Ajenkins

Looking to do a nice 300-mile tour, I came across the "Great Lakes Seaway Trail," which -- at least 10 years ago -- was being touted as a nice, back roads bike ride. But except for a wikipedia entry and some NYS government web sites, I can't find anything about it, at least from a cycletouring standpoint. The "official" website, www.seawaytrail.com is up for sale by Godaddy. A search on this website only turned up a single 12-year-old request for info.

Can anyone suggest where I might find current info on cycling along this route?

Thulsadoom

I live on it, in the town of Cape Vincent. What sort of information are you looking for? You could check Crazyguyonabike and check out some of the journals from people who have cycled through there. Or https://www.bikethebyways.org/great-lakes-seaway-trail/

Russ Roth

It ran right near my door off Lake Ontario, I was in a 5 way intersection with a curve that allowed you to bypass the intersection and it ran through the curve. Should have used my road which is the quickest route from Oswego to Fair Haven, and all the bike tourists tended to ride it anyways, but it was deemed too hilly for the trail to follow. I know there are signs though not well spaced in my experience, I once rode it from my house to the 1000 islands, but I only knew how to go based on having lived in the region. Its a cool concept but poorly executed in my opinion. Bad signage, all on-road with plenty of old neglected pavement, lots of bad shoulders, and not a lot of places to stop along the way once you get north of Mexico. Despite having lived in the area two times totaling 15 years, I also have no clue where it ran once you got west of where I lived. Maps are always sparse and most people dropped south to the Erie Canal it seemed. From Oswego to the 1000 islands is beautiful and totally worth the ride.

Thulsadoom

If I had to sum up the Seaway Trail ride in a few sentences I would put it like this:

You will go through some of the most beautiful areas in the world, particularly the Thousand Islands region, but the ride itself will not be especially spectacular. You will see occasional snatches of the lake and rivers but for the most part, the water views will be obscured by trees. If you really want to see the areas that you are passing through you have to be willing to get off the main Trail and explore. There are some amazing waterfront rides and you will pass through some really neat little towns with a lot of character but again, if you really want to see them you have to ride a few more miles and not be locked into a mileage schedule. The roads you will ride are fine for cycling but the Trail itself wasn't necessarily conceived with cycling in mind. The "Seaway Trail" is really just a chain of secondary highways that are close to a bunch of different seaways.

Doug64

Check out the "Ontario by Bike" site. We rode on it quite a bit on a tour around Southern Ontario. It was a good ride.

Hammocker

I rode the section from Oswego east then north years ago. I loved the salmon cookouts you find set up in season. The guys running the cookouts couldn’t believe how far we were cycling. We stopped at a park to go swimming- they let us in for free because we bicycled there.

I ran out of patches from 3 flats so took some clothes off and stuffed my tire.

Doug64

Sometimes you can get as close to the Lakes as you want

Sarnia, Lake Huron


P.S. Sorry folks, I got the Great Lakes Seaway Trail mixed up with Canada's Waterfront Trail. In normal times it would be a good option for some nice loops.

hgf

I'm too new to post links, but the Great Lakes Seaway Trail is mentioned in the Lake Erie Circle Tour at GreatLakesCircleTour dot org.