Grey Bruce area mini-tour, suggestions | GTAMotorcycle.com

Grey Bruce area mini-tour, suggestions

brownelvis

brownelvis

Well-known member
I was thinking of doing 2 days around the grey bruce area and was looking for recommendations for a accomodations. Right now I'm thinking of Barrhead Pub & Grill in Markdale, ON, its right on Grey Road 12 which is near the end of 'leg 2' of my trip. Also f I'm missing any must-see roads let me know.

I typically break my tours into 'legs' so I don't know what the exact halfway mark will be, I just go by feel. Here's a planned route:

Leg 1 (~200km/2.5 hours) : Leaving Toronto via the 400 taking the 93 to Pentanguishene, take Champlain road up the coast then loop around back down to go to Wasaga, figure I'll rest on the beach for a little bit

Leg 2 (~140km/2 hours): leave Wasaga via the 26 and get on to Mountain Road and take it all the way back to the 26 up to Thornbury, take grey road 13 south to grey road 30, then take grey road 12 to highway 6 up to owen sound

Leg 3 (~215km/3.5 hours): leave owen sound via the 6 and get on grey road 1 to Wiarton, take the 6 and then take Bruce Road 9, get back on the 6 and go north and then loop around Johnsons Harbour Road and loop back down the 6 again, take summer ave/howdenvale to huron road and then follow that to sauble beach

Leg 4 (?/?) - Sauble beach back to wherever i'm staying, if it was Barrhead it would be about 70km/1 hour drive

leg 5 (~220km/3hours) - back home, not sure of any interesting routes to cover, would probably just take the 6 back

Total is looking to be 800km more or less, it's doable in a day but I'd rather take my time.
 
Markdale is tiny with nothing to do. I would stay in Owen Sound where you at least have restaurants and a movie theatre. Try the breakfast at the Dragon Fly Cafe which is just south of OS on Hwy 6. My favorite breakfast place.

You might also consider staying in Port Elgin or Southampton which is just south of Sauble Beach. They are two cute small towns with a nice beach on Lake Huron.
 
Thanks, that's good to know. Owen sound is also a lot better logistically, its at the halfway point of the trip and its close to everything, hotel prices look pretty reasonable too.
 
If you want to make your second day more interesting you can ride from Owen Sound to Southampton and take that road down through Kincardine, Bayfield, Goderich and Grand Bend. The towns are really cool to see. The only boring part is the ride back towards the city. It's real straight when you leave Grand Bend and head towards Stratford. But it would still be my preference than heading back down Hwy 6.
 
I agree - Stratford has nice places to eat ( just park downtown - Backstage is one and there are a couple of good cafes ) and you could drop south then take the roads along the lake to Long Point, Dover and then home via 6 and 403 or a long loop along Lake Erie by Selkirk Park ( nice slow bendy road ), then several routes including Port Colborne Fort Erie, Niagara Parkway

But that western stretch around Grand Bend is truly boring....crank up the tunes and relax is about all.
 
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Awesome, I'll drive down from Southampton to Grandbend and then loop around. I'll be going to Kitchener after so it won't be too far. I'll peruse that thread as well, otherwise I'm looking forward to some quality time with the bike
 
You should ride Grey Rd 13, along the Beaver Valley- beautiful with nice sweeping curves.

Check out Eugenia Falls, there's a good, biker friendly restaurant there.

I have a cottage in the area on Georgian Bay, near Thornbury so I do a lot of riding up there. Tons of amazing back-coutry roads that you can just cruise all day.
 
Both good suggestions....on HWY 10 there is a very nice cafe called Bicycle Cafe that I was pleasantly surprised with.
 
County road 23 south into Kincardine. Not the Tail of the Dragon but a nice curvy road at 80kmh. Then south on Boiler beach road south of Kincardine. Goderich has a great beach front and port for the salt mine.

My two bits.
 
Thanks for the suggestions everyone, there's some really good riding out there. It was hard for me to get off the bike, I ended up doing 700km on Friday.

If I were to go back again I'd skip the first leg I had planned as the riding only got started getting good at Blue Mountain. Mountain Road and Scenic Caves road were good, so were Grey Road 13 and 30. Grey Road 1 was a nice cruise and Kemble Rock Road was pretty nice too.

The drive to Tobermory I found a bit boring, it was just a straight shot on the 6. I planned to loop around Dorcas Bay Rd/Johnsons Harbor rd because on google maps it looks like a really twisty road. Dorcas Bay road was twisty but the pavement was crap. At one point I saw flashing green lights and I was confused so I slowed down and then a souped up import car almost drifted into me. Then I hit Johnsons harbor road and it wasn't even paved, I don't know why I didn't turn back but I ended up going about 20km/h on this narrow dirt road with huge ditches on either side, I was relieved to be alive when I got back on the 6.

I didn't end up seeing Sauble Beach, I wouldn't mind going back and checking out more of the roads around there.
 
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