Deer Lake Regional Airport (YDF) → L'Anse aux Meadows
Deer Lake Airport (YDF) to L'Anse aux Meadows
The drive from every airport and ferry ↓
- Distance
- 436.4 km
- Drive time
- In your maps app ↗
Use another map app
Apple Maps · Google Maps · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze
Stop 1: Gros Morne Visitor Information Centre
The park's main entrance, early in the drive. Route 430 runs straight through Gros Morne, so the UNESCO park is part of the drive, not a detour.
Stopping here adds 0.8 km to the drive.
Directions →Show on map: Gros Morne Visitor Information Centre ↑Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeStop 2: SS Ethie wreck site
A mapped shipwreck site on the Gros Morne coast. The coastal steamer Ethie went ashore here in 1919, and the beach still shows her bones. Steps from the highway.
Stopping here adds 0.3 km to the drive.
Directions →Show on map: SS Ethie wreck site ↑Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeStop 3: Western Brook Pond trailhead
The trailhead for the walk in to Gros Morne's most photographed water, a landlocked fjord. Parks Canada describes the walk and the operator the boat tour; the parking is right off the highway.
Stopping here adds 0.2 km to the drive.
Directions →Show on map: Western Brook Pond trailhead ↑Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeStop 4: Port au ChoixDetour
The one real spur on the Viking Trail. The town's national historic site holds thousands of years of burial and settlement archaeology; people fished this point for millennia before the Norse sailed. 29 km out and back, plus time at the site.
Stopping here adds 29 km to the drive.
Directions →Show on map: Port au Choix ↑Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeStop 5: Pistolet Bay Provincial ParkDetour
The ParksNL campground at the peninsula's top, off Route 437 just before the Norse site. It is the campground on this route and the closest mapped one to the meadow. ParksNL sets the season and sites.
Stopping here adds 20.4 km to the drive.
Directions →Show on map: Pistolet Bay Provincial Park ↑Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeStop 6: Thrombolites at Flower's Cove
A walking trail to thrombolites: mound-building microbial structures of a kind that dominated Earth billions of years ago. The trail is just off the highway.
Stopping here adds 0.3 km to the drive.
Directions →Show on map: Thrombolites at Flower's Cove ↑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 430 →Whole road: 17 fuel stations mapped, longest gap 97 km. Unpaved mapped: none; 44% has no surface tag, so unknown.
- Route 436 →Whole road: 1 fuel stations mapped, longest gap 16 km. Unpaved mapped: none; 0% has no surface tag, so unknown.
Drive measured Sep 2, 2026, terminal to the settlement. Your maps app gives the time on the day. How we measure
Add to a trip →Keep for offline ↓Download GPX (offline, Garmin)Airport info: Deer Lake Regional Airport →
436.4 km. Deer Lake airport to L’Anse aux Meadows: Route 430, the Viking Trail, through Gros Morne and up the Strait of Belle Isle, then Route 436 to the end.
Make it an overnight (see the FAQ). The one spur worth taking is Port au Choix: 29 km for several thousand years of human history.
Why people come. The meadow where the Norse hauled up their boats a thousand years ago: a UNESCO site, reached through Gros Morne.
When you get to L'Anse aux Meadows
- Where to eat near L'Anse aux Meadows → — 1 place the open map records, alphabetically, with addresses and phone numbers.
Sunrise and sunset at L'Anse aux Meadows, by month
| Month (the 15th) | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|
| January | 8:11 am | 4:30 pm |
| February | 7:27 am | 5:25 pm |
| March | 7:27 am | 7:15 pm |
| April | 6:17 am | 8:07 pm |
| May | 5:20 am | 8:56 pm |
| June | 4:53 am | 9:30 pm |
| July | 5:11 am | 9:24 pm |
| August | 5:56 am | 8:36 pm |
| September | 6:45 am | 7:28 pm |
| October | 7:35 am | 6:20 pm |
| November | 7:30 am | 4:23 pm |
| December | 8:11 am | 4:03 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
8 near the start: where to eat in Deer Lake →
2 near L'Anse aux Meadows: where to eat near L'Anse aux Meadows →
14 places to eat within 2 km of this drive, in the order you pass them.
The longest stretch with nothing mapped on it is 207.9 km — after Pizza Delight, until Dark Tickle Shop - Cafe Nymphe.
Every one of them, in the order you pass them
- Funland Resortrestaurantkm 11.1 · 948 m off the road
- Fisherman's Landingrestaurantkm 70.7 · 577 m off the road
- Earle‘srestaurantkm 70.7 · 1940 m off the road
- SunSet Cafécafékm 70.7 · 635 m off the road
- Jackie‘sfast foodkm 70.7 · 1648 m off the road
- Anchor Pubpubkm 70.7 · 566 m off the road
- Oceansrestaurantkm 70.7 · 554 m off the road
- Buoy & Arrowrestaurantkm 70.7 · 348 m off the road
- Treasure Box Crafts & Cafecafékm 70.7 · 713 m off the road
- Whale‘s Back Grub Hubrestaurantkm 89.9
- C&P Take-Outfast foodkm 212
- Pizza Delightrestaurantkm 212.2
- Dark Tickle Shop - Cafe Nymphecafékm 420.1
- The Daily Catchrestaurantkm 422.3
Not ranked or complete, and nobody pays to be here. No opening hours: phone ahead. Open map data, swept 2026-09-12. 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.
What has been recorded near here
Wildlife people have reported within 10 km of L'Anse aux Meadows, and the months they saw it. Tap a name for everywhere else on our drives it turns up.
- Northern gannetseabirdMorus bassanusReports cluster in July, August, June209 reports on record
- Humpback whalewhaleMegaptera novaeangliaeReports cluster in July, August, September63 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.
Doing it electric
- Fast chargers on this drive
- Deer Lake km 4, Rocky Harbour km 71, Cow Head km 116, Flowers Cove km 316
- Longest stretch without one
- 200 km
- Cow Head → Flowers Cove, of 436 km driven
- Nearest fast charger to L'Anse aux Meadows
- 39.7 km
- by road, at St. Anthony
Coming in 2026 (NL Hydro, 2026-10-22): Deer Lake (km 0). 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
- Not proof it is all paved: 43% has no surface tag.
- Mapped as paved
- 57%
- 245.5 km of 436.4 km driven
- No surface tag on the map
- 43%
- 182.8 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.
Site seasonParks Canada opens the site seasonally and sets the dates
L'Anse aux Meadows is a Parks Canada national historic site and UNESCO World Heritage site. Opening dates, hours and fees are on Parks Canada's page. Check before planning two days of driving around it.
parks.canada.ca →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. Over 436 km, dusk is hard to avoid without planning. Break the drive.
gov.nl.ca →Road conditionsYear round, matters most November–April
Route 430 runs the length of the Northern Peninsula between the Long Range and the Strait, and the weather changes several times in 400 km. Check the cameras at the far end, not just the near one.
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 Deer Lake, with numbers →Arriving without a car
Not renting? Here's who Deer Lake Regional Airport lists at the terminal.
No rideshare here.
The airport's ground-transportation page lists no rideshare service, only three taxi firms, a shuttle and seven charter operators (checked 2026-09-15).
Taxi
Star Taxi, which the airport calls its primary ground transportation provider, serving the whole region with wheelchair-accessible vans and accommodating service dogs. The airport advises contacting them 24 to 48 hours before you arrive.
Taxi
Deer Lake Taxi, listed as operating around the clock across the province with no pre-booking required.
Shuttle
Star Taxi runs a shuttle between Corner Brook and the airport, serving named hotels, with a private-car option. It must be booked ahead. The airport publishes the fares.
Coach
DRL Coachlines' once-a-day coach each way between St. John's and Port aux Basques stops in Deer Lake town (the Circle K), not at the airport terminal. It reaches no island and no national park. Tickets are bought on the bus, cash only. Times and fares are DRL's: drl-lr.com.
Source: Deer Lake Regional Airport,2026-09-15. Check there for fares and times.
The drive back
Measured the other way, L'Anse aux Meadows back to Deer Lake is the same distance: 437 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 Deer Lake Regional Airport →
Return measured 2026-09-29, the same way as the drive out. How we measure
Questions
Should I fly into Deer Lake or Gander for L'Anse aux Meadows?＋
Deer Lake, by a long way: 436 km against 740 km from Gander. The Viking Trail begins essentially at the YDF junction.
Can I do this as a day trip?＋
Barely, and we would not: 873 km of driving around a site that deserves half a day, with dusk moose risk on the return. Plan an overnight; Gros Morne is on the way if you want a place to break it.
What actually is L'Anse aux Meadows?＋
The only authenticated Norse site in North America, where the sagas' Vinland voyages touched ground a thousand years ago. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site run by Parks Canada, which tells its story on site.
What is the drive actually like?＋
Three acts: Gros Morne's mountains and coast for the first stretch, then the long middle where Route 430 runs the shore of the Strait of Belle Isle with Labrador visible across the water on clear days, then the turn onto 436 through the little capes to the meadow at the end of everything.
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/ydf-lanse-aux-meadows"
width="100%" height="420" style="border:0" loading="lazy"
title="Driving route: Deer Lake Regional Airport (YDF) to L'Anse aux Meadows"></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/180061286. Destination: OpenStreetMap node/1529040271 — L'Anse aux Meadows place node.