Deer Lake Regional Airport (YDF) → Port au Choix
Deer Lake Airport (YDF) to Port au Choix
The drive from every airport and ferry ↓
- Distance
- 235.9 km
- Drive time
- In your maps app ↗
Use another map app
Apple Maps · Google Maps · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze
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Stop 1: The Arches Provincial Park
Sea-carved limestone arches in the surf right beside Route 430. The map holds the park as a reserve and names the rock formation. A ten-minute leg-stretch. ParksNL lists it as day use; keep back from the sea.
Stopping here adds 0.4 km to the drive.
Directions →Show on map: The Arches Provincial Park ↑Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeStop 2: Point Riche LighthouseDetour
The 1892 light on the Point Riche Peninsula past the visitor centre, mapped at the end of the headland road beyond town. The archaeology sits in the limestone barrens around it. Caribou wander the point, and the Parks Canada site's trails link the light to the dig sites.
Stopping here adds 4.2 km to the drive.
Directions →Show on map: Point Riche Lighthouse ↑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.
Drive measured Sep 5, 2026, terminal to the town. 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: Deer Lake Regional Airport →
235.9 km. Deer Lake airport to Port au Choix: the Trans-Canada, then Route 430 north past Gros Morne, where the communities thin to fishing harbours.
Stop at The Arches, about halfway: sea-carved rock right off the highway shoulder.
Why people come. People have lived on this limestone point for six thousand years, and Parks Canada curates the archaeology on the spot. Finish at the 1892 lighthouse on the Point Riche road.
When you get to Port au Choix
- Where to eat near Port au Choix → — 5 places the open map records, alphabetically, with addresses and phone numbers.
Sunrise and sunset at Port au Choix, by month
| Month (the 15th) | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|
| January | 8:14 am | 4:41 pm |
| February | 7:32 am | 5:34 pm |
| March | 7:34 am | 7:23 pm |
| April | 6:26 am | 8:13 pm |
| May | 5:31 am | 8:59 pm |
| June | 5:05 am | 9:33 pm |
| July | 5:23 am | 9:27 pm |
| August | 6:06 am | 8:41 pm |
| September | 6:53 am | 7:35 pm |
| October | 7:41 am | 6:28 pm |
| November | 7:34 am | 4:34 pm |
| December | 8:14 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
8 near the start: where to eat in Deer Lake →
2 near Port au Choix: where to eat near Port au Choix →
12 places to eat within 2 km of this drive, in the order you pass them.
The longest stretch with nothing mapped on it is 122.1 km — after Whale‘s Back Grub Hub, until C&P Take-Out.
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 · 634 m off the road
- Jackie‘sfast foodkm 70.7 · 1647 m off the road
- Anchor Pubpubkm 70.7 · 566 m off the road
- Oceansrestaurantkm 70.7 · 553 m off the road
- Buoy & Arrowrestaurantkm 70.7 · 347 m off the road
- Treasure Box Crafts & Cafecafékm 70.7 · 712 m off the road
- Whale‘s Back Grub Hubrestaurantkm 89.9
- C&P Take-Outfast foodkm 212
- Pizza Delightrestaurantkm 212.2
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 Port au Choix, 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, September344 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.
Short drives from Port au Choix
Or any of these: nearest first, measured by road from Port au Choix.
- St. Barbe ferry terminaltown92 kmDirections →
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
- Deer Lake km 4, Rocky Harbour km 70, Cow Head km 116, Port Au Choix km 236
- Longest stretch without one
- 120 km
- Cow Head → Port Au Choix, of 236 km driven
- Nearest fast charger to Port au Choix
- at Port Au Choix
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: 57% has no surface tag.
- Mapped as paved
- 43%
- 98 km of 235.9 km driven
- No surface tag on the map
- 57%
- 131.6 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, origin to destination, 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.
The National Historic SiteSeasonal — Parks Canada sets the visitor centre's dates
Port au Choix National Historic Site is the reason for this drive: Maritime Archaic, Dorset and Groswater sites layered on one peninsula, six thousand years deep. Check Parks Canada for the visitor centre's season, hours and fees.
parks.canada.ca →Road conditionsYear round, matters most November–April
Route 430 runs exposed coast for most of the way. Check the cameras and plow reports.
511nl.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. The Viking Trail's long empty stretches invite the speeds that make it worse.
gov.nl.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, Port au Choix back to Deer Lake is the same distance: 236 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
What is actually at Port au Choix?＋
The densest archaeology on the island: a Parks Canada National Historic Site where Maritime Archaic burials, Dorset and Groswater Palaeo-Inuit dwellings and a Basque-era fishery all layer onto one limestone peninsula. The visitor centre is open in season; the barrens, the lighthouse and the caribou are there year-round.
Does this pair with the L'Anse aux Meadows drive?＋
Yes. Port au Choix is on the same Route 430 north, about 200 km before the Viking site. Together they make a two-day trip: six-thousand-year-old hunters on day one, Norse arrivals on day two, one road the whole way.
Is 236 km each way a day trip?＋
It is 472 km of driving, plus your time at the site. Possible in summer light; better as the first leg of an overnight up the peninsula.
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-port-au-choix"
width="100%" height="420" style="border:0" loading="lazy"
title="Driving route: Deer Lake Regional Airport (YDF) to Port au Choix"></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 5, 2026. Origin: OpenStreetMap way/180061286. Destination: OpenStreetMap node/107364109 — Port au Choix town node.