Road to L'Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland

Little Kopit wrote:
One lady in the Toowoomba Visitor's Center said to me: "Expect a bumpy road" and she meant a paved/metalled road.

Heavy Trucks.. Do wonders for any pavement, I found US roads paved roads were fairly rough, especially the expansion gaps. I Hawaii the roads were very narrow indeed.
The Europeans do have very smooth A-Roads and Motorways.

tarnold wrote:
We were up there in late June. Roads were not as much of a problem as the weather. Lots of fog and high winds so kept the speed down. Didn't see a single moose on the entire trip, but plenty of warning signs all along the route. The Meadows were very interesting. Make sure you get the guide that is on the cover of the brochures in the visitor center. He grew up just a few hundred yards past the settlement and tells wonderful stories of the area.

Funny how experiences differ! We were there a week or so ago and had that guide, and mostly all he talked about was himself and how much he likes to read and how well read he is, on and on. He did tell one or two stories about his mom and the archeologist, but mostly nothing about the history! maybe he had an off day.

We were up there in late June. Roads were not as much of a problem as the weather. Lots of fog and high winds so kept the speed down. Didn't see a single moose on the entire trip, but plenty of warning signs all along the route. The Meadows were very interesting. Make sure you get the guide that is on the cover of the brochures in the visitor center. He grew up just a few hundred yards past the settlement and tells wonderful stories of the area.

One lady in the Toowoomba Visitor's Center said to me: "Expect a bumpy road" and she meant a paved/metalled road.


I think most parts of N. Am. have wider/ thus, better shoulders on 2-lane roads than many 2-lane roads I drove down there.

:C

Little Kopit wrote:
& FWIW, I was in Australia last Sept - Dec. After seeing what the Aussies call bumpy roads (very minor blips), I asked a person or so in Victoria (the one state where they get snow in their winter) if they knew what the words 'frost heave' meant. They hadn't a clue. & they don't have to repave any where near as often as places with real winter.

Bumpy Roads are mainly dirt ones here. Generally our paved roads are a lot better than I experienced in North America.Only when you get a lot of heavy trucks do they become "bumpy"

Apropros of nothing.

There are years when the frost comes out of the ground in MAY!!! Yes, I said May. In those years the ice sticks around in the Strait of Belle Isle, beside the west coast of Newfoundland. & the ice bergs are right there to watch in mid May.

So, I'll just betcha those 'bad road reports' come from those from southern states who wouldn't understand the word 'frost heave' until they'd been bounced around by 100 of them on their way up the Northern Peninsula.



It takes a good month for the road to settle down and then some for repairs to be all done, after which the summer paving ........ And that's for the roads that have a good 4' of carefully constructed base. Can you imagine the cost for such roads in Labrador or Alaska?

& FWIW, I was in Australia last Sept - Dec. After seeing what the Aussies call bumpy roads (very minor blips), I asked a person or so in Victoria (the one state where they get snow in their winter) if they knew what the words 'frost heave' meant. They hadn't a clue. & they don't have to repave any where near as often as places with real winter.

;)

When we were there in 07 there was 50 km stretch north of Gross Morne NP that had a fair number of dips and heaves that made us slow down with the 5er but other than that the road was in pretty good shape all the way. Wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

junmy3 wrote:
How is Hwy 430 up to L'Anse Aux Meadows. We really want to go, but someone recently told us that most of the highways in Newfoundland except the Trans Canada Hwy (HWY 1) are not in good shape. My guess is that it is okay, but would like to verify it with someone that has gone recently. We are towing a 26 foot travel trailer. Also any info on the road going to Twillingate (Hwy 340). Thanks

Howdy!

We've been on "The Rock" Newfoundland now for two months traveling with a large MDT truck large 5er with a tote we carry a Smart Car on. We have traveled from Port Au Basque to St John's. We have driven almost all the hard surface roads on this this rock and some gravel. Most of the secondary roads were done in the Smart Car. All the roads are doable but can and will get ruff in places. The answer to your question is when the road gets ruff SLOWDOWN. You don't want to have a jbreakdown in Newfoundland. You will miss some of the best parts of Newfoundland if you don't take the time to drive out and see the small cove areas. We found and absolute treasure of an RV park in the little town of La Scie. At the end of road 414 was the "Island Cove Park". The park only had 9 RV site w/e with dump station. But the park sat on a 500' bluf overlooking the cove and small harbour of La scie and out into the Alantic. We were able to see on a daily whales, dolphins and Iceburgs.

"Happy Trails"
Chiefneon

yup, we're on Newfoundland now. I wish we had towed up that way instead of doing an overnight in a hotel. its a long drive, but the road was fine.

Sue

Slow down as you approach bridges on that L'Anse road...that's where we had some bumps last summer. There were some other lumpy places, but again just slow a little and road will soon smooth out.

Don't recall any issues on the way to Twillingate.

Overall, the roads were about as good as New Brunswick, better in some cases. (The rough road down to NB's Fundy NP comes to mind.)