Canada only 1 week big trip suggestions?

PrivatePilot

PrivatePilot

Ironus Butticus
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Plans to go back to WV again this summer are rapidly becoming less appealing with the batshittery going on south of the border right now - both the overall political climate, as well as my willingness as a proud Canadian who is being sh!t on right now to actually spend a dime of my tourist money there...so, looking for suggestions on a 1 week trip that stays north of the border.

- James Bay Road is out, did it last year.

- Newfoundland would be nice, but it's not a 1 week trip.

- We thought about the translab loop, but 100+ km of gravel on a Star Venture, a Goldwing, and an ST1100 is not super ideal.

- Gaspe is on the list, but not sure we can make a full week out of that staying strictly in Canada. Previous plans included Maine and Vermont to extend, but, yeah, no.

- Quebec 138 to the end is on the list, but again, just not sure we can make a full week out of that. Maybe in conjunction with the ferry and a Gaspe loop, perhaps.

Any suggestions? Motocamping or motels/hotels are fine. We like to get out into far flung places, but open to all suggestions.
 
Lightcycle said:
Plane trip out of the question?

The west is beautiful. Rent a bike while you're out here, lots of scenic roads. It's well worth it.
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Changes the budget significantly. Plus motocamping is out of the question in that case as there's no realistic way to bring all our gear - although it far from a necessity by any stretch, it's something we all genuinely enjoy. But something to throw at the wall with my buddies for sure perhaps. Accomodations are likely to be the problem - I suspect a lot of people will be planning to do the same thing this year (stay north of the border for their summer vacations) so places to actually stay are likely to be booked out months ahead.

Quebec in general is hit and miss. It's vast. It's scenic in a lot of areas. It also has absolutely terrible roads, as anyone who has ridden there will agree. The 1000km or so we did there (not including the JBR) last year felt like 2500km lol. But yeah, I strongly suspect some aspect of whatever we put together will end up including a lot of Quebec, so we'll just have to deal with the crap roads.
 
The problem with being an old-hand local traveler is that after a while, you've kind of traveled to all ends of the radius where the leash allows you to roam.

So you've either go to look harder at the areas you've already been to, to uncover gems you might have missed the last few go-arounds, or maybe there's something new that's popped up. Or you gotta make the leash longer...
 
Lightcycle said:
The problem with being an old-hand local traveler is that after a while, you've kind of traveled to all ends of the radius where the leash allows you to roam.
...
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This is very much the situation at hand for anywhere 500-800km radius of the east side of the GTA.
 
PrivatePilot said:
This is very much the situation at hand for anywhere 500-800km radius of the east side of the GTA.
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Yep, I feel ya.

After ~40 years of living in Ontario, it was nice for us to get a change of scenery.

Some people can ride the same roads and see the same thing over and over again and never get bored. Me, I'm a bit different, I guess.

Though it was nice this summer, coming back after almost a decade and a half and revisiting some of the places we used to frequent. Nice nostalgia trip.
 
Go West young man! Get out as far as 3-4 days and make your way back on different roads. There is More than the TransCanada. The road hugging the border is southern Saskatchewan was scenic and not flat, some of it gravel but doable. I love going west. Or do one of your cannonball runs to the Pacific if the other 2 are into it as well.
 
How about out to the Gaspe, doing that loop then crossing the St. Lawrence at Riviere-du-Loop and make your way towards Ottawa, working northward. Then across northern Ontario, down through Manitoulin, cross on the ferry, stay on the shore south to Windsor, then along lake Erie shore to St. Catherine's and home.

You like long days in the saddle, and those lake shore views, toolin' along smooth roads....That's livin'.

As for the US for the next 4 years - leave the cesspool to the rats.
 
Sunday Rider said:
Go West young man! Get out as far as 3-4 days and make your way back on different roads. There is More than the TransCanada. The road hugging the border is southern Saskatchewan was scenic and not flat, some of it gravel but doable. I love going west. Or do one of your cannonball runs to the Pacific if the other 2 are into it as well.
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I was surprised how pretty Saskatchewan was. Definitely worth the trip.
 
xrljoel said:
then along lake Erie shore to St. Catherine's and home.
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If you take the time to look (or were reading a book on it like me before you went) you can find lots of history in the little Ports along Erie's north shore. One of the old churches in one of them has a cemetery with victims of the war of 1812.
 
PrivatePilot said:
- Quebec 138 to the end is on the list, but again, just not sure we can make a full week out of that. Maybe in conjunction with the ferry and a Gaspe loop, perhaps.

Any suggestions? Motocamping or motels/hotels are fine. We like to get out into far flung places, but open to all suggestions.
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No need to ride the shame sh!t again again - go ride the 138 to the end since you've wanted to do that. You can stretch the north shore to a week, if you stay off the 401/highways and take the northern backroads up through La Tuque and La Mauricie National Parc. On your way out to Kegaska, make a point to ride up to Manic Cinq and take a tour of the dam - that 200km stretch to and from the big dam is amazing if you like to ride fast:)

If you don't mind hard packed gravel, you can ride north of Manic Cinq towards Labrador City. Also there are some really nice roads to and from the Lac St Jean area which are all worth riding. The best roads we rode out that way were the 138 to the end, the 389 to Manic Cinq and the 381 between Lac St Jean and St Urbain. If you decide to do this and want gpx files from my last trip out there to use as a starting point, let me know and I'm happy to share them.

Indeed there are a lot of crap roads in Quebec, but the further east of Mont Tremblant you go along the north shore, the better the road quality gets.
IMG_6047-4K.jpg
 
Agree with your change of plans. We were going to ride down to Tennessee in late May. Not a chance I'm spending any of my money south of the boarder at present. All Canadians should feel the same way.
 
Relax said:
Kawartha Highlands, Algonquin, and Calabogie? Then over to Quebec? I'm sure there's enough roads around there you can tie together for a week's worth of riding.
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There are tons of nice roads in this area. One option is to start in Muskoka area and then ride across through Haliburton or Algonquin to Bancroft and then on to Calabogie.
 
Sunday Rider said:
Go West young man! Get out as far as 3-4 days and make your way back on different roads.
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Easy to say, but there's really only so many ways to go west while still staying in Canada, Highway 11 or 17 (and that split only. happens once you get to Thunder Bay), and then a huge portion of that trip is going to be majority backtrack on the same roads again to get home.

Going west would be absolutely on my list, no question, but I'm not sure doing it in a 1 week trip is going to get us anywhere particularly awesome honestly.

I just did some Googling on a few Manitoba prospects and the drive up to Thompson came up on Highway 6 - remote (appealing), and some so-so scenery along the way, reminds me a bit of the JBR though as you're north of the 53rd parallel), but a LOT of backtracking that is simply unavoidable. There’s no real way to make any sort of loop while still staying on decent highways.

xrljoel said:
How about out to the Gaspe, doing that loop then crossing the St. Lawrence at Riviere-du-Loop and make your way towards Ottawa, working northward. Then across northern Ontario, down through Manitoulin, cross on the ferry, stay on the shore south to Windsor, then along lake Erie shore to St. Catherine's and home.

You like long days in the saddle, and those lake shore views, toolin' along smooth roads....That's livin'.
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The North Shore of the St. Lawrence “To the very end at Kagasha” adventure with a backtrack to Baie Comeau and skip across the river to Matane on the ferry and then do Gaspe option may end up being high on the list.
 
I am taking in all your ideas....Being old and injuries...Riding two up, we do get tired quicker...and the welcome lure of a comfy hotel is always a necessity.....Food....and bed and nice smooth roads?

Muskoka is nice ....Haliburton, sure....Ridden to Ottawa a couple of times on Highway 7, was cool.

Not like my younger self , going coast to coast...lol

Maybe trailer and ride might be an idea?
 
nakkers said:
How about Cape Breton? Never gets old to me. Can swing the trip down in a couple days at a leisurely pace and spend a couple of days there and then a couple days home. Stop at points of interest along the way.
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What's the dates you're looking at going?
 
AllistonGT said:
Agree with your change of plans. We were going to ride down to Tennessee in late May. Not a chance I'm spending any of my money south of the boarder at present. All Canadians should feel the same way.
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If things don't change by summer, I'll be riding the Trans Lab and over to the Rock, then back home around Cape Breton instead of the Pacific Coast Highway. This would be the 3rd time I've canceled a trip to the US and did a Canada ride instead. Always wanted to check out the Rock.
 
Ride the Highlands. You will be familiar with lots, but it would be fun to put a highlighter on all of it.
ridethehighlands.ca

Ride The Highlands

The ultimate motorcycle playground, Ride the Highlands is located in Ontario, Canada.
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