#518 east of Hwy 11 and Bear Lake Road?

[shanekingsley]

Spending a couple nights in Wilberforce this weekend and thinking about a ride from there to Magnetawan and back on Saturday. Anyone been on the 518 on the east side of Hwy11 as it passes Sand Lake and turns in to Chetwynd Road (point "c" on this map)? Worth the time?

Route

Also ...anyone been north of Kennisis Lake road on the road called Bear Lake Road (point "b on this map")? Looks good but is it paved or really rough?

Thanks!

[Wheelieboy]

Spending a couple nights in Wilberforce this weekend and thinking about a ride from there to Magnetawan and back on Saturday. Anyone been on the 518 on the east side of Hwy11 as it passes Sand Lake and turns in to Chetwynd Road (point "c" on this map)? Worth the time?

Route

Also ...anyone been north of Kennisis Lake road on the road called Bear Lake Road (point "b on this map")? Looks good but is it paved or really rough?

Thanks!

I've been on that road. Its not bad but its not good either. Some potholes here and there. Heres a video link of a ride I did on/near Bear Lake Road. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc6xjNnrh30

Dont put all your trust google maps on those small little roads though because they arent entirely accurate. There was a road near Bear Lake that told me to make a right turn into a bunch of trees. I rode around the area to try to find that road that didnt exist and couldnt find it. Even the locals didnt know where it was. I believe that road isnt on your route though, I think it was somewhere along E Rd.

Theres a very nice twisty road around there that I've always wanted to go back to but I cant remember where it is because it wasnt on my planned route. I think it was called Swiss/Twiss road or something? Or it might have been Harburn. I wish I could remember because it was an awesome road..

[shanekingsley]

Well any interesting and twisty roads, I'll just mark it on my GPS so I don't forget.

Thx for the info + video even though the music in that vid almost made my ears bleed.

[BimmerMike]

Not sure how you are getting to Wilberforce but I recently was on county Rd 6 north of Kirkfield and it is great now, not sure when they finished the paving but it looked pretty good. I sometimes take it down to the east west road from Beaverton to 35 and then go over thru Fenelon Falls, Bobcaygeon to the south end of 507.
I have a few routes from Barrie to hwy 118 with a minimal amount of hwy 11 and none of 400..PM if u like.

[shanekingsley]

Thanks for the offer Mike. I'm probably heading over to Wilberforce Friday after work (from Toronto) and I'm tenting it, so in the interest of making it there before dark and also having to deal with rush hour traffic, I might just take the fastest route possible but still trying to include the 507 and Glamorgan... I really like the area around Kirkfield, including the #33 Centennial Park Road across the water which leads to the #6.

Anyone been on the eastern section of the 518??

[invictus43]

Chetwynd Rd is in poor condition right now. I believe it's dirt from just outside of town all the way to Skyline Drive..like, fresh, loose gravel. They're doing construction and ran out of money. From just past Skyline out to 518 it's kinda rough, tar and chip stone pavement. 518 back to #11 is in good condition. And your stretch from Seguin Falls to Magenetawan is partially dirt as well I believe..I'm pretty sure it's dirt in front of the Cornball Store. Hope that helps.

[shanekingsley]

^^Helps a lot thanks! I'm looking for twisty dirt mixed with paved so it sounds just like what I'm looking for.

[boooya]

^^Helps a lot thanks! I'm looking for twisty dirt mixed with paved so it sounds just like what I'm looking for.

Geez Shane just ride southwood if your looming for that .

[shanekingsley]

You should come with me one of these days on some of these dirty roads. And I will ride Southwood on my way home because I haven't been on it all year

[shanekingsley]

So I went and checked out these roads. They were awesome! I started in Wilberforce, made my way around Harburn, Kennisis Lake and then met up with another V-Strommer in Huntsville. We went up to the east side of the 518, across Chetwynd Road and then up to Magnetawan, down Old Nipissing Road to the 518 and across to Sprucedale and down Ravenscliffe. Then we took a few of then Huntsville backroads to the good part of the 35 to Dorset and then up Livingstone Road (#12), Bear Lake Road, and then back to the 35. Then I showed the other rider the loop around Kennisis Lake and then went straight back to Wilberforce.

The points marked "B,C,D and E" are all fantastic roads/areas to hit up if you have never been before. Some of them are dead end roads that take 30 minutes to get out to the end and it's all hills and twists getting there. Sometimes it was sand/gravel though always hard-packed and not too soft. Incredible scenery on some of the roads too with almost zero traffic. They were such a welcome change from the usual common motorcycling roads. Google Maps says it took 13 hours to do the run, but in reality we were able to get it done in around 12 and that included stops and even going twice up and back along the Kennisis Lake Road loop.... because it was just that much fun.

Here's the route that I took on Saturday.

A few things...

Like Wheelieboy said, Google maps, or my GPS are not to be trusted - which I knew anyways and this was just sort of an exploring trip.

Like Invictus said, some of the roads start out paved but move between hard-packed gravel and dirt. Nothing was too soft or freshly laid, but some of these roads are not for everyone. If you are not scared of non-paved roads, these roads are boatloads of fun and so much more technical than riding on the typical Muskoka or Haliburton roads I am accustomed to.

Harburn Road ("B" on the map) was awesome and was waaaayyy better than I expected it to be - even when it was really cold out and a bit wet there was lots of grip... Paved all the way through.

Kennisis Lake Road ("C" on the map) was great but, very slippery at 8am. When I rode it again in the afternoon, it was incredible fun with tons of grip and even better was Watts Trail - which is a loop off the Kennisis Lake Road. That road is like a better version of Southwood#13 that's much more technical, so speeding is not really an option with the endless hills leading to blind corners. They are paved with that chip-seal stuff.

Bear Lake Road ("D" on the map) was a mix of sand and gravel, and where the gravel was, it was more recently laid down and required a bit of slowing down to navigate the turns, whereas the sandy sections was really hard-packed stuff and awesome fun in the turns. The road off the #35 to get out to Bear Lake Road is #12 (also called Livingstone Road) and it's smooth pavement with fast sweepers.
The east side of the 518 is okay but nothing like the west side. Chetwynd Road ("E" on the map) was really awesome and hard packed sand. Very hilly with nice twists and turns. All of the above mentioned roads are very seldom travelled so there was no traffic.

The #520 is a nice road if you have never been on it and it's smooth pavement with fast sweepers. Old Nipissing Road from Magnetawan running south to the 518 is a mixture of paved, gravel then sand and it's all kinds of technical awesomeness.

They are repaving parts of #35 which didn't make much sense to me because it's smooth as glass as it is.

As a final note and worthy plug, I tented at Riverbank RV & Cottages which is situated in Wilberforce and is a great place to stay. It's point "A" on the map and sits on the small river that connects Grace Lake and Dark Lake. They have cabins if you don't want to tent it. Super friendly people there and a great launching pad for exploring some great roads. It was really nice to be able to sleep beside the river and hear the water all night and wake up to an awesome view of the fall colours, all the while having a super soft ground of grass and white pine needles to pitch my tent on. Grocery store, liquor store and gas station all within 2 minutes ride. Very welcoming of respectful motorcyclists too: http://riverbankrvandcottages.com/index.html

[invictus43]

My folks live on Chetwynd Rd. I have a lot of fun mountain biking and drifting various vehicles through the dirt up there..

[boooya]

Excellent rite up Shane, will definatly hit up some of these roads you suggested.