkm 115 · 624 m off the road
Robin's Donutsfast foodkm 144.1 · 1142 m off the road
A&Wfast foodkm 144.2 · 585 m off the road
A&Wfast foodkm 144.2 · 585 m off the road
Rod's Restaurantrestaurantkm 144.3 · 508 m off the road
Don Cherry's Sports Bar & Grillrestaurantkm 144.3 · 202 m off the road
KFCfast foodkm 144.5 · 773 m off the road
Jungle Jim'srestaurantkm 144.5 · 489 m off the road
Jungle Jim'srestaurantkm 144.5 · 488 m off the road
Tim Hortonscafékm 144.6 · 593 m off the road
McDonald'sfast foodkm 144.6 · 539 m off the road
Mary Brown'sfast foodkm 144.6 · 676 m off the road
Pizza Delightrestaurantkm 146.1 · 1264 m off the road
Brownings Pubpubkm 146.2 · 1212 m off the road
Flannigans Pubpubkm 146.2 · 1229 m off the road
Tim Hortonscafékm 147.9
Tim Hortonscafékm 147.9
Breen'srestaurantkm 173.8 · 485 m off the road
Robin's Donutscafékm 173.8 · 864 m off the road
The Tea Roserestaurantkm 278.7
McDonald'sfast foodkm 316.8
Tim Hortonscafékm 316.9
Sharon's Nook Coffee Shoprestaurantkm 370.8 · 877 m off the road
Sarah Rays Placerestaurantkm 370.9 · 710 m off the road
Sage Head Cafecafékm 376.7

What this list is not

Not a recommendation. Nothing here is endorsed, reviewed or rated. It is in the order you drive past it.
Not complete. Somewhere unmapped does not appear. This is never "all of them".
Not open hours. We publish none, because the open data holds none. Never assume a kitchen is serving.
Not necessarily still trading. A place that closed stays in the data until somebody removes it.
Not for sale. No one can pay to appear here, to rank higher, or to have a rival removed.

Open map data is incomplete — somewhere unmapped does not appear here, and this is never "all of them" or "the good ones". A place that closed is also still on the map until somebody removes it, which is why no hours are shown and nothing here says a kitchen is open. From OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps (which includes data from Meta, Foursquare and AllThePlaces); swept 2026-09-12. Map the one that is missing → and every site built on the open map gains it, this one included.

Before you go

These change. We link the people who keep them current rather than copying numbers that go stale here.

The France crossingSeasonal service levels — the operator's schedule is the only honest source
SPM Ferries publishes sailings from Fortune; frequency drops outside summer, weather holds happen in all seasons, and an international sailing missed costs more than an afternoon. Confirm the boat before you commit to five and a half hours of driving.
Check it now →
Road conditionsYear round, matters most November–April
Route 210 runs high, open barrens down the peninsula's spine — locally famous wind and fog country. The cameras and plow reports are the honest source.
Check it now →
MooseYear round, worst between dusk and dawn
The province states that the likelihood of injury in a moose collision is twice as high between dusk and dawn as in daytime — and this is the site's longest Gander drive, exactly the one that ends after dark.
Check it now →

The trails

Arriving without a car

Every distance and time on this page is a drive. If you are not renting, here is what Gander International Airport Authority lists at this door — operators and numbers, not fares: a tariff is theirs to change, so it is linked and not copied.

No rideshare here.

No rideshare service is named anywhere on the Airport Authority's transport page. That is an absence read off the page on 2026-09-15, not an assumption — but it is the Authority's page, not a licensing register, so it says what the airport lists rather than what is legal.

Taxi
Busy Bee Cabs, which the Airport Authority says runs a 24-hour service available curbside in the Domestic Arrivals area.
(709) 256-1444
Coach
DRL Coachlines runs a scheduled coach service across Newfoundland. The Airport Authority says a wheelchair-accessible bus needs 48 hours' notice.
(888) 263-1852
Limousine
Nobel Limousines, listed by the Airport Authority.
(709) 535-2457

Avis, Budget, National and Enterprise are listed at the airport. The Authority says accessible vehicles with wheelchair accommodation or hand controls are limited and need 48 hours' notice.

Gander International Airport Authority, read 2026-09-15 — the authority on what operates at this kerb, and the only place a current fare or timetable should come from.

Questions people actually ask

Can I really take a ferry to France from here?＋

Yes — Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon is France outright: French passports control, euro prices, and clocks set half an hour ahead of Newfoundland's. The crossing from Fortune's mapped terminal takes about an hour with SPM Ferries, whose schedule is the one to trust. Bring the passport; this is not a technicality.

Why is Fortune Head a big deal?＋

Because the world's geologists agreed it is: the global reference section for the base of the Cambrian — the line in the rock where complex animal life shows up — is formally pinned at this headland. The Geology Centre in town explains it; the cliffs themselves are a protected reserve, so look and learn rather than hammer.

Is this drivable as a day trip?＋

The arithmetic says eleven hours of driving around whatever you came for, and the honest answer is no. Frenchman's Cove is the mapped overnight on the way down; Grand Bank and Fortune reward an evening; the ferry, if you take it, makes it three days and a second country.

Gander or St. John's for the Burin Peninsula?＋

By distance St. John's is comparable, and this site measures the Avalon later. From Gander the argument is the route itself: Terra Nova's park corridor, then the 210 down the whole peninsula — and a Gander arrival puts central Newfoundland's icebergs and trails on the same trip as France.

Put this map on your site

If you run a place to stay, a tour, or a town page along this drive, this map answers the question your guests already email you: how far are you from the airport? Free, no account, and the measured figures stay current because they are ours to maintain.

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  width="100%" height="420" style="border:0" loading="lazy"
  title="Driving route: Gander International Airport (YQX) to Fortune"></iframe>

Add ?lat=&lon=&label= to the URL to pin your own property on the map.

Every distance, drive time and coordinate on this page was checked against its source on September 5, 2026. Origin: OpenStreetMap way/154350645 — passenger terminal. Destination: OpenStreetMap node/4401911790 — Fortune town node.