Forteau

Forteau is a small village in southern Labrador, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Understand
Forteau offers services to travellers using Route 510, which more or less runs along the southeastern coast of Labrador: accommodation, restaurants, gas station, convenience stores, sports shops, recreational and tourist activities (e.g. hiking, sea excursion, museum, lighthouse, guided salmon fishing tour, iceberg sightings on the Strait of Belle Isle).

Geography
Forteau is the southernmost municipality in Labrador. This village sits on the north shore of the Strait of Belle Isle. Its western limit is backed by the town of Blanc-Sablon in Quebec. Its population amounts to 377 inhabitants in 2021 (mostly English-speaking), compared to Blanc-Sablon whose population amounts to 1122 inhabitants (including a French-speaking part). Forteau and the rural hamlets of the Labrador coast depend on the services offered in Blanc-Sablon in Quebec: airport, ferry, hospital, and shops.

Forteau and the string of oceanside villages along the Strait of Belle Isle have a long history of nomadic fisheries, including presence of various European fleets (such as Portugal), but the first permanent fishing villages were established from Newfoundland in the 1800s. The region serves as a point of entry to Labrador from Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula directly across the strait; Blanc Sablon's economic ties therefore are closely intertwined not with Quebec but with Newfoundland and Labrador.

Time zone
As Forteau is a border community, its time zones are a bit confusing. The island of Newfoundland is GMT-3.5, with one hour of daylight savings time in summer. Board a ferry and Blanc-Sablon (as part of a sparsely-populated fragment of Quebec east of Anticosti) is on Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4) year-round. As soon as the road leads back into Forteau, clocks return to Newfoundland Time through Red Bay to Port Hope Simpson. Further north into Labrador, Atlantic Time (AST/ADT) makes a reappearance, so Cartwright is in Halifax's time zone.

Get in
Forteau (in Labrador) is located on Highway 510 (Trans-Labrador Highway). Forteau can be reached by car using the following methods:
 * By road from Baie-Comeau, Quebec using Quebec Route 389, Highway 500, then Highway 510 (both Highways 500 and 510 are part of Trans-Labrador Highway). Route 389 travel 573 km, passing through or near Manic 5, Gagnon, Mont-Wright, and Fermont. Highways 500 and 510 travel southern Labrador for 1,126 km to Forteau, passing through or near Labrador City, Wabush, Churchill Falls, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Port Hope Simpson, and Mary's Harbour.   The total trip of about 1,699 km between Baie-Comeau and Forteau takes approximately 22 hours (non-stop);
 * Ferry between St-Alban (Newfoundland) and Blanc Sablon (Quebec): 19-km journey From Forteau via route 510 in Labrador and route 138 in Quebec, to reach the Blanc-Sablon wharf; this ferry service is 36 km (about 1 hr 45 min) on Strait of Belle Isle to St-Alban (Newfoundland); then the journey to reach Saint-John (capital of Newfoundland & Labrador) is 483 km (duration of approximately 5 hr 12 min);
 * Route 138 (Quebec): this road runs along the North Shore (in Quebec) towards the east from Baie-Comeau; for now, this road reaches the village of Kegaska; the journey between these two localities is 647 km (i.e. an estimated duration of 7 hr 18 min). Then, a segment of road of 350 to 400 km (depending on the route that will be retained by the government) is missing between Kegaska and the village of Vieux-Port (in municipality of Bonne-Espérance, in Quebec). A ferry shuttles from the small villages of the Lower North Shore (in Quebec) to Blanc-Sablon, though only operates once per week and takes multiple days to make the crossing. Then the segment of Route 138 (Quebec) of 72 km continues between Vieux-Port (Old-Port) and the limit of Labrador. The Quebec government is gradually extending Route 138 eastward along the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

By air
The is located in Blanc-Sablon (Quebec). The distance between the village of Forteau and this airport is 27 kms.



Get around

 * The Trans-Labrador Highway (Route 510) follows the coast eastward from Forteau, turning north to Happy Valley-Goose Bay then west to Labrador City.
 * A stub of Route 138 leads west from Blanc Sablon 71 km, from Labrador limit to Vieux-Fort, Quebec (about 1:11 hr driving), and abruptly ends there. The Route 138 resumes at 350-400 km (depending on the final route that will be retained by the government) further west, at Kegaska, to successively reach Havre-Saint-Pierre, Sept-Îles and Baie-Comeau.

Connect
Cellular telephone coverage is sporadic to non-extant in Forteau (the only base station is Bell across the strait on the Great Northern Peninsula), although groceries, fuel, lodging and Internet access are available in the village. Venture further into rural Labrador and services at many points are limited to non-existent.

Pinware
The Pinware River Provincial Park is roughly midway from Forteau to Red Bay (30-35km from each). There is one hotel nearby:

There is no fuel at West St. Modeste, Red Bay or Lodge Bay. There is a snowmobile dealer with propane, petrol and diesel in l'Anse-au-Loup, and a small grocer. Additional services are available in Forteau and Port Hope Simpson.

Red Bay
A tiny fishing village of 227, 65 km (43 miles) east of Forteau on Route 510, is the former base for 15 ships and 600 men as a seasonal Basque whaling outpost on the Strait of Belle Isle in the mid-1500s.

Go next

 * Trans-Labrador Highway to Port Hope Simpson
 * Great Northern Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland