Where to go in Canada
There are so many wonderful places in Canada for touring that selecting a single one is next to impossible but one highway I have travelled twice (and look forward to doing it again, only by car but would love to do it on my bike) is the Ice Fields Parkway between Banff & Jasper Alberta. It has been described, by a promenent actor, as the only two hour drive on earth that no one has ever completed in less than six hours the first time.
A drive that can't be beat in the US is the circumnavigation of Yellowstone Park followed by a drive out the Bear Tooth Highway. This runs out of the north east gate of Yellowstone and in 35 miles goes over an 8800 ft pass, a 9100 ft pass and an 11,000 ft mountain peak. On the way you'll look down on a huge plateau that is 10,000 ft high and cross the top of a ski resort that operates even in early August.
Here in Ontario we have many scenic routes, but the Niagara Parkway has to be one of the best for views of the Niagara River and Falls. It runs north from Fort Erie on Lake Erie to Niagara on the Lake on Lake Ontario.
Another is highway 400/69 running along the east coat of Georgian Bay thru the Muskoka Lakes district. There are few more beautiful places on Earth. To really extend the trip continue on around the Great Lakes. from highway 69 at Sudbury you can turn west across the top of the great lakes to Thunderbay and then south into Wisconsin. Down the coast of lake Michigan around thru Chicago then east to Detroit or Cleveland and further east along the south coast of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. This will also take you thru the New York finger lakes region and then on to the Ivy Lee Bridge thru the Thousand Islands.
If that seems to far, how about starting on the Toronto waterfront and riding Yonge St (the longest street in the world) all the way to Wisconsin.
It's 840 KM around Lake Ontario alone, think of how far the circumnavigation of all the great lakes would be and what senery you'd see. You'd also become one of a very small group of people who have ever done that.
Good luck. If you do come to Ontario, contact me at
[email protected] and we can set up a meeting and tour together. Since I'm retired after 40 years in IT, I can go almost anytime.
(Anytime after I get my bike back that is. It's still in the shop, awaiting parts, from the accident May 30th.)
Richard
