Planning starts now, Blacksburg VA to Halifax Nova Scotia, Summer 2013, road recommendations please

Dear all,

My friend Gary and I on two VFRs, a RWB 07 and a beautiful 98, are going to Halifax NS in July 2013. We are definitely going to Manhattan and to Acadia National Park in Maine. We would also like to explore New York Catskills and Vermont. See the initial map that we have for the trip.

All recommendations about twisty roads, campgrounds, parks, and hotels are welcomed. We would probably do a loop, and visiting the great lakes is an option.

Cheers and thanks in advanced for all your recommendations,

CElias

 

Hard to tell from your map but you appear to be making a southerly turn in Vermont maybe on I89 then North on I95 to Maine. May I suggest taking 91 North into New Hampshire and pickup Rt 112 (Kancamagus Scenic Byway) through the White Mountains. Do a little exploring in the White Mnts if time allows. Then you can continue on any number of secondary routes to get back on original course which appears to be I95.

Kancamagus Scenic Byway

The Lake Champlain area in VT is also worth seeing.

 

Excellent, thank you for the suggestion. The map that I posted is our first approximation. We have been editing and trying to avoid highways as much as possible. We would probably take 220 for a while, and maybe all the way to upstate NY. I will post more detailed routes soon.

Cheers,

CElias

 

220 from Muncy to Sayre, PA is a pretty good road but there are lots of trucks on it now and it can get a little frustrating if you get stuck behind one with nowhere to pass. 11/15, then 15 to get to 220 is okay, not much in the way of curvy fun but nice scenery as it runs up along the Susquehanna River. An alternative route, especially if you're determined to go across northern NJ to get to NY, is to take 209 N. It has some good parts and you could use the Millersburg Ferry to get across the Susquehanna and stop at the Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville. PA has lots of nice roads, it just depends on how much time you want to spend or how anxious you are to get where you're going.

John

 

Thank you John, I am taking notes.

Our current idea is to go up to Montreal and Quebec, to go east to Halifax, and to come back north to visit Acadia. IF we would do this then we would visit Manhattan coming back.

Cheers and thanks!

CElias

 

Ah, if you're going to hit Manhattan on the way back, then! I would recommend Rt 26 N, it's curvy but not so curvy that it takes forever to get anywhere and it goes more or less the direction that you want to go - which is unusual in PA. There's camping at Trough Creek State Park south of Huntingdon, one good restaurant/bar in Huntingdon - Boxers, and State College is a good town especially in the summer when fewer students are around. Then 287 N, another very good road, would take you past the Grand Canyon of PA, through Wellsboro, home of the Wellsboro Diner, and almost to the NY line.

I would also recommend going up Mt Washington while you're in NH, if you get a chance.

My friends and I try to go on at least one multi-day trip per summer. Two years ago it was NH, last year the PA northern tier/NY southern tier, and this year it looks like we're heading south. I really enjoy the route planning and could pester you for hours about roads in PA and NY, so stop me when you've heard enough.

John

 

John,

Thank you, and please continue, I am taking notes and will have a new version of our trip for all of you to comment and make suggestions.

If you come down south to Virginia let me know, I could repay the favor with my take on roads in Virginia and North Carolina.

Cheers,

CElias

 

Update as of today. I included the recommendations that I received and added Kancamagus Scenic Byway through the White Mountains, 11/15, then 15 to get to 220 in PA, Trough Creek State Park.

Let me know if this link works, it should take you to the Google maps map. I am also attaching a picture of the map.

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=205038976249454586537.0004d030366433c0d5990&msa=0&ll=41.836828,-70.400391&spn=14.67437,22.873535

 

Looks like a really fun trip. I'd chime in with ideas but you're on a route I just don't know enough about. I'm considering a multi-day from Worcester, MA up to Maine on Rt 1, possibly grabbing the ferry to Halifax then looping around and coming home through New Brunswick. I'm told Prince Edward Island is worth doing but not sure about the time I'll have.

How many days are you intending to ride and do you have an average mileage you are expecting? I'm curious as its my first trip. Oh, I'll be riding 2 up probably so it'll be tight and quite a bit of stopping to stretch.

 

You should look into going thru Harriman State Park NY then into Bear Mountain, they have a lodge there and the roads are tits. Used to wear the sides of my tyres out up there. There are some interesting roads along the Hudson, West Point NY has a wild road that goes thru a park (name escapes me) with all kinds of off camber turns that runs along a moutain, have fun and pack a radar detector too :smile:

 

Sounds like a great trip.

1. Pretty much every mile of Rt 100 in Vermont from Stowe south to Wilmington is wonderful for bikes or sports cars.

2. I wouldn't miss the drive around Cape Breton island either, it's wonderful.

Safe journey!

 

Thank you for the suggestions, I will update the trip as suggested. As of now I have a general ideal of how to get there going through Montreal and Quebec before turning east toward Halifax. I don't know how would we come back but I want to stop at Acadia National Park.

As for how long would we ride every day ... that would probably depend on how beautiful the roads are, but I would guess we would have to average 300 miles to make it all in about 10 days, but we have not gotten to that point yet. When we ride here we tend to do 200 miles in half a day, in the past the most I have ever done in a day was 500 miles but it was not fun and I am not planning in doing more than 400.

Cheers,

CElias

 

Looks like great ride! 300 miles a day is a good compromise between covering distance, fatigue & actually experiencing the ride.

 

Hahahahahahahaha...gasp, gasp...a ferry to Halifax...hahahahaha...

Sorry about that. The loss of ferry services, from Maine to anywhere in NS, is a bit of a sore spot around here. While the idiots wasted hundreds of millions trying to save the doomed pulp industry, they wouldn't spend a dime on the ferries, which are sadly now gone the way of the dodo, along with the pulpheads.

 

I am sorry to hear that because we talked about taking a ferry from Maine, anyway, more riding for us and more planning ahead too.

 

Definitely a trip with lots of options.
Personally, cities don't do anything for me when I'm travelling by bike, I avoid them like the plague.
I don't know what your motivations are, but I would bag Montreal and Quebec City - the roads up there generally suck anyway as far a condition - frost heaves galore.
A better alternative would be to travel across Maine inland from the coast until after Bar Harbor.

Tons of great twisty options along your route, so many that getting to N.S. would be problematic so I won't try cover them all.
But a few suggestions:

Along your route, I would place heavy emphasis on the Catskills and the Adirondacks. And the cross-over through/up VT should include VT 17 thru the App Gap. Well worth a spur off of 100 which has already been suggested.

As far as getting up to PA, 220 doesn't suck, but there are some very nice bits along the way. You may already be familiar with Mt. Storm, so if you want to stay more direct fine. But I can't let you stay on 220 when 326 is so close. Here's a link to how I would shape the stretch from Monterey VA to Bedford PA:

US-220 N/Potomac River Rd to US-220 N - Google Maps

Way too much slab on your route after that, but I understand time constraints. Still, here's how I would go from Lockhaven, PA to Hancock for the run to Pepacton Reservoir (a great choice by the way):

I-80 E to PA-191 N/Hancock Hwy - Google Maps
Google is showing a dip off of 973 south to Williamsport because there's bridge work just before 973 reaches US 15 - should be open by then, if not, just slab to 15 and take it north to PA 87.


There are certainly more entertaining ways of crossing thru PA to connect the points I've picked to divert from your route, let me know if this is more to your liking and I can cut 99/80 completely out of the picture.

In Acadia (my favorite NP in the east) if you are able-bodied, have good hiking shoes/boots, and aren't afraid of heights, I highly recommend hiking/climbing the Precipice Trail. It has iron bars embedded to allow climbs up short stretches of vertical, so climbing equipment is not needed.

PEI is very scenic, and there aren't any deer on the island, but not great from a twisty road standpoint.

Cape Breton as mentioned is strongly recommended. Meat Cove is one of the coolest camping spots I've ever pitched a tent at.


And one primary piece of advice - planning a trip is great fun, but don't expect to keep to it as far as timing and routes go. Be adaptable and adjust to weather, whims, and the unexpected.

 

if you are doing a loop and going to be coming back through southern ontario, highway 7 between ottawa and peterborough is a decent ride. fairly flat, but some really nice scenery on the way. There are also some really nice roads nearby if you're looking for some twisties.

Here's a map of some amazing bike roads in Southern and Eastern Ontario. Def some worth checking out.
http://shanekingsley.com/Two Wheeling/ontario_bikeroads.jpg

 

Thank you Drude and MapMaster, great advice and I keep taking notes.

I will send an updated itinerary soon.