Gander Airport (YQX) to Leading Tickles and the Bay of Exploits
- Distance
- 148.4 km
Use another map app
Apple Maps · Google Maps · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze
Stop 1: Glenwood Provincial Park
A campground just off the Trans-Canada, early in the drive, and a first leg-stretch before the long haul west. It is not one of ParksNL's provincial parks, so check who runs it and whether it is open.
Stopping here adds 0.3 km to the drive.
Directions →Show on map: Glenwood Provincial Park ↑Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeStop 2: Upper Falls Lookout
A viewpoint mapped beside the Trans-Canada at the Norris Arm junction, where Route 351 runs north into the town. The turn for Leading Tickles is 23.1 km further west, where the Botwood Highway leaves the Trans-Canada near Bishop's Falls. This is the upper waterfall lookout on the Eel Brook Trail, a short walk past Eel Brook's falls. AllTrails lists it at about 1.3 miles out and back, with Lower Falls Lookout as the other viewpoint.
Stopping here adds 2 km to the drive.
Directions →Show on map: Upper Falls Lookout ↑Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeStop 3: Point Leamington
The working town halfway up the peninsula, and the last one of any size before the road follows the coast. Route 350 runs straight through it.
Directions →Show on map: Point Leamington ↑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 1 →Whole road: 54 fuel stations mapped, longest gap 119 km. Unpaved mapped: none; 68% has no surface tag, so unknown.
- Route 350 →Whole road: 2 fuel stations mapped, longest gap 48 km. Unpaved mapped: none; 95% has no surface tag, so unknown.
Drive measured Sep 2, 2026, terminal to town centre. 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)Airport info: Gander International Airport →
148 km. Gander airport to Leading Tickles: the Trans-Canada, then Route 350 from near the Exploits River falls, up the peninsula through Point Leamington to where the pavement ends.
Why people come. The Bay of Exploits, a bay full of islands. Leading Tickles is a fishing town on the outer coast, named for the local word for the narrow channels between islands. The islands themselves, including the resettled village of Exploits, are boat-access only.
Sunrise and sunset at Leading Tickles, by month
| The 15th | First light | Sunrise | Sunset | Last light |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7:25 am | 8:02 am | 4:38 pm | 5:15 pm |
| Feb | 6:49 am | 7:22 am | 5:29 pm | 6:02 pm |
| Mar | 6:54 am | 7:26 am | 7:15 pm | 7:47 pm |
| Apr | 5:46 am | 6:20 am | 8:03 pm | 8:36 pm |
| May | 4:49 am | 5:28 am | 8:47 pm | 9:26 pm |
| Jun | 4:20 am | 5:04 am | 9:19 pm | 10:03 pm |
| Jul | 4:39 am | 5:20 am | 9:14 pm | 9:55 pm |
| Aug | 5:26 am | 6:02 am | 8:30 pm | 9:06 pm |
| Sep | 6:14 am | 6:47 am | 7:26 pm | 7:59 pm |
| Oct | 6:59 am | 7:31 am | 6:22 pm | 6:54 pm |
| Nov | 6:47 am | 7:22 am | 4:30 pm | 5:05 pm |
| Dec | 7:23 am | 8:01 am | 4:12 pm | 4:50 pm |
Worked out for the 15th of each month at this spot, in local time. First and last light are when the sun is 6° below the horizon: light enough to see and shoot by. The weather line at the top has today's.
Places to eat on the way
Near the start, the places are on the town's own list: where to eat in Gander →
7 places to eat within 2 km of this drive, in the order you pass them. The longest stretch with none is 68.7 km, after Riverside Diner.
Every one of them, in the order you pass them
- Riverside Dinerfast foodkm 25.1 · 598 m off the road
- Dockside Restaurantrestaurantkm 93.8 · 1510 m off the road
- Donninis Express and Railway Caferestaurantkm 93.9 · 1523 m off the road
- The Landing Pubpubkm 94 · 1611 m off the road
- James Restaurantrestaurantkm 94.1 · 1361 m off the road
- Mary Brownsrestaurantkm 94.1 · 1279 m off the road
- Daisy's Dinerrestaurantkm 94.2 · 1662 m off the road
Not ranked or complete, and nobody pays to be here. No opening hours: phone ahead. Open map data, read 2026-09-12 (how we measure). Missing one? Add it to the map or email us the details.
Run a place to stay near Leading Tickles?
Places to stay on this site come from Best Kind Stays, run by the same people: places that book with their owner, never a booking platform. Listing is free and nothing paid changes the order.
How to be listed on Best Kind Stays ↗Want directions on your own booking page? That's a separate, private service and never appears here. Email us to ask
Short drives from Leading Tickles
Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeOr any of these: nearest first, measured by road from Leading Tickles. Each one's page has directions.
- Botwood Flying Boat Museumstop56 km
In a former WWII anti-submarine base at the Botwood Heritage Park.
- Botwoodtown57 km
- Peter's River Hiking Trailtrail · 5 km walk · easy58 km
A riverbank park with a wide view of the Exploits, per the province's tourism site.
- Bishop’s Falls Heritage Centrestop74 km
A small heritage centre in Bishop's Falls, just off the Trans-Canada.
Distances by road from Leading Tickles, measured on OpenStreetMap November 7, 2026. Your maps app gives the time on the day. How we measure
More about this drive
Doing it electric
- Fast chargers on this drive
- Gander km 3
- Longest stretch without one
- 145 km
- Gander → Leading Tickles, of 148 km driven
- Nearest fast charger to Leading Tickles
- 78.4 km
- by road, at Bishop’s Falls
No fast charger at Leading Tickles. From the last fast charger, in Gander, it is 145 km there and the same back: plan on about 290 km on one charge, more in cold weather or with the heat on. Or charge at Bishop’s Falls, 78.4 km from Leading Tickles by road, off this drive's own road.
The chargers
Gander km 3 of the drive, 1 km off it
Orangestore 100 Trans-Canada Highway
CCS and CHAdeMO plugs · 62.5 kW DC fast charger
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeBishop’s Falls 78.4 km from Leading Tickles by road
Irving Oil 62 Main St
CCS and CHAdeMO plugs · 62.5 kW DC fast charger
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze
Charging: about 100 km of range every 15 minutes, and most EVs to 80% in less than an hour. You start it with a free ChargePoint account, with the ChargePoint app or card. NL Hydro, read November 1, 2026.
Coming in 2026 (NL Hydro, October 22, 2026): Gander, a second site in the same town (km 3; CCS and CHAdeMO plugs · ultra-fast, up to 175 kW to one car, 350 kW where a site has two or more chargers). Not counted until it opens.
NL Hydro fast chargers within 3 km of the drive. Check the app for one that's working. Exported October 22, 2026. How we measure
Paved or not, per the map
- Mapped as unpaved
- none
- Not proof it is all paved: 81% has no surface tag.
- Mapped as paved
- 19%
- 24 km of 148.4 km driven
- No surface tag on the map
- 81%
- 99.6 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 2026-09-06. 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 that the likelihood of injury in a moose collision is twice as high between dusk and dawn as in daytime. Route 350 north of Point Leamington is long, wooded and empty, which is moose country after dark.
gov.nl.ca →Road conditionsYear round, matters most November–April
Check before leaving the Trans-Canada. Route 350 is a dead-end spur up a peninsula, with no second way out.
511nl.ca →
Renting a car? Book the car when you book the flight.
Summer rentals sell out, says NL Tourism, and in June 2026 BNN Bloomberg reported St. John's airport agencies booked for nearly all of summer.
Both checked October 7, 2026.
Rental counters at Gander, with numbers →Arriving without a car
Not renting? Here's who Gander International Airport Authority lists at the terminal.
No rideshare here.
The Airport Authority's transport page lists no rideshare service (checked 2026-09-15).
Taxi
Busy Bee Cabs, which the Airport Authority says runs a 24-hour service available curbside in the Domestic Arrivals area.
Coach
DRL Coachlines runs the island's one scheduled coach, once a day each way, between St. John's and the Marine Atlantic terminal at Port aux Basques. It stops at Gander Airport itself (the restaurant), and at Lewisporte, Grand Falls-Windsor, Deer Lake and Corner Brook among others. It reaches no island and no national park. Tickets are bought on the bus, cash only. The Airport Authority says a wheelchair-accessible bus needs 48 hours' notice. Times and fares are DRL's: drl-lr.com.
Limousine
Nobel Limousines, listed by the Airport Authority.
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.
Source: Gander International Airport Authority,2026-09-15. Check there for fares and times.
The drive back
Measured the other way, Leading Tickles back to Gander is the same distance: 149 km.
Plan back from your check-in time. Give the planner your flight time and it tells you when to set off.
How early to arrive depends on the carrier and the season: check Gander International Airport →
Return measured 2026-09-29, the same way as the drive out. How we measure
Questions
Should I fly into Gander or Deer Lake for Leading Tickles?＋
Gander: 148 km against 299 km from Deer Lake. The Route 350 turn is on the eastern half of the Trans-Canada.
Is this actually the Bay of Exploits?＋
The road runs up the peninsula that forms the bay's western side, and Leading Tickles sits at its tip, where the Bay of Exploits opens into greater Notre Dame Bay. The same road forks toward Fortune Harbour, deeper inside the bay itself.
What about the bay's islands — the village of Exploits?＋
Boat access only. The Exploits Islands, including the resettled village of Exploits, sit out in the bay's mouth. This site measures roads only; ask in the wharf towns about getting out there.
What is the drive actually like?＋
Trans-Canada west past Glenwood, then Route 350 north near the Exploits River falls. From Point Leamington on, the road follows the peninsula until it runs out of land at the tickles that named the town.
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/yqx-leading-tickles"
width="100%" height="420" style="border:0" loading="lazy"
title="Driving route: Gander International Airport (YQX) to Leading Tickles"></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 September 2, 2026. Origin: OpenStreetMap way/154350645 — passenger terminal. Destination: OpenStreetMap node/1524285455 — Leading Tickles place node. Planning only: not live and not for navigation; roads and conditions change. Terms