chrisch

In the next few years I'd like to cycle across Canada. I've done a number of shorter tours in Europe, and have learned a little about myself and what I like and don't like on tour. I enjoy most aspects of touring, but really dislike cycling along roads with heavy traffic, especially when it's one without a bike lane or shoulder. My question for the community is, how good or bad is it to ride along the Trans-Canada Highway, and how often are there no alternative routes than the Highway?

raybo

Try these links at www.biketouringtips.com. They point to two previous bikeforum discussions that might be useful to you. Here is a much larger list of Canadian bike touring links.

I hope these help.

If you find other resources that are useful, please add them to the archive.

Ray

Machka 

The TransCanada isn't that bad, but I'd recommend alternate routes simply because the alternate routes are generally more scenic, especially through the prairies. There are a few places where the TransCanada would be the most convenient route, but most of the time there are alternate routes available ... at least there are between Vancouver and Winnipeg.

Have you been outside of Europe? If not, I'll mention something else ... Canada is BIG!! France about is the size of one of our smaller provinces, and we've got ten provinces. If you plan to do this, make sure you give yourself enough time.

ricohman

I live in the prairies.
About 500m from the Trans Canada Highway.
Its nearly all double lane from Winnipeg to Calgary now and in VG condition.
In Saskatchewan you will be riding this highway as there really is little else in very good condition. However if you wanted to tour a bit south and see the grasslands parks and buffalo jumps the roads are in good shape there as well.
I get to talk to a lot of europeans on bike tours as I live near to a campground about 10k outside of Regina.
The only negative comment I have heard on a regular basis in the never ending prairie winds which are either in your face or on your back.
I've ridden the trans Canada to Banff a few times now. Its the fastest way but the traffic gets heavy as you near Calgary.

NoReg

By all accounts the HWY through northern ontario is pretty brutal, narrow heavy trucks, and no shoulder in many areas. I haven't done it in part because of those reports, maybe someone who has will chime in. Since Northern Ontario is beautiful it would be pretty horrible to go through there and not enjoy it. A much more memorable trip would be a similar amount of time in a Canoe. There are several major routes that do not require white water skill, though in some regards more people are probably at risk on big lakes...

I'd say Cycle Van to Banff, do a big canoe trip, cycle from Ottawa as far east as you want to go. Not to say the prairies aren't beautiful, they are marvelous, but that is how it shakes out on a time well spent basis. I'd rather be in Northerm Manitoba than in the south on a Hwy.

Machka 

There are lots of really pretty areas in Manitoba. If I were to recommend a route through Manitoba, I'd suggest heading up into Riding Mountain, then sort of angling down from there to Winnipeg. From Winnipeg to Dryden is all nice, rocky terrain with forests and lakes.

pathebikeguy

I think there is a southern route throught the USA to avoid the brutal north of Superior stretch of the Trans Canada.

roosmachine

I gathered a bunch of links to journals of cyclists crossing Canada by bike, it can be viewed at https://xcanada.roosmachine.com . I'll admit I haven't updated it since 2006, but not too much has changed since then.

A couple of people mentioned skipping the northern route above Lake Superior. Don't miss this section, its one of the most beautiful sections of the trip. I did not find the traffic that bad in 2005, but people's opinions are hit and miss about the section. I think part of it comes down to the fact that is a tough section, rather hilly, you can do more meters of climbing in a day in Northern Ontario, than you can do in the mountains of BC. The hills are 2-4kms in length and a few hundred meters in climbing. The grades are not that high, but there can be several climbs per day. The section is one lane in each direction, with climbing lanes for the hills, I found the trucks to be polite, and most professional truck drivers know there are lots of cyclists out on that stretch in the summer. There are towns every 40-60kms, with a long stretch through the amazing Lake Superior Provincial Park that is 100kms with no services, you wont notice that with the scenery blowing you away.

Like others say, The Trans Canada can be busy and touristy, but there are always alternative routes to take except in Northern Ontario. In all other places its pretty easy to get off the beaten path. The Crowsnest Highway thought BC and into Alberta, the Red Coat Trail through the Prairies, Hwy 11 from Kenora to Thunderbay, Southern Ontario has lots of roads to choose from, Quebec and the Maritimes

Sebach

I'll give some comments llater (I'm on my way out the door right now) but here's some pictures from my cross-Canada trip last year. https://www.pbase.com/sebastian82/on_the_road/

The Trans-Canada isn't too bad for most of Canada but at some points it gets really nasty. NW Ontario is bad for roads, hills and services but it is beautiful and scenic like a madman. I'll elaborate more later.

Machka 

I've driven that route and it is beautiful!! I'd actually really like to cycle it. It was August and there was hardly any traffic, but there appeared to be regular services, campgrounds, and beautiful scenery. It's very peaceful and quiet.

jamawani 

There are two major trans-Canadian highways west of Winnipeg:
The Trans Canada (Hwy 1) and the Yellowhead (Hwy 16)
The Yellowhead ends in Prince Rupert, not Vancouver, but
a) You can take the ferry from Prince Rupert to Vancouver Island
or b) You can take a cut-off along the Thompson River at Tete Jaune Cache

In between the two highways are lots of nice provincial highways.
I had a wonderful ride once from central Saskatchewan across Alberta on these.
Plenty of small parks for camping, nice little towns.
One possibility is to hit Riding Mtn N.P like Machka says -
Then stay either just north or just south of the Yellowhead to Saskatoon.
There are good roads over to Red Deer and Rocky Mtn House
Then you can hit the Icefields Parkway at Saskatchewan River Crossing.

If you want to do the entire route from Banff to Jasper -
You might consider riding from Saskatoon to Drumheller,
Then cutting north of Calgary to Cochrane and Canmore.

If you decide to ride the Yellowhead out to Prince Rupert -
Remember that there are long stretches with no services - 150 km.
It's very remote, but very beautiful.
Plus you can end/begin your trip in the Queen Charlotte Islands!!

(I love Vancouver, but I'd rather bike into/out of Prince Rupert.)

I found the Trans Canada to be too busy for my tastes -
Even the Yellowhead in Alberta was busy.

Sebach

Across Canada, I'd say that the Trans-Canada really isn't too bad from the parts of it I've cycled (semi-depressingly, most of it). It has its rough parts though.

Assuming you left from Vancouver, headed East, the Trans-Canada is already out of the question as it is designated as a Restricted Access highway. That's alright, there are lots of other ways to go like highway 7 East toward Hope, B.C.. Out in this area, people don't really refer to the highways often by their highway numbers but rather by their names: Trans-Canada (1), Crow's Nest (3) and the Coquihalla (5). Those are really your three main choices in B.C. coming from Vancouver and while all will be scenic in their own way, all will have traffic.

The Coquihalla (5) I'm told has lots of climbing early on but then gets easier from what I hear. You can take it as far as Kamloops and then change to the Trans-Canada if you want or you can stick on it and it'll take you all the way NE to Jasper (both in B.C.). The Crow's Nest (3) sticks closer to the American border further South... it has lots of climbs from what I hear and it doesn't directly drop you off at a 'major' city when you come out of the mountains like the 5 or 1 would. The Trans-Canada (1) is pretty 'middle-road' climbing wise, and shoulder wise, for going through the mountains as it generally goes NE towards Calgary, AB. This is the way I went. It had a decent amount of traffic but less than I expected (tourist season hadn't yet started when I departed Vancouver on May 18).

Here's a shot maybe a kilometer past Hope B.C. (about 150km E of Vancouver), looking back. That's about as narrow as the Trans-Canada ever gets in the B.C. mountains and it's not as nasty as it seems because it tends to be narrowest during climbs when nothing is going terribly fast up the 'slow' lane anyway and everyone sees you far enough off, assuming it isn't cloudy/foggy at your elevation. There are a number of tunnels that you have to go through if you take the Trans-Canada into the mountains but there is a usually sidewalk for cyclists and pedestrians. Where there isn't, there is a warning light you activate to notify cars and the tunnels are short enough to burn through before anything else enters it anyway (you can hear them coming pretty well way before they enter the tunnel too; just gotta wait for the timing to be right). There are also avalanche sheds (like this) but these are not too big a problem, especially after Rogers Pass because you can just go through them at 80kph like the cars if you want, thanks to the 8% downgrade for like 12km. You climb through a few but you can often go around them if there's not too much snow.

I'd say the nastiest part of the Trans-Canada in B.C. East of Vancouver is probably the part just after Golden, B.C. because that is a long, steep climbing area through twisty mountain roads and you're forced onto the road by guardrails and the like. But after that, you're into Alberta and things start to open up, shoulder-wise (Alberta is doing alright financially these days).

I came out of the mountains via the Trans-Canada near Calgary but then turned off the Trans-Canada and did a detour North to Edmonton... that part was done 90% on minor roads and whatnot where I saw maybe 10 cars in an hour. For much of Alberta, I was up along the Yellowhead Highway (16) which is, for the most part, pretty nice for shoulders and smoothness in Alberta portion. It did get a bit busy but the road's condition made that more tolerable. But once you get to Saskatchewan on the Yellowhead, it gets rougher pretty quick... but it's not all bad.

In Saskatchewan along the Yellowhead, it wasn't too bad. The shoulders pretty much disappeared at times but it all in all, I don't remember this part being too taxing from lack of shoulders or traffic. Sure there's a fair amount of traffic and the shoulders near disappear at times but it wasn't in a nasty situation (like close-passing traffic, or no shoulders through blind curves or anything). I rode that all the way through Saskatchewan to Regina where I switched back to the Trans-Canada.

Much of the Trans-Canada in the stretch between Regina, Saskatchewan and Brandon, Manitoba was heavy with traffic but it was also pretty flat which meant that cars gave me lots of space and could see me coming from far off. At times, the shoulders were very generous for long stretches. However, the road between Brandon and Winnipeg was downright nasty at times for good stretches and the traffic was insanely heavy. Still, most cars saw me a good ways off and merged into the fast lane, giving me lots of space, but there was the occasional jackass who thought that passing within a 2 feet of me at 100kph was fine. I met a few other tourers later in Canada who attempted to enter Winnipeg from the North but was told that they basically had the same experience. Next time, I'll consult a local cyclist first to give me tips about road conditions.

After that, the Trans-Canada (Highway 17 now) is really your only option for continuing Eastward until just after Kenora, Ontario when you hit something of a fork in the road. You can continue on the Trans-Canada or take a detour South (highway 71 to the 11), going near the American border. I personally took the detour simply because I met someone who was headed that way and it's not that much longer than the Trans-Canada route.

The 71 to the 11 (Southern detour towards Fort Francis, Ontario) route varies in terms of its terrain, shoulders and services. At times, there are decent shoulders, then they'll disappear nearly completely. Sometimes it'll be somewhat hilly but not too bad yet and sometimes you don't notice the small inclines/declines. It is relatively scenic but it is not quite yet 'take-your-breath-away' beautiful. There are lots of little lakes through here and it is a very fishing-friendly area. However, up to this point, even in the mountains, there were pretty regularly spaced points where I could stock up. Not so all the time in North Western Ontario, starting from Kenora and going Eastward. Next time I cycle this part of Canada, I'm carrying more food and water with me.

The good news is that traffic was relatively light considering the 71 to the 11 detour was one of the only two options for crossing the whole country. I noticed the additional flow of traffic almost immediately once the 11 (detour route) and the 17 (Trans-Canada) joined up outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario. This lead me to believe that the Trans-Canada must be getting more traffic than the detour route though this section. Talking to a group of tourers I accidentally ran-into in Thunder Bay (I met them way back in Alberta a few weeks earlier), this sounded to be true.

If you want to continue East after Thunder Bay, then the Trans-Canada (17) is your only option. And that stretch out of Thunder Bay is terrible. It's branded as the Courage Highway for a bit in honour of a Canadian hero, Terry Fox. Me and another tourer I met joked that they called it that because this section of highway requires a bit of courage to ride through. There are virtually no shoulders at points as they are all disintegrating into the ditch as cars/trucks drift over the right-side lines and break off small chunks of pavement at a time. It got so bad at some points that paint marking the right side of the lane had to be repainted inwards (effectively making the lane smaller) because the old section that used to be painted had fallen off the road, piece by piece. The traffic when I went through here was disgustingly heavy and I noticed every single transport truck (lorrie) that went through here. Me and the rider who I partnered up with for this section started taking turns in the rear to call out 'incoming' for RV's, logging trucks and other 18-wheeled vehicles. The guy on his Trek 520 nearly crashed out because his 700c wheels got caught into one of those rubber-stripping grooves which run parallel to our direction of travel because the shoulders (what few inches there are) are in the process of being broken off. I completely forgot to take pictures during this stretch. This was probably the most mentally stressful stretch I endured across Canada. Everything (road and traffic) seemed to improve after Nipigon, Ontario I believe.

chrisch

Thank you all for your responses. I'll definitely check out the links and see what I can learn from them.

The area around Lake Superior had caught my attention before posting this topic, and perhaps going south around the lake isn't such a bad idea. I'm not too concerned about hills and wind; those things annoy me, but heavy trucks scare me.

Machka: I'm actually from Canada so I have some idea of its size. Or maybe not. There are parts of Canada I've never seen before, and think a bike tour would be a good start to changing that.

Sebach: Awesome post! Thank you! Perhaps I've spoiled myself with my previous tours. This year I rode 1000km along the Danube River to Vienna, and it was all along dedicated bike paths and low traffic side roads. How peaceful is that? I also do some photography and must compliment on your photographic eye. Well done!