Canadian Roads on top of Lake Huron

[snookers]

If you can afford the time and while traveling south along the eastern shore of Lake Huron, make a link to Hwy 3 on the north shore of Lake Erie and head east. When the weather co-operates this is a beautiful ride which takes in many small towns along the way. A bakery in Port Stanley comes to mind .....filling the air with the scents of freshly baked pies and butter tarts.....wish I could remeember the name, but its close to the water. Should you continue along Hwy 3 and want to indulge in something as simple as a foot long hotdog the Port Dover is your place to be. With the choice of two establishments that serve up this fine cuisine.....The Arbor....located on the corner of Hwy 6 and Hwy 6 ....(the main drag)....right in town near the harbour, or Willies.....my favorite, with outside seating as well, located down by the Harbour and across from the beach. They also serve fish and burgers. You can then travel along the lakeside roads and travel to Fort Erie and cross there to Daus Rally or continue along the Niagara river and view the Falls and still be within fifty miles of Daus Rally.




Should you head over to Sudbury along Hwy 17 Science North is a interesting visit or you may want to go underground and do Big Nickel Mine tour. An interesting tour which shows you what mining was like in the area years ago.

 

[TonysR100]

Getting back to the original question

I have two points:
Hwys 17 and 69 is not the best motorcycle route in North America but they do have some interesting stretches,
however,
they and Hwy 400 dump you off in Toronto, the third or fourth largest urban metropolis on the continent and notorious for its congested highways. Unless you can time your arrival in TO carefully, you are going to be fighting with literally millions of crappy drivers trying to get home.
If you have the time available, take 17, 69 and 400 to Horseshoe Valley Rd and head west towards the Huron coast, then south until you pick up Hwy 3 and take the back route to Fort Erie.
Or you could take 17 to Hwy 6, down through Manitoulin Island and take the ferry. You'll need to check the ferry schedule as it's about a six hour round trip IIRC. A much nicer trip.
Cheers,
Tony

 

[GeorgeR1200RT]

I have two points:
If you have the time available, take 17, 69 and 400 to Horseshoe Valley Rd and head west towards the Huron coast, then south until you pick up Hwy 3 and take the back route to Fort Erie.
Tony

Thanks for this alternate route to avoid traffic in the Toronto area. I have had experience with being stuck in Toronto traffic in high heat for hours. Timing is critical.

According to my GPS map, I would pick up Horseshoe Valley Road north of Barrie.

I definitely need something more local than a paper Provincial map.

 

[155388]

Rounding Lake Huron

Highways 17B (and there are lots of them) are the roads through towns, usually the original highway before the towns were bypassed. The bypass kept the original 17 designation.

Hwy 17, 69, 400 et al are generally boring roads. Might I suggest turning south onto Hwy 6 at McKerrow and going to Manitoulin Island. A swing-bridge gets you on the island at Little Current and the Chi Cheemaun Ferry gets you off at the south end you can continue on Hwy. 6 all the way to Lake Erie if you like or take Hwy 21 along the Huron shore (it's not really along the shore most of the way though).

Motorcycles get priority boarding on the ferry. You can pass the long lines and you're first on first off. Check ferry schedules, it's about a 2 hour journey if I recall, so at least 4 hours between sailings.

If you have time, Manitoulin is a very big island. Good roads, no one on them, lots of nice flat high speed curves. Some interesting things to see. It's worth a visit.

Have a good trip

 

[tweller]

Alternate route from Espanola accross Manitoulin Island

If you have the time, I might suggest going across to Manitoulin Island and tour around there then continue on to take the ferry across to Tobermory. You can then take some other back routes down to the border and cross to N.Y. I took the ride the other way to visit friends in Manatoulin and the cost for the ferry was about $55 for bike and two up. They do have ropes on board for tie down but if you bring along 1 strap of your own it would be best. As always, first on and first off. It is about a 2 1/2 hour ride and the food on board is not bad. Any further details for a nice windy trip, let me know as I live in Ontario and ride through central Ontario all the time.

 

[snookers]

Since the rally in Hamburg, NY is an easy days drive from my home in central Ohio, I plan to ride to Sault St. Marie through Michigan and across the top of Lake Huron as a nice trip to the rally.


Are there any campgrounds or motels along 17B?

East of Sault Ste Marie is the town of Blind River which offers a Tim Hortons for coffee and light lunchs, further to the east side of town is the Lakeview Inn which has both a motel and restaurant with good home style food. Further east along Hwy 17 but west of Espanola is Chutes Provincial park which offers camping if your so inclined. This could be a decent rest stop before a ferry crossing on the Chee Chemaun out of South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island. I agree with previous posts that this would be a pleasurable route to take. Routes which take you around Georgian Bay bring you close to Toronto and the 400 Hwy which can be very busy at times. Should you choose this route however, you will want to head west before reaching Barrie. There are some very nice backroads in this area.
Below is a pic of the motel in Blind River so you know what to look for should you visit .

 

[lee]

West of Sault Ste Marie is the town of Blind River

It's east of Sault Ste Marie
We pulled into the Blind River Tim Hortons parking lot this summer to stretch our legs.

 

[snookers]

It's east of Sault Ste Marie
We pulled into the Blind River Tim Hortons parking lot this summer to stretch our legs.

Thanks Lee, my bad....I've edited my post. I missed that error when reading over my post before submitting it.

 

[BC1100S]

Below is a pic of the motel in Blind River so you know what to look for should you visit .

Slight thread derail here....

The guy I rode to Billings with last year told me his secret to finding good, clean, economical accommodations on the road - if the motel has well-cared-for hanging flower baskets or flower beds, it very likely is a good place to stay. The thought being that the owner of the motel has enough pride that he/she takes care of the little things and is passionate about their business. I put it to the test and guess what, as a rule of thumb my buddy's guideline was pretty darned accurate. Using this "system" has weaned me off staying at the major chains, saving me money and generally resulting in a better overall experience.

The motel pictured above looks like it qualifies.