15 July, 2026 14 comments Leave a comment

Crossing into Labrador felt like entering another world. Ahead of us lay more than 1,100 kilometres of wilderness, where black spruce forests, rocky rivers, and endless lakes stretched to the horizon. It was time to experience the legendary Trans-Labrador Highway.

In my last post, Our Labrador Adventure Caravan Begins!, I described the start of our Expedition 51° Airstream camping tour that took us through the wilderness of northeastern Canada this spring. 

That post ended at the Labrador border, after two challenging days on a mix of gravel and paved roads in the mountains of northern Quebec.

CROSSING LABRADOR

The next leg of our journey took us across the immensity of Labrador from west to east, along Hwy 500 and Hwy 510, collectively known as the Trans-Labrador Highway.

Labrador City and the adjacent town of Wabush were built in the 1950's and 60's as work camps for nearby iron ore mines. Serving a population of about 9,000 is a Walmart and our two favourite stores (Canadian Tire + Marks), as well as gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, and a pharmacy.

We had stayed in Lab City in the winter of 2016, for a fantastic snowmobile trip, and we were looking forward to feasting on the legendary seafood chowder served at the Two Seasons Inn (named after Winter and Last Winter).

Sadly, the restaurant had run out of chowder earlier that day. Hopefully we will enjoy some on our way back to Quebec next month.

After our overnight stay with full utility hookups in Lab City, we topped up on propane, gas, and fresh water, and headed east towards Churchill Falls, about three hours away. 

The route was hilly and the road curved through wetlands and forests, around ice-crusted lakes, and over countless rocky streams.

The scenery reminded me of Ontario's northernmost routes. Early spring meant colours were understated: dull evergreens, pale granite, bronze shrubs, and lingering patches of snow. I found myself mentally mixing paint colours as we travelled.

The Trans-Labrador Highway is a remarkably recent achievement. Construction began in the early 1980s and wasn't completed until 2009. Between 2015 and 2022, the remaining gravel sections were paved, creating today's smooth, modern route stretching 1,149 km (714 miles) across Labrador.

With so little traffic, it often felt as though we had the entire highway to ourselves.

We often saw evidence of extensive forest fires from previous years.

Charred black spruce tree trunks still stood on boulder-strewn hillsides; the turf had been burned away, revealing the rocky skeleton of this land.

CHURCHILL FALLS

Churchill Falls is a tiny, modern company town of 700 people, established in 1967 to support the build and operation of the huge hydro-electric generating station there. 

The powerhouse of the station is located roughly 300 meters (about 900 to 1,000 feet) below the ground. It is carved out of solid granite and is considered one of the largest underground hydro-electric facilities in the world.

We parked overnight for free beside the municipal arena and enjoyed dinner at the only restaurant, which was in a multi-purpose indoor town complex. The building also housed the pool and fitness centre, municipal offices, school, library, hotel, and grocery store.

We drove up to see the earthen dam above the town site. Standing atop the dike, it was almost impossible to comprehend the scale of the Smallwood Reservoir.

Instead of using a single large dam, the reservoir relies on a massive network of 88 dikes to contain the water. 

The Smallwood Reservoir spans an immense surface area of 6,527 km² (2,520 square miles), making it the fifth-largest reservoir in the world by surface area.

Below the dike, we hiked along the shore of the Churchill River to see Hamilton Falls (pictured here), which is 75 metres (245 feet) tall. With much of the water flow diverted to feed the turbines of the power station, this section of the river is almost dry.

Observing how the river had carved a path through solid bedrock over millions of years was fascinating. 

Imagine the power of the Churchill in its unfettered heyday, especially during spring runoff. It must have been incredible to witness!

In this view, the brink of Hamilton Falls is shown in the lower left, and beyond it is the canyon carved by the river. The Churchill River is 856 km (532 miles) long, making it the longest river in Atlantic Canada.

Labrador is not a place of dramatic tourist attractions every few kilometres. Its beauty lies in its vastness, solitude, and rugged resilience. As we travelled through this immense landscape, I gained a deeper appreciation for just how wild and untouched much of Canada still is.

We spent a cold, rainy night sheltered in our cozy Airstream cocoon, before travelling three hours eastward to Happy Valley Goose Bay, following the immense Churchill River valley much of the way. Our next day's drive across eastern Labrador would become the most anxious stretch of the entire crossing, when our fuel gauge dropped lower and lower with no service station in sight. I'll share that tale in my next post.

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