The Ontario Tail of the Dragon | GTAMotorcycle.com

The Ontario Tail of the Dragon

Chris-CJ

Chris-CJ

Well-known member
Anyone done the 129 (Wawa and Espanola, are the nearest cities at either end)
Plenty of curves, gradients, straights and decent paving, good scenery, no gas stations tho'.
Wildlife? if you are lucky, black bear and moose (unlucky, if those animals impact you!)
 
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"Fuelling Up

A wise man once told me: “Never pass up a chance to fill your gas tank.” There are few places these words apply to more than Northern Ontario, where gas pumps can be few and far between. While Thessalon offers all amenities that make for a pleasant visit, what it does not offer is gas. Whether you are coming from the west or east, it is wise to fill up along Highway 17 prior to churning north. That said, fuel is available along Highway 129. You can top up your tank 35 km north of Highway 17 at Tunnel Lake Trading Post, then again around km 95 at Blackcreek Outfitters and Aubrey Falls Trading Post and Resort. Chapleau has everything needed to refuel both rider and machine."

Best Roads in Ontario: Algoma's Highway 129

No frills, no extras: this remote 200-km stretch is all about the riding. It's roads like this that motorcycles were built for.
northernontario.travel northernontario.travel
 
I've ridden it a few times. Thessalon is in the south and Chapleau is at the north end. If you are riding it, the best section is the bottom half. The northern half is much more straight and made me sleepy. There is a gas station pretty close to the halfway mark, where it intersects with Ranger Lake Rd (#556), but they aren't open late.

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Baggsy said:
"Fuelling Up

A wise man once told me: “Never pass up a chance to fill your gas tank.” There are few places these words apply to more than Northern Ontario, where gas pumps can be few and far between. While Thessalon offers all amenities that make for a pleasant visit, what it does not offer is gas. Whether you are coming from the west or east, it is wise to fill up along Highway 17 prior to churning north. That said, fuel is available along Highway 129. You can top up your tank 35 km north of Highway 17 at Tunnel Lake Trading Post, then again around km 95 at Blackcreek Outfitters and Aubrey Falls Trading Post and Resort. Chapleau has everything needed to refuel both rider and machine."

Best Roads in Ontario: Algoma's Highway 129

No frills, no extras: this remote 200-km stretch is all about the riding. It's roads like this that motorcycles were built for.
northernontario.travel northernontario.travel
Click to expand...
The Tunnel Lake Trading Post also sells 129 swag.
The nearby #546 towards Elliot Lake is supposed to be a really nice road, but I forget to check it out everytime I've been up there.
 
Baggsy said:
"Fuelling Up

A wise man once told me: “Never pass up a chance to fill your gas tank.” There are few places these words apply to more than Northern Ontario, where gas pumps can be few and far between. While Thessalon offers all amenities that make for a pleasant visit, what it does not offer is gas. Whether you are coming from the west or east, it is wise to fill up along Highway 17 prior to churning north. That said, fuel is available along Highway 129. You can top up your tank 35 km north of Highway 17 at Tunnel Lake Trading Post, then again around km 95 at Blackcreek Outfitters and Aubrey Falls Trading Post and Resort. Chapleau has everything needed to refuel both rider and machine."

Best Roads in Ontario: Algoma's Highway 129

No frills, no extras: this remote 200-km stretch is all about the riding. It's roads like this that motorcycles were built for.
northernontario.travel northernontario.travel
Click to expand...
Fuelled up at a reservation gas bar, cost me 20 cents/litre less than the Esso ahead.
How do they manage that, is the quality of gas and the calibration of the dispensers the same as those on the "outside"?
 
Done it. Agree with @shanekingsley that the bottom half is the better part.

If anyone thinks this road is in any way similar to Deals Gap beyond maybe that they're both paved I'd say their wrong.
 
Chris-CJ said:
Anyone done the 129 (Wawa and Espanola, are the nearest cities at either end)
Plenty of curves, gradients, straights and decent paving, good scenery, no gas stations tho'.
Wildlife? if you are lucky, black bear and moose (unlucky, if those animals impact you!)
Click to expand...
We did it couple of years back , its ok, nothing special.

Calling it tail of dragon is a bit of stretch.

I recall the stretch before Elliot Lake was pretty nice.
 
Norcorider said:
We did it couple of years back , its ok, nothing special.

Calling it tail of dragon is a bit of stretch.

I recall the stretch before Elliot Lake was pretty nice.
Click to expand...
Agreed, 129 is definitely not the TOD but it is one of the nearest that we have in ON
 
On that note, would you classify the Kananaskis loop as the AB TOD?
(I have ridden that on a rented Harley)
 
I rode the 129 from Chapleau to Thessalon on my Suzuki GW250 on my trip from Edmonton to Kingston.
Nice road but if you think it is wonderful you have never road the Rideau Lakes area.
 
A few years ago a group of us rode out to Nipigon (and back too......) and did a number of back roads on the trip, including 129.

Nice to do if you're in the area, but don't make a special trip there just for that road.

If you're going to take 2 - 3 days for a relatively short ride go south into PA for a tour of the Allegheny National Forest and a few roads around State College.
 
ReSTored said:
A few years ago a group of us rode out to Nipigon (and back too......) and did a number of back roads on the trip, including 129.

Nice to do if you're in the area, but don't make a special trip there just for that road.

If you're going to take 2 - 3 days for a relatively short ride go south into PA for a tour of the Allegheny National Forest and a few roads around State College.
Click to expand...
Was in the area and it was an alternate to Hwy 17.
True dat, it is no match for the actual TOD, tho' it is a decent ride and I did see a black bear scuttling across the road.
 
While you're up there; Highway 6 from the highway to Small Bay Mouth ferry term is almost exactly 60 miles.
we used to do time trials up and down that road.
 
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