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Short tours out of Toronto

Old 04-21-11, 09:12 AM
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Short tours out of Toronto

I'm looking for some good ideas for short tours that start and end in Toronto. (two or three nights long).

Last summer I biked up to Caledon for a wedding, and back the next day. (about 70km from my house). It was wonderful to when I finally left the suburbs and find myself in those beautiful rolling hills. Now I'm living near the Don Valley- I wonder if that would be a good exit point for a tour? I'll have to see how far north you can make it
Anyway, I love this city but a person has to get out once in a while! I've done longer tours to travel from point A to point B before, but this summer I'm just looking to get out of town and have an adventure for the weekend.


I'd appreciate hearing about your ideas and experiences.
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Old 04-21-11, 10:37 AM
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There are a lot of nice trips heading east and west of the city on the Waterfront Trail.

You can take the Trail all the way to the Québec border (and beyond) by heading east, but you may want to take the Go train to Rouge River or Oshawa, just to jump start the adventure. You can easily get to Coburg or Port Hope in two days, and to Prince Edward County in three. (The County is my favourite place to cycle these days; I have returned perhaps 20 times, and never tire of it.) The Waterfront Trail east of Toronto is very nice: quiet country roads that hug the lake, dedicated bicycle paths through wilderness areas, etc.

Heading west along the Waterfront Trail will take you all the way to Niagara Falls. It takes about a day to get to Stoney Creek, which is not as attractive as the name sounds! I don't know about camping, but when I did this trip, I stayed in a relatively inexpensive hotel. On the second day, you can easily get as far as Niagara Falls, or even more attractive, Niagara-on-the-Lake. There is a train that runs between Toronto and Niagara Falls that accommodates bicycles, which would make it easy to get back home. Check before you go. I believe that reservations are needed, and the train does not run every day.

It is possible to get from Toronto to Niagara Falls in one day – I know people who have done it – but it is a slog. The countryside is beautiful, especially if you get off the Waterfront Trail on the south shore of Lake Ontario, and ride along the escarpment. It is a stiff climb to the top, but worth the effort for the scenery.
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Old 04-21-11, 11:18 AM
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The train! that is a good idea.

I did ride the waterfront train down from Quebec a couple of years ago. But nearing Toronto I took highway 2 through Ajax/Pickering etc...it was fairly ugly.

There is a lot of beauty around this city...but if you're not careful you can also get stuck in 70 kms of suburbs and mini-malls.
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Old 04-21-11, 11:57 AM
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2 day trip
- Go train to Barrie; then an out and back ride to Meaford.

3 day camping trip
- Go train to Burlington; through Hamilton along the rail trail to Pinehurst lake; up through Cambridge to Guelph lake; back to Burlington Go.

Many possibilities
https://www.randonneursontario.ca/routes/torroutes.html
These routes try to stay clear of excessive city.
Again, the Go is your friend.
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Old 04-21-11, 02:21 PM
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But nearing Toronto I took highway 2 through Ajax/Pickering etc...it was fairly ugly.
Between Scarborough and Kingston, I would say that 95% of the Waterfront Trail is on quiet roads. Two years ago, I noticed that most of the Hwy 2 segments had wide bicycle lanes. So lots of traffic, but easy to deal with.

It's not pretty the entire way, but for the most part, it's an excellent route. There are even segments on the 401 Service Road, which is the very definition of ugliness. But traffic on the Service Road has been light every time I have found been on it, and I don't remember ever staying on the road for more than half and hour before the Trail took a scenic turn.
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Old 04-23-11, 07:45 PM
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Take the GO train to Hamilton, bike the rail trail up the Grand River to Brantford / Paris.

Take the GO train to Oshawa (or further with GO Buses), head to Prince Edward County / Sandbanks?
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Old 04-23-11, 08:28 PM
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I think the waterfront trail is complete all the way from scarb border to Oshawa now, except for a fe hundred yards at lynd marsh, that is relatively picturesque. That is really a fairly blighted part of the world, including one of the most poluted sites in all of Ontario. All the more remarkable for how nice the trail makes it seem. But the trail also triples the length in some areas, so one might feel like taking the straighter roads at some point. I would recomend Bailey which is south of 401, not Hwy 2.
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Old 04-24-11, 09:16 AM
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I like the rolling hills south of Milton along the escarpment. There are some small conservation areas too and farther west toward Cambridge is nice riding on fairly quiet country roads, typical rolling hills, nothing terrible except for a few good climbs around the escarpment, but otherwise mostly quiet country. It'd likely be a 100km+ day depending where you start in Toronto and finish in Cambridge. Day 2 could be made following the Grand River up to Elora and Fergus there is a trail that runs part of the riverside through the city and the roads along the river are all very nice for cycling.
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Old 04-24-11, 02:08 PM
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Ditto for the roads around Milton. I did this 25 km route last autumn in about 2.5 hours. Very hilly in parts! The route is easily expanded.

https://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?hl=en&...f959e9234c6e5e
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Old 04-25-11, 12:30 AM
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My favorite short tours in southern ontario are snowmobile trails in the Kawarthas. Haven't done them in a while though. I would like to do some of the canal routes, but I don't really know a lot about any of them individually. I wouldn't say those are near enough to TO though.
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Old 04-25-11, 02:36 AM
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I've toured around the Kawartha Lakes area and can recommend it. Take public transportation to Peterborough and then ride back to Toronto via Bobcaygeon, Fenelon Falls, and Port Perry. It's a great ride. There's a trail connecting Fenelon Falls and Lindsay, great for stealth camping.

You might also consider Loyalist Parkway in Prince Edward County. It's possible to ride from Kingston to Toronto in two days via the Waterfront Trail. Take the ferry at Glenora. Avoid the Murray Canal service road.

The west side of Lake Simcoe is great, but Highway 12 east of the Lake is highly dangerous. A few months after I did a loop Lake Simcoe ride out of Toronto, a cyclist was killed on that road. I recommend a parallel road.
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Old 04-25-11, 06:33 AM
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It's possible to ride from Kingston to Toronto in two days via the Waterfront Trail.
It's possible, but it means two extremely long days. The distance is about 280 km.

You might also consider Loyalist Parkway in Prince Edward County.
The Loyalist Parkway is great for cycling. There are wide cycle lanes almost everywhere. But the Parkway gets a lot of traffic. The charm of the place for cyclists is the hundreds of side-roads and country lanes that crisscross the County. For example, you can cover huge distances east-west along Gilead, Danforth, and Swamp College. You will see more cows than cars.
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Old 04-29-11, 07:23 AM
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Thanks for all the good ideas. Time to plan!
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Old 04-29-11, 11:46 AM
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Originally Posted by antonyfhilliard
Take the GO train to Hamilton, bike the rail trail up the Grand River to Brantford / Paris.
Great ride. If you continue from Paris to Cambridge, there's a municipal campground at the trail head (Churchill Park). Honour box for camp fees, and showers/washrooms open during the day.

Originally Posted by antonyfhilliard
Take the GO train to Oshawa (or further with GO Buses), head to Prince Edward County / Sandbanks?
Sandbanks gets full as soon as the weather is nice. You might want to reach out to the folks at the Bloomfield Bicycle Company. While I've never stayed with them, KT and Rick seem pretty accommodating for touring cyclists on their way through. They're listed on Warm Showers.
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Old 04-30-11, 01:43 PM
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I've actually done some nice bike tours in and around Toronto. In July 2008 I cycled Toronto to Niagar Falls return, on a Trek 7400FX hybrid, in one trip. I used the Lakeshore Blvd from Toronto. In Burlington I took the North Service Rd. It was a daunting task, and took about 19hrs. I left my home in the Beaches area of Toronto at 7am on a Thurs and returned the next day (Fri) at 2am. I then cycled to work that morning at 8:00am (yes I cycled to work in the morning too). It was a nice trip, but the last 2 hours I was caught in a heavy rain fall. I liked the ride so much I did it again the next summer.

I've also cycled Toronto to Oshawa return, along Kingston Rd. It took about 5 hours.

I've also cycled Toronto to Lake Simcoe return, which took about 9 hrs (includes cycling in and around parts of Lake Simcoe). I used Warden Ave all the way.

All 3 trips involved great nature scenery, once out of the city.
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Old 05-01-11, 04:13 AM
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Were you doing the TBN Toronto-Niagara-Toronto hairshirt ride? I've been wanting to do that for a while.
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Old 05-02-11, 01:30 PM
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Nope, I didn't do the TBN Toronto-Niagara-Toronto hairshirt ride. I have heard of this ride, and I have seen stats where some people have done this ride in 12 or 14 hrs. You need a good bike to be able to do that ride in that type of time. I was using a hybrid bike with 700 x 35 tires. Plus, I took my panniers with some food and a change of clothes for bad weather (I was expecting rain). The panniers obviously added weight. I also stopped every once in a while to rest, view the scenery, and tour some off roads. Plus, once in Niagara Falls I rested for about an hour before heading back to Toronto.
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