Gaspe trip

shanekingsley

shanekingsley

Curry - so nice it burns you twice
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I know there's a bunch of riders here that have been out this way.

This coming Labour Day weekend, I'm going to ride the Gaspe and north Shore of the St Lawrence (west of Baie Comeau) and then loop up to Chicoutimi and down through Mont Tremblant, before passing through Pembroke and heading home.

Any suggestions for camping spots in Chicoutimi, the Gaspe area (Perce)and someplace about an hour or two east of Quebec City? I hope it's not too cold.

I'm hoping to do this in 3 nights and 4 days - about 4000km.

My basic route so far is

Day 1: slabbing from Toronto to (east of) Quebec City
Day 2: Head to Perce
Day 3: Head to Matane to catch the 11am ferry to Baie Comeau and ride to Chicoutimi
Day 4: Head south(ish) passing through Mont Tremblant, Mont Laurier, Pembroke and home

Thoughts?
 
shanekingsley said:
I know there's a bunch of riders here that have been out this way.This coming Labour Day weekend, I'm going to ride the Gaspe and north Shore of the St Lawrence (west of Baie Comeau) and then loop up to Chicoutimi and down through Mont Tremblant, before passing through Pembroke and heading home.Any suggestions for camping spots in Chicoutimi, the Gaspe area (Perce)and someplace about an hour or two east of Quebec City? I hope it's not too cold.I'm hoping to do this in 3 nights and 4 days - about 4000km.My basic route so far isDay 1: slabbing from Toronto to (east of) Quebec CityDay 2: Head to PerceDay 3: Head to Matane to catch the 11am ferry to Baie Comeau and ride to ChicoutimiDay 4: Head south(ish) passing through Mont Tremblant, Mont Laurier, Pembroke and homeThoughts?
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Life really slows down a bit once East of Quebec City, you'll find yourself on Main street everywhere as you ride towards Baie Comeau, and the last stretch has wonderful hills and turns. There is camping past Baie Comeau, you should look around the Baie St. Paul area for a campground. We stealth camped in a construction lot for a cottage on our way out to do the Trans lab, this side of Baie St. Paul is cottage country and they've bulldozed many new lots. The hotels were "complet" and the campgrounds full for a local festival. One chalet hotel wanted 180 for a double room! Even if you decided to head on up to Manic Cinq and turn back there, you'd love the twists and turns of 389 Nord. I don't recall the Gaspe side in terms of camping, but it'd be a really long haul for the last day if you were up for it.
 
Cold? It was pretty much mesh jacket weather in July until we got north of Baie Comeau where it began to be more spring like weather. I'd pack a base layer and a sweater or heated jacket liner. Provided you stay dry, you'll be fine. Labrador was chilly, with seams of snow visible on the hillsides in mid July!
 
Thanks for the info Ronnie. I'm very tempted to ride up to Manic-Cinq as I've heard many great things about the road and I'm already right there. It would be nice to check out that dam up there too.

Another thought I was having was to just skip out on Gaspe and ride the north shore all the way to Natashquan - which is where I've read that around there the paved road ends along the north shore. Then on my way back I could run up to Manic-Cinq and pass through Chicoutimi and Mont Tremblant on my way back to Toronto. Whatever it is, I want to try and keep it under 5000km. My gear is waterproof and I have a heated jacket, gloves and socks so I should be good for that.

Overnight temps should be fine for camping too.

On the north shore, what is the speed limit and how fast is it safe to move up there. Lot's of moose and deer up there?
 
I was there a few weeks ago (Ste-Anne-Des-Monts). We trailered the bike from Mississauga (about 1400 kms)
It's a huge place and be ready for a long riding day from Quebec to Perce.
Even though we were technically in Gaspesie, Perce was still avout 275 kms from Ste-Anne and it's not like you can plan a round trip with different roads as there aren't many to pick!
As for the weather, I saw as low as 14c when we were there with the highest reaching 24.
It is however a spectacular place to visit.
 
Even though I was on a Ural, Hwy 132 was pretty fast. I did 132 from the New Brunswick border, counter-clockwise, all the way around to Quebec city.
You just have to slow down in the villages. Like Ron said, 132 is the main street of most of the cities, towns and hamlets on Gaspe. But what surprised me was the decided lack of stop signs and traffic lights on 132, unless you were in one of the much larger towns/cities.
 
Since I originally read this thread, I've been thinking about going around Gaspe again (on a 2 wheeled bike this time).
My plan would be to take 401, to Hwy 20 (past Quebec), take 132 along the south shore, go all the way around the peninsula, through Gaspe, Perce, Newport, Nouvelle. And then take 132 north through the interior, turn off on 195 north to Matane. Then grab the ferry to Baie Comeau. And come home via the north shore.

Actually, scratch that. I'd do it the reverse direction so that I always had the water on my side of the road.
 
RichinOville said:
Actually, scratch that. I'd do it the reverse direction so that I always had the water on my side of the road.
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If I do the Gaspe, I think I would do it counterclockwise too so the water is on my right. However, I would probably enter the US at Gananoque and pass through New York, Vermont and Maine before coming up the Gaspe. I am thinking I can have 5-6 days of riding max.

I'm just totally torn between doing Gaspe, the north shore of the St Lawrence out to Manic Cinq/Natashquan or now starting to think about the north shore of Lake Superior (Thunder Bay and back).
 
I've mapped out the route and have checked the ferry schedule. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of doing this trip. :D
 
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