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Heading East -> Cabot Trail- Route Recommendations
- Thread starter m.benn84
- Start date
Having been to Cabot Trail just this May, I can give some relevant tips. Could you please specify if you are driving or riding, are you going to spend the entire time at Cabot Trail or do you plan to cover other cities and provinces? And, what interests you? There are lots of hiking trails in Cabot Trail, simply cruising is awesome too as the roads are beautiful. Other options are whale-watching, kayaking, golf at highlands - what do you want to do?
Morrissey
Well-known member
Did a similar trip back in '11. I used a website call "bike roads" or "motorcycle routes USA", something to that effect. They colour coded the various roads by directness, scenic and twisty. We basically picked all of the twistiest roads we could link up between upstate NY, Vermont and New Hampshire without going way out of our way. It was a beauty trip! Basically you can't go wrong anywhere in the Green Mountains (VT) and the White Mountains (NH). If you have the time, ride to the top of Mount Washington in NH, it is really awesome! Central Maine is a let down but does take you into St. John NB or you can ride out to the coast of Maine but then you have to double back a little if I remember correctly. Not too many options other than the Trans Canada in NS to get up to the Cabot Trail. Make sure to ride it counter clockwise so you are on the outside. Also take the time to pull off at as many of the pull offs as you can and enjoy the view. You don't get to see anything like that in Ontario. Enjoy your trip, I am jealous!
I'm hoping to do the trip this summer. Stop around Cardinal and Edmunston on the way there and stay with a friend near Antigonish while I do the Cabot and Celdah (sp) trails. Might cut back through the USA on the way back.
Camping IMO overloads the bike and takes too much setup time. In Canada it is not cheap or often readily available. USA is different.
Camping IMO overloads the bike and takes too much setup time. In Canada it is not cheap or often readily available. USA is different.
One day, IMHO, is too less for Cabot Trail. Plan to stay at least overnight somewhere near Cape North. The way I did was driving up from Baddeck via 'Englishtown', used a cute 2 minute Ferry service to cross water, went up the hills towards Ingonish & Neils Harbour. There are several view points and the beauty of the area will force you down to take a break and stare. Ingonish has some nice food options, not many food choices once you go up to Cape North. Side trips can be taken on 'White point Road' and to Meat Cove so again, you would need more time there. Riding back to Baddeck can be via Pleasant Bay and Cheticamp - fantastic riding road and out of the world sceneries to match.
EaZ8
Well-known member
im heading to cabot trail late july, look up cabot trail biker on facebook and check out his site.
im going to be throwing the bikes in my truck and drivng out there, then spending 5-7 days on cabot trail, PEI and some other spots too.
gota stick on the canadian side of the border....expired passport and just no time to renew it between now and then.
http://cabottrailbiker.com/
im going to be throwing the bikes in my truck and drivng out there, then spending 5-7 days on cabot trail, PEI and some other spots too.
gota stick on the canadian side of the border....expired passport and just no time to renew it between now and then.
http://cabottrailbiker.com/
I decided to use the Trans-Canada on the return leg of my Cabot Trail trip and I *hated* it. Excruciatingly tedious. There were barely even any cars to make faces at. The way there through NY/Vermont/Maine involved two ferry crossings and was fun. Note: When planning to catch a ferry, note that New Brunswick is in a different time zone (big oops)
Last time I crossed into the US, I actually did it on an expired passport. Like, the border guy told me it was expired, then waved me through
Last time I crossed into the US, I actually did it on an expired passport. Like, the border guy told me it was expired, then waved me through
I'm just finishing my week in Cape breton and I've been here about 25 times. The lower Lake Ainslie road is probably the nicest twisty road (that's in good condition) in Cape Breton. If you want to hit lots of micro-breweries you should check out NB. The first motel south of the highlands on the cheticamp side is very motorcycle friendly (and they aren't busy at the moment). The Red Shoe in Mabou is a great place to eat and see local music (plus it's only 5mins from the Glenora Distillery.
noob_in_mid_age
Well-known member
I am currently on a family trip of the Atlantic provinces. I came down from Sherbrooke (QC) into Maine from RTE 212 to ME-27 (the Arnold trail) and took a series of small hwys going east and south-east towards NB. The roads were twisty, hilly and in good state for the most part. The scenery is quite nice and tree lined. I want to try and do this route again this fall on my MC.
Glenorra Inn on the west side is a great place to stay.The chalet's are fantastic but a bit pricey.http://www.glenoradistillery.com/
statsman
Well-known member
When I did the Cabot Trail we took the all Canadian route and threw in the Gaspe circuit as well.
Down to the Confederation Bridge, through PEI and the ferry to NS at the east end of the island.
St. John, Bay of Fundy and up the west side of NB on the return.
Assuming you have the time of course.
Down to the Confederation Bridge, through PEI and the ferry to NS at the east end of the island.
St. John, Bay of Fundy and up the west side of NB on the return.
Assuming you have the time of course.
I have to second this. If you are going all that way, Glenorra is a must at least for their Glen Breton Single Malt. Having done this trip several times, the US route is far more entertaining especially on the secondary roads but not sure if you have time for that.
I just did this in July. Toronto>Plattsburgh>Bangor>New Glasgow>Baddeck>Port Hawkesbury>Charlottetown>Fredericton>Baie St.Paul (North Shore)>Cornwall>Toronto. 4990km and 9 days. Did the trail two times (counter and clockwise). PM me if you want me to send the maps. We only did the twisties. Mostly hwy 2 to get out east. It was a blast - and some good tips on the thread, esp. about the craft breweries. Motels all the way.
V
verity
Guest
One of my favourite drives with friends who were going to Acadia at the time.... It is going to be a wonderful trip. If time permits post a snap or two along the way...
:0)
Highly highly recommend Meat Cove for camping if you get a chance. Was there a few weeks ago, beautiful place for setting up camp, great views, good people, great food, and the girl behind the counter is pretty damn cute 
The road to Meat Cover is full of potholes and unpaved for the last 8-10km though....so keep that in mind. Need to call in the morning to check if they have space. When we went it was about 75% full...day before they were turning people around.
The road to Meat Cover is full of potholes and unpaved for the last 8-10km though....so keep that in mind. Need to call in the morning to check if they have space. When we went it was about 75% full...day before they were turning people around.
mac_135
Well-known member
My buddy and I did this ride back in 2010 and I've been wishing to do it again ever since, honestly one of those life altering trips for me. We camped the whole way with nothing booked, without problems for the most part (just make sure you find something a few hours before dark, the first night in the Adirondacks we were in the dark with no place to stay, the camp sites we found were fully booked! We got lucky as hell that someone overheard and let us share their campsite).
We started by crossing into New York and rode through the states there and back, which from what I hear is a hell of a lot more fun than staying on the North side of the border. The Adirondacks and Vermont were amazing, route 2 comes to mind. New Hampshire and the Kancamagus (sp?) highway was ****ing unreal, do not miss this road. Lobster rolls in Maine were amazing, but we did miss most of what we wanted to see in Maine because of the delay in Vermont.
Originally we planned for 8 days (3 there, 2 at the Cabot Trail and 3 back)... Ended up being 4 days there, rode the Cabot Trail in a day and hauled *** home over 3 days. I think we got lost and completely behind schedule in Vermont because the roads go all over the place - Definitely bring rain gear, it can be in pouring rain and you literally turn a corner in the mountains and all the roads will be dry, so it's not too bad but we did experience quite a bit of rain (this was September 2010).
I planned the entire trip by Googling "motorcycle roads Vermont" for example - I highlighted roads from each area (thanks CAA) and basically connected them to form a route. This took me months but ended up giving us a great route for most of the 8 days we spent on the road. Feel free to PM me, I can try and dig up the maps as I am sure I missed a lot of good information here. The Cabot Trail was definitely the highlight of the trip but it truly was a ride where the journey was just as much fun as the destination.
We started by crossing into New York and rode through the states there and back, which from what I hear is a hell of a lot more fun than staying on the North side of the border. The Adirondacks and Vermont were amazing, route 2 comes to mind. New Hampshire and the Kancamagus (sp?) highway was ****ing unreal, do not miss this road. Lobster rolls in Maine were amazing, but we did miss most of what we wanted to see in Maine because of the delay in Vermont.
Originally we planned for 8 days (3 there, 2 at the Cabot Trail and 3 back)... Ended up being 4 days there, rode the Cabot Trail in a day and hauled *** home over 3 days. I think we got lost and completely behind schedule in Vermont because the roads go all over the place - Definitely bring rain gear, it can be in pouring rain and you literally turn a corner in the mountains and all the roads will be dry, so it's not too bad but we did experience quite a bit of rain (this was September 2010).
I planned the entire trip by Googling "motorcycle roads Vermont" for example - I highlighted roads from each area (thanks CAA) and basically connected them to form a route. This took me months but ended up giving us a great route for most of the 8 days we spent on the road. Feel free to PM me, I can try and dig up the maps as I am sure I missed a lot of good information here. The Cabot Trail was definitely the highlight of the trip but it truly was a ride where the journey was just as much fun as the destination.
I wouldn't recommend staying at the Glenora unless you really want to be alone. The golf course in Inverness 2min away from there has lots of brand new rooms, is in town so you have restaurants/drinks/groceries that you can walk to, as well as being right on the ocean. There's nothing at the Glenora for supplies and no view.
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