While the province of Labrador has fulfilled its 21st-century task by covering its main roads, i.e., Highways 510 and 500, with high-quality asphalt in 2022, for a total length of 1,149 km, the province of Québec is still struggling with this task.
Therefore, upon arriving in Labrador City, we knew we had to drive the challenging Québec Hwy 389 from Fermont to Baie-Comeau (555 km). But before that, we did some shopping at Labrador Mall, moved to the first Québec town, Fermont, for the night, and rested.
Fermont is a typical mining town. A place every traveler to this town will probably stop at is the local Jean Fortin Park, a kind of museum with exhibits of construction machinery used in the mining of various minerals across the area.
Highway 389 itself consists of several sections, two of which are gravel. The first gravel section is 67 km long and runs from Mont Wight to Fire Lake, past mining sites. Driving the first gravel section was even more challenging because the weather was not in our favor. It was rainy and slippery. But the weather forecast showed that it will be rainier.
The second gravel section is 101 km long and runs from Relais-Gabriel to almost the Manic-Cinq power plant.
It ends just a few kilometers before the power plant itself.
Fortunately, the steep section descending to the power plant is asphalted.
There is no mobile signal along the entire route 389. However, there are places with SOS phones approximately every 40km, and they can also be used for rest or overnight stays.
After driving through the gravel sections, the car looked like a participant in the Dakar in the motorhome category.
We did both gravel sections in one day, rushing to get there before the heavy rains arrived. In addition, we did it intentionally on a weekend, when there are significantly fewer trucks. The last 100 km or so is of highway quality. So, in total, this is approximately 170 km of gravel road on the entire route from Blanc Sablon through Labrador, which is approximately 1800 km. We mention this because many travelers mistakenly claim it is only a gravel road.
As of May 2025, this is a 170km stretch. In addition, the province of Québec is currently implementing a new road project that will completely replace the first gravel section. It began in 2023 (we saw it in Fermont) and will be completed in 2028. More photos of Highway 389.
After arriving in Baie-Comeau, we first washed our camper, filled the tank, and took advantage of a beautiful place to stay for the night in the nearby town of Ragueneau and its park.
Despite all the difficulties that had to be overcome while driving Highway 389, we are happy that we visited Labrador itself and ultimately this part of the province of Québec, which can be called the mining part. The part of nature, which is not affected by mining, was similar to that of Labrador, so beautiful and untouched.
June 2025