Bill and Michelle Kyle's 2004 Cross Canada Cycling Trip

Our Route

BC AB SK MB ON QC NB PE NS NF

British Columbia

Vancouver to Abbotsford (detail)

Abbotsford to Alberta border

Day Route Ending at

1 Kingsway, Highway 1A Aldergrove, BC

2 Downes Road, Highway 11 (no shoulder), Highway 7 (gorgeous!) Hope

3-4 Highway 3 (nice scenery, very steep climb!) Princeton

5 Highway 3, Keremeos: Highway 3A Kaleden

6 (rest day)

7 Highway 97, Westside Road Okanagan Lake campground

8 Westside Road, Highway 97A, Trans-Canada (Highway 1) Sicamous

9-12 Trans-Canada Lake Louise, AB

Alberta

Day Route Ending at

13 Trans-Canada, after Seebe: Highway 1A (Bow Valley Parkway, better road, more hills) Ghost Reservoir

14 Highway 1A, Cochrane: Highway 22, Highway 567, Airdrie: Highway 2a Crossfield

15 (rest day)

16 Highway 72, Highway 9 Drumheller

17 Highway 9 Youngstown, AB

Saskatchewan

Our route through Saskatoon instead of Regina avoids Virden, Manitoba where cyclists are killed.

Day Route Ending at

18 Highway 9, Sask: Highway 7 Kindersley, SK

19-20 Highway 7 Saskatoon

21-24 (rest days)

25-28 Highway 16 Strathclair, MN

Manitoba

Our route from Saskatoon, SK on Hwy 16 avoids Hwy 1 through Virden, MB where cyclists are killed.

Day Route Ending at

29 Highway 16, 16A into Minnedosa, 16 Gladstone

30 Highway 16, Highway 1 Elie

31 Highway 1, Highway 100 (Winnipeg bypass), Highway 1 Richer, MN

Ontario

Ontario border to Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay to Wawa

Wawa to North Bay

North Bay to Petawawa

Petawawa to Highway 3

Highway 3 to Quebec border

Day Route Ending at

32 Highway 1 (Trans-Canada), Ontario: Highway 17 (Trans-Canada) Ontario border

33-37 Highway 17 Sunshine

38 Highway 17, Highway 102 into Thunder Bay Thunder Bay

39-40 (rest days)

41 Highway 17/11 Nipigon

42-48 Highway 17 Blind River

49 Highway 17, 55 (bypass no bikes freeway before Sudbury), 17 (bypass Sudbury), 80 (into Sudbury to find motel) Sudbury

50 Highway 80 to return to Highway 17, Highway 17 (Trans-Canada) Sturgeon Falls

51-52 Highway 17 Deep River

53 Highway 17, Pembroke: Highways 19, 21, 4 and 1 Arnprior

54 Highways 29, 20 and 3 Burritt's Rapids

55 Unnamed road going east from Michael's restaurant, Highways 25, 18, 20, 3, 16, 18 to Lunenburg, 12 and 2 Cornwall, ON

Quebec

Quebec border to Quebec City

Quebec City to Rivière-du-Loup

Rivière-du-Loup to New Brunswick border

Day Route Ending at

56 Highway 2, Quebec: Highway 338. Saint-Zotique: La Route Verte 5 (bike path), Highway 20 Montreal, QC

57 (rest day)

58 Through Montreal along south part of the island, mainly on the bike path, then Highway 138 Berthierville

59-61 Highway 138 (La Route verte) Ancienne-Lorette

62-66 (rest days)

67-68 Highway 132 Saint-André

69 Highway 132, Rivière-du-Loup: La Route verte 8 Cabano

New Brunswick

New Brunswick border to Fredericton

Fredericton to Confederation Bridge to P.E.I.

Day Route Ending at

70 La Route verte 8, New Brunswick: Highways 2 (Trans-Canada) and 144 Saint-Léonard, NB

71 Highway 2, Grand Falls: Highway 105 Florenceville

72-73 Highway 105 near Waterborough

74 Highway 105, Highway 365, Highway 2 (Trans-Canada) Moncton

75 Highway 132, Shediac: Highway 133, Highway 955 Borden-Carleton, PE

Prince Edward Island

Confederation Bridge to Stratford

Stratford to Wood Islands Ferry

Day Route Ending at

76 Confederation Trail (cycling path), Kensington: Highway 101, Park Corner: Highway 20, New London: Highway 6, Highway 242 Cymbria

77 Highway 242, Highway 6, Oyster Bed Bridge: Highway 223, Winsloe: Confederation Trail, Charlottetown: Highway 1 (Trans-Canada) Stratford

78-79 (rest days)

Nova Scotia

Ferry from P.E.I. to Aulds Cove

Cape Breton Island: Aulds Cove to North Sydney

Day Route Ending at

80 Highway 1 (Trans-Canada), Nova Scotia: Highway 106, Highway 104 New Glasgow, NS

81 Highway 347, Highway 7 Stillwater

82 Highway 211, Highway 316, Larry's River: road through Lundy, Guysborough: Highway 16 Boylston

83 Highway 344, Cape Breton: Highway 104 St. Peter's

84 Highway 4, Chapel Island: Fleur-de-lis Trail (southern coast road), Highway 327 Sydney

85 (rest day)

86 Kings Road, Keltic Drive, Commercial Street North Sydney

Newfoundland

Day Route Ending at

87 main road Argentia

88 Highway 100, Placentia: Highway 91 (becomes gravel road), 100-10 (gravel road up to 100), Highway 100, Highway 1, Highway 90 through Conception Bay South, Highway 2 St. John's

89 (rest day)

90 Water Street to the harbour Bill's cycle shop

Recommended along this route

Day
5-6	Camp-Along campground, near Penticton
6	Hog's Breath coffee shop, Penticton
8	Back to Nature herbal tea and coffee shop
9	KOA Kampground, 5 km east of Revelstoke
10	Heather Mountain Lodge (nice accommodations, excellent food)
12	Truffle Pigs restaurant in Field
12	Highway 1A between Lake Louise and Banff (smoother road than Highway 1)
18	Best Western in Kindersley, SK (nice, good price)
25	Chinese-Canadian restaurant in Colonsay (excellent fried rice and burgers)
27	Hart to Hart Crafts and Such, Sheho (good coffee & dessert, Ukrainian food)
27	Wanders Sweet Discoveries, Yorkton, SK (good coffee, lunch & pastries)
28	Langenburg Country Inn (reasonable rates, clean)
29	Uncle Tom's Restaurant, near Minnedosa (very good burgers and saskatoon berry pie)
30	L'Auberge Clemence bed & breakfast, Elie, Manitoba
38	Esso Restaurant in Upsala, ON
41	Birchwood Café (good breakfast, cinnamon buns, pies)
42	Rest stop, 3.55K west of Rossport campground, east of Rossport (excellent free camping location)
45	Kinniwabi Pines Motel, Hwy 17, 5.3K south of Wawa (reasonable price, hot tub, sauna)
47	Hilltop Restaurant, Batchawana Bay (good food, good value)
47-48	Northwinds Restaurant (good food, good value)
48	Olive's Pasta and Sub Shop, Blind River (excellent pizza, good pasta)
50	Motel Champlain, Sturgeon Falls (reasonable price, has character, call in advance and they'll heat the pool)
67	Chez Cora déjeuners... (Quebec & NB chain, huge breakfast selection, fun décor, good food)
67	Au Temps Gourmand, Café-Bistro, Beaumont (good food, nice art on walls)
77	Southport Motel, Stratford (best price near Charlottetown)
82	The restaurant in Goldboro, N.S. (good food, huge green nanaimo bars $1.00)
83	The Dinghy, restaurant in Mulgrave, N.S. (good food)
89	The Newfoundland Museum, St. John's
89	The Railway Coastal Museum, St. John's

Not recommended along this route

Day
7	Fintry Provincial Park without a reservation (steep climb)
8	Miniatureland (poor quality, musty)
13-14	Highway 1A between Canmore and Cochrane (choppy road)
13	Ghost Reservoir campground, unless you're caught in a storm ($17, no facilities, phone was dead)
19	Heartland Motor Inn, Rosetown, SK (beetles in bed)
28-32	Manitoba roads (often no shoulder, including Trans-Canada; rough roads)
35	Majestic Motel in Ignace (worst motel we stayed in, brown smelly bath water)
41	Highway 17/11 between Thunder Bay and Nipigon (no shoulder, very heavy traffic; do in early morning)
46	Cedarhof Restaurant, Wawa (high prices, inadequate food)
88	Restaurant at Irving gas station near Whitbourne (worst-smelling, dirtiest washrooms, very poor service)

Best Roads

Road quality throughout Canada varies widely. This ranking is based on the route we travelled.

Best	Province	Roads
#1	Saskatchewan	Saskatchewan roads have excellent smooth paved shoulders at least 4 feet wide, and usually about 8 feet wide, nearly all of the way.
#2	Prince Edward Island	P.E.I. has many quiet roads on rolling hills to choose between, as well as a good flat trail across the island on an old railway line.
#3	New Brunswick	New Brunswick's major highways are as good as Saskatchewan's, with wide, smooth paved shoulders and long hills. Smaller highways are hilly, quiet and pleasant. Bike paths for mountain bike racing are too rough for touring.
#4	Quebec	Quebec has an excellent bike route, La Route verte, that offers a safe, pleasant journey all the way across the province. The route includes good shoulders on highways, quieter roads and bike paths with excellent facilities for cyclists including barbecues and fireplaces.
#5	British Columbia	Some B.C. roads are very good. Others have only tiny, bumpy shoulders. Bike lanes between traffic and steep cliffs with only a thin ribbon to ride on and no barriers or inadequate short barriers are very dangerous.
#6	Nova Scotia	Nova Scotia has hilly, pleasant quiet roads with surfaces ranging from good to quite rough. Some highways are smooth with good shoulders, while others are busy with no shoulders.
#7	Newfoundland	Newfoundland's busy major highways are smooth roads with good shoulders. Some smaller roads have quite heavy traffic. Others have practically no traffic, but are gravel roads.
#8	Alberta	In Alberta, while car lanes have smooth pavement, beyond the white line there are often bumps every four feet, just a few inches of useable pavement or thin shoulders with extremely choppy surfaces.
#9	Ontario	Ontario roads vary widely. Some are smooth with good shoulders, while others are as bad as Manitoba's with no shoulders, heavy traffic, and no alternate routes available. Sharp drops next to the road always have tall enough barriers to feel safe. Eastern Ontario's smaller roads are paved, quiet and pleasant.
#10	Manitoba	Manitoba's roads are terrible. Shoulders are intermittent and usually absent, with unrideable gravel right next to the white line, so you have to ride in heavy traffic. Roads are old with rough, cracked up surfaces, holes, and rough repairs done in a patchwork manner.