Elliston Root Cellars
Known as the 'Root Cellar Capital of the World,' the village is dotted with more than a hundred traditional stone cellars built half into the hillsides.
Root cellars were traditional storage structures in Newfoundland fishing villages, used to keep potatoes, turnips, and other vegetables through the winter. Built from stone or wood as partly underground rooms and then covered with sod, Elliston has more than 130 of them, some dating back two hundred years, which is why the village calls itself the 'Root Cellar Capital of the World.' You can explore by car or on foot. Some cellars have interpretive signs, and the visitor centre can provide a map showing their locations. Root cellars are private property, so do not enter any that are closed off. The site is often visited together with nearby puffin viewing spots and the Sealers' Memorial statue, which commemorates the 1914 sealing disaster.
Opening hours
All day (outdoors)
Nearby sights
- Elliston Puffin Viewing Site
- Dungeon Provincial Park
- Ryan Premises National Historic Site
- Cape Bonavista Lighthouse
- Mockbeggar Plantation Provincial Historic Site
- Port Union Historic District
- Skerwink Trail
- Fort Point (Admiral's Point)