Anyone ride the Ontario Highlands? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Anyone ride the Ontario Highlands?

Baggsy

Baggsy

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The maps are good to use as guidelines for your own trips.Ontario has so much to offer away from the gta.
 
yup...back in 2014 hubby and I did a week long trip on the bikes...awesome roads...we went back a couple more times and hope to get there this summer as well...
 
yup....have done most of those roads in the region
lots to see.....camping is abundant
but if you need a bed, best book well ahead during the nice weather
 
Side trips. The Deifenbunker outside of Ottawa.You don't have to be a Baby Boomer to like it. Screaming Heads outside of Burk's Falls!!!! A must see as long as you can pick a day where the blackflies and skeeters aren't too bad.
 
Ah, good memories. I took my nighthawk through the logging roads north of elephant lake road. Got stuck axle deep in mud and had to pull it out with a rope. Good exercise. The paved roads are nice, but I would avoid adventure biking on street tires.
 
Yep, ridden quite a few of those roads over the years.

And big x2 on the Diefenbunker. Been there twice, cool both times...would go again.
 
If you do take a trip to the Diefenbunker, try a meal at the Swan at Carp, or ice cream at the Carp Custom Creamery. :D
 
Black flies are just out now, pack a hood net just incase you need to stop for the next 3 or 4 weeks :| or keep moving.
 
Screaming Heads with Deifenbunker souvenir t shirt.
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I’m out on these roads most weeks. They are very entertaining. When I want something different there’s a near infinite number (well it seems that way) of gravel trails, skidoo trails and off road stuff to explore too. Midweek you get the roads to yourself a lot of the time. I do the Dynamite Alley route, and variations of it from Kingston quite a bit as a day trip as I like riding through Algonquin and the western side of the park is really nice. I’ll stop and camp occasionally too. North of highway 7 there’s some history of gold prospecting (El Dorado, Del Oro) so I still have the idea of getting a pan and panning for gold somewhere on a ride. I have zero expectations of getting anything but I thought it would be fun. Just need to find the legal ins and outs of where you can do this.

Edit: for anyone planning to go, “highlands” is a bit of a misnomer. This is Ontario still. Calabogie is still just a hill. There’s elevation change for sure but you’re not going to get any nose bleeds. The lookout in Gatineau park is a great riding destination but that’s in Quebec, but is pretty high up for a great view of the Ottawa valley. It’s also not a huge detour from a few of the routes in the guide.
 
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Before I forget, north of 7 near Maberly I think, there’s a maple shack called Wheelers, that’s open year round that has a great cafe in it with high ceilings in a large log cabin. It’s a great place to start some of these rides from or as a destination in its own right. You can get an awesome breakfast in there.

Edit: if you come from the western side you’ll have to deal with some off-road trails, mostly gravel but some dirt, from the east it’s mostly paved.
 
Everything is on google maps, they even show a mile of road across my property that does not even exist :|
 
Onagoth said:
Do these exist in google maps at all?
Click to expand...

Do you mean the routes ready laid out in Google maps? I’m sure they are somewhere. I don’t think the ride the highlands site has the gpx coordinates though which would be handy.
 
Onagoth said:
Do these exist in google maps at all?
Click to expand...


sure, all of the roads featured on RTH are public highways
what it is, is a marketing effort focused for motorcyclists

the routes are suggested by the editors and other contributors
and the enterprise is funded by small business operators along the routes in the hospitality business
own a motel and want on the map? cut a cheque

not saying that's bad thing, it's much more common in the US
if you stop at a state's welcome center there is a buttload of this type of marketing

for those of you never out of the GTA - heaven forbid - north of HWY 7
this is a good way to figure out some routes
 
Looks like decent weather tomorrow so I’m off to Wheelers for some maple syrup induced diabetes followed by some fun in the boonies.
 
So...509, 506, Buckshot Lake Rd. Oompah, Plevna, Venechar all in pretty good condition. Some sand on the edges but good surfaces mostly. Had a great late lunch at Wheelers with maple sausage and pancakes and as much maple syrup as I could handle plus a bottomless cup of good coffee. Some zipping around the unpaved roads and a lot of fun. I had these roads mostly to myself. The only hazards were suicidal wild turkeys and a beaver.
 
If you run over the Beaver you probably won't even feel it.
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