Trans Canada Highway

Keep away from Toronto at rush hour!

Yep, Toronto 8 lanes each direction with feeders and that was 15 years ago, when I worked there 4-6 weeks per year. Rush hour started at 5AM to 10AM then again 2:30PM to 9:00PM (on Fridays), in between those times it was like Chicago on a normal evening rush hour. On second thought I like your idea go to Ottawa and take PH17 NW, anything is better than the lower route.

Kyedog wrote:
We are planing on traveling east west this summer through Canada. We are early in our plan and I was hoping for some direction from experienced Canada travelers. We are going into Canada from upstate NY across Ontario and maybe back to USA through Minnesota or North Dakota.

We do it this way (many times) cross at Buffalo direct to Port Huron. Flint, and Mackinaw, Hyw 2 --> to ?

Well the Trans Canada is probably the best way to get from one end of the country to the other, very flat across the Prairies, hilly in Northern Ontario mostly 2 lane and some roadworks, but its a beautiful drive up around the northern Great Lakes although you might have to get off it to see the better sights . Most of the Provincial Parks are a way's off of the Trans Canada more so in Ontario. Price of fuel gets high in the more remote areas where you don't have choice of stations. Its not like the U.S interstates with the big truck stops every few miles. The Northern way via Ottawa is mostly trees and lakes and Canadian shield If you go that way Algonquin Provincial Park is one of the best in the Ontario Parks system. Then up past North Bay up to new Liskeard & Hailybury there are some nice smaller Provincial Parks up that way right on the road like Marten River P.P and Finlayson Point P.P but the sites can be small. Then it goes on up to the true North then East. If you go the southern route it takes you through Peterborough and several smaller towns Hwy 7 is much improved now, then it connects to Hwy 69 & up to 17 and takes you up past the Great lakes. Killbear and Killarney are both great parks along the way as well although Killarney is well off the beaten track. Cottage country in Ontario is beautiful & loads of lakes. The Kawarthas The Muskokas, Halliburton & Bracebridge are part of it. The Park system gets very busy in the summer and you may not get in on a weekend unless you book well ahead but during the week they are usually not busy. The Northern parks aren't as busy until peak season and long weekends. Its worth the trip but Ontario is a huge Province so allow plenty of time to get through it
But unless you have a real need to go to Toronto I wouldn't detour there, the traffic on the 401 & going through the 6 is unbelievable at rush hour with major roadworks in the East end.

It would be a lot less expensive fuel wise to stay on the American side..Just sayin.

B.O.

B.O. Plenty wrote:
It would be a lot less expensive fuel wise to stay on the American side..Just sayin.

B.O.

Wheres the adventure in that though?!

B.O. Plenty wrote:
It would be a lot less expensive fuel wise to stay on the American side..Just sayin.

B.O.

With your strong American dollar there would not be a lot of difference in fuel costs when travelling through Canada.

Thanks for the feed back. I know the exchange rate is heavily weighted to the USA advantage. That should even out the fuel comparison. I will make it a point to stay away from Toronto

Yes, the exchange rate makes it a nice time to visit Ontario, and most of your trip will be in Ontario if you drop back down in Minnesota.

There are lots of Provincial Parks along your route in Ontario, most do not have drinking water at the site, so remember to fill up at the Park's central water faucet before set up. Some more remote Northern Parks don't have electricity either.

Oh, and watch your gas gauge in the North if you have a small tank.

As mentioned, and no different than in the States, the summer weekends, especially the long weekends, can be very difficult to get in; so consider reserving or arriving early.

Algonquin is nice, but busy. Killarney, Killbear, Lake Superior and Quetico P.P.s are also nice. There are many others. Bring your canoe or kayaks if you can. There is one National Park that we really like: Pukaskwa on Lake Superior, but most of their sites are smaller.

If you DO want to visit Toronto there are a couple of Toronto Region Conservation Area campgrounds close by, and you can avoid most of the traffic by going around on the 407 toll way (you might get a big bill in the mail though ...). But we just plan our trips there/back when the traffic is light and avoid the tolls.

And remember to have all the proper I.D. when crossing the borders.

For a pretty and more interesting drive through Northern Ontario, take the North of Superior Route rather than Hwy. 11 where you mostly just see trees and more trees. I would also suggest a stay at Whiteshell P.P. on the Ontario Manitoba border.