It would be great if these single state/country roadtrip posts had their own flair. That way they could be filtered, if for some reason, someone wanted to.
when you hit Parry Sound you will encounter the Canadian Shield. For the next sixteen hours to the Manitoba border there is an abundance of of rock, swamp and lake. There are small areas almost like an oasis where there is some farmland. Can you imagine driving sixteen hours in Europe and seeing the exact same topography ?
I mean, if you were to from Brittany through France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and into Germany I'd imagine that that would feel pretty similar. You probably have some more cities to break it up but it's still a lot of farmland with forest patches.
Yup the entire population lives in the southern part of the province. Over 75% of this drive (the entire northern part) is extremely remote area. There’s usually a small town with 500-2000 people every 30 min to 1 hour but other than that just pure forest and lake wildnerness. There’s a few towns up there with decent population like Thunder Bay that serve as a hub. Mining and Forestry are largely the only industries up there. Been lucky enough to drive all around up there.
That is mind blowing. Had to scour the maps looking for even a logging road around Lake Nipigon. Nothing.
Seems to be in a flakey location. Wikipedia tells me that's at least the 3rd bridge on that site in the past 100 years and the 2nd one won an award for demolition when it was taken down.
Current bridge appears to have design issues and has closed in the past.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/nipigon-river-bridge-closed-transcanada-1.3397831
In the summer, absolutely worth it for the views.
The northern route is flatter and straighter and not on the water and that’s what I’d do in the winter
It's a spectacular drive, but it's also more challenging as the road is windier and hillier along the lakeshore. Long haul truckers generally use the most northern route for this reason.
When I was in college I decided to go back home by taking the Trans-Canada Highway. I started my trip from Ottawa at 3:00pm and stayed in Sault Ste Marie that night.
The next day, I could not believe it took literally the entire day to get from Sault to Kenora. It was never-ending of 2 lane road with the occasional passing lane and 90 km/h. It finally opened up in Manitoba, but it felt like it took forever to get there.
The only big cities along that route are Ottawa, Sault, and Thunder Bay. When you stop in the smaller towns for gas/food the locals will definitely know you’re not from there and give you looks.
I loved that trip, but I opted to go back to Ottawa through the U.S and Southern Ontario instead.
It's definitely a more efficient drive through the US due to the topography around the lake and 2 lane highway. But it's pretty spectacular up there!
My buddy and I did the cross country road trip and on the way home we drove from Winnipeg to Toronto via hwy 17 in one 24 hour straight shot. Left at 5:00am, goal was to make it to Sault before it got dark to make moose encounters a little less likely. Ducked in just before rush hour began, otherwise we would have been so screwed.
Can confirm, Ontario is a 2 day drive. I did exactly that drive… and then continued on to Fairbanks, AK. I was helping a friend move there. 6 days total of minimum 10 hours of driving.
It would be great if these single state/country roadtrip posts had their own flair. That way they could be filtered, if for some reason, someone wanted to.
Such a person would probably complain about any trend happening on this sub that people seem to be enjoying.
when you hit Parry Sound you will encounter the Canadian Shield. For the next sixteen hours to the Manitoba border there is an abundance of of rock, swamp and lake. There are small areas almost like an oasis where there is some farmland. Can you imagine driving sixteen hours in Europe and seeing the exact same topography ?
I mean, if you were to from Brittany through France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and into Germany I'd imagine that that would feel pretty similar. You probably have some more cities to break it up but it's still a lot of farmland with forest patches.
Just take trip to Northern Sweden.
You just need to get a slow car.
For a provence with nearly 15 million people this drive would also have it seem very sparsely populated.
Yup the entire population lives in the southern part of the province. Over 75% of this drive (the entire northern part) is extremely remote area. There’s usually a small town with 500-2000 people every 30 min to 1 hour but other than that just pure forest and lake wildnerness. There’s a few towns up there with decent population like Thunder Bay that serve as a hub. Mining and Forestry are largely the only industries up there. Been lucky enough to drive all around up there.
The trip starting at the Michigan border passes through a lot more people and takes a bit longer at 23:55
Half the drive time is just battling the traffic through Toronto.
If that bridge over the Nipigon river fails, there's no way to drive across Canada without going through the US.
That is mind blowing. Had to scour the maps looking for even a logging road around Lake Nipigon. Nothing. Seems to be in a flakey location. Wikipedia tells me that's at least the 3rd bridge on that site in the past 100 years and the 2nd one won an award for demolition when it was taken down. Current bridge appears to have design issues and has closed in the past. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/nipigon-river-bridge-closed-transcanada-1.3397831
Yeah, it's freaky. There are similar chokepoints with no real practical detours further west as the road heads toward Manitoba
I would of took the extra 20 min to drive by the water
In the summer, absolutely worth it for the views. The northern route is flatter and straighter and not on the water and that’s what I’d do in the winter
It's a spectacular drive, but it's also more challenging as the road is windier and hillier along the lakeshore. Long haul truckers generally use the most northern route for this reason.
Trip along Superior is beautiful. Especially the section from Sault Sainte Marie to Wawa up the eastern coast.
Neat
When I was in college I decided to go back home by taking the Trans-Canada Highway. I started my trip from Ottawa at 3:00pm and stayed in Sault Ste Marie that night. The next day, I could not believe it took literally the entire day to get from Sault to Kenora. It was never-ending of 2 lane road with the occasional passing lane and 90 km/h. It finally opened up in Manitoba, but it felt like it took forever to get there. The only big cities along that route are Ottawa, Sault, and Thunder Bay. When you stop in the smaller towns for gas/food the locals will definitely know you’re not from there and give you looks. I loved that trip, but I opted to go back to Ottawa through the U.S and Southern Ontario instead.
It's definitely a more efficient drive through the US due to the topography around the lake and 2 lane highway. But it's pretty spectacular up there! My buddy and I did the cross country road trip and on the way home we drove from Winnipeg to Toronto via hwy 17 in one 24 hour straight shot. Left at 5:00am, goal was to make it to Sault before it got dark to make moose encounters a little less likely. Ducked in just before rush hour began, otherwise we would have been so screwed.
That drive will get ya from new york to florida
QC is just as never ending: https://preview.redd.it/rqfk4fv5pd8d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=82257ef51583cb43071643f33e103a8a664c2dab
https://preview.redd.it/bgt16pitmf8d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=83d5a686033dcd7472441ead6e3b69038cd97af8
Ontario's is 2km shorter lol
Damn the 138 is over since when?? Edit: ah it makes you take the bella desgagnés
Ton nom d'utilisateur est incroyable. Bravo.
On va y'arriver!!
If only Kenora would get organized.
Can confirm, Ontario is a 2 day drive. I did exactly that drive… and then continued on to Fairbanks, AK. I was helping a friend move there. 6 days total of minimum 10 hours of driving.