Route suggestions between midwest and Nova Scotia

[Flynavy]

Planning on leaving right after Labor day. We are going from Ohio to Halifax and back taking around a month. I like to stay off the interstates when I can.

From looking at the map, bypassing northern Maine by going up into Quebec or going down into the Portland area seems to be the way to go. We would also like to go thru at some of the Adarondak and the Finger lakes region.

Any suggestions on routes?

Thanks.

[Tincampers]

No suggestions, but we will be up there at the same time. We will keep a look out for you.

[OTRA15]

Here is a possible route suggested by Google Maps, just to get on the same page:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Hali...9!2d41.3129972

With a total R/T distance of 4,300 miles, if you drove every day, you would be averaging about 150 miles for day. If you only drive every other day, you would have to drive 300 miles on those days [not counting any day trips or detours].

This is a torrid pace to keep up for a month IMO, so the first suggestion is to prioritize what you can squeeze into a month. Setting up and breaking down your campsite, in order to take side trips in your tow vehicle, takes quite a bit of time, which you need to factor into the pace of things.

Hitting the Adirondacks, Finger Lakes, and Portland Maine would add something like 550--1,000 miles IMO, depending on route.

With Halifax as your top priority, I would subtract the time you want to spend there, and then plan out the rest of the trip, picking maybe one or two other primary stops. If Halifax is 6 days, that leaves 24 -- or two 12-day trips of about 2,000 miles each.

What would be your next two priorities to see/visit, and how much time would you want to spend at each?

Bottom line? A month to go over 2,000 miles, and drive back, is a surprisingly short time IMO.

Good luck,

Peter

[OTRA15]

PS -- Ooops that was kilometers on the map -- about 2700 miles round-trip!

Sorry for the error . . .

Like driving across the USA more or less. A month is plenty of time, but you will still have to prioritize what you want to see most, and leave other stops for the next trip.

Peter

[coasttocoast]

I just completed my 6th trip to Nova Scotia. Have you been there before? Where are you planning on going? If you go through Coastal Maine, you can park at the Kittery Trading Post.

[MagicCarpet]

We live in Lubec,Maine- most NE coast of US. Visit Canada often & highly suggest Cape Breton for history, raw beauty & its People.

Many routes; via Calais, Maine newer roads vs Not downtown Calais. Funny NP is a gem with hikes, 40 foot tides , awesome kayaking. Good travels,

David

[BirdDog]

Love the area. If you go to Fundy NP, go to Kelly's in Alma for the sticky buns. Look forward to our return trip.

Originally Posted by MagicCarpet

We live in Lubec,Maine- most NE coast of US. Visit Canada often & highly suggest Cape Breton for history, raw beauty & its People.

Many routes; via Calais, Maine newer roads vs Not downtown Calais. Funny NP is a gem with hikes, 40 foot tides , awesome kayaking. Good travels,

David

[runswithdogs]

It's t-minus 2 days, 15 hours for us! Hope to see you on the road!

Fallingwater in PA, Niagara , Adirondacks, Gaspe' and all the rest. 12 weeks if the weather cooperates.

On your route perhaps is the opportunity for a history lesson in Grand Pre NB at the Acadian history memorial.

Also helpful: I'm following several NS-related IG accounts that will provide you with lots of ideas, take 'em or leave 'em:

@visitnovascotia
@hikenovascotia
@chowdertrail

[coasttocoast]

Check this out: https://parks.novascotia.ca/content/parks-guide.

Please note that the independent campgrounds do not want you to dump. You either cannot do it at all, or you have to pay a large sum. The Provincial Parks have very reasonable dump fees.

And more for you, Runs With Dogs: For the first 3 nights in Quebec along the St. Lawrence, we boon docked.

In Montmagny, we parked just across the street from Commission Scolaire de la Côte-du-Sud. There is a river with picnic tables and parking places. No one bothered us in the Interstate, and we were able to drink coffee and watch the water the next morning. You can Google this and see street views and the river.

Also, look at Rimouski. You can park on the wharf at Site historique maritime de la Pointe-au-Père and visit the lighthouse and Empress of Ireland museum. Just drive out and park where you want; no need for any registration. The food at the Marina, a few minutes south, is excellent. The restaurant is upstairs, and they might have a laundry there. Again, if you look at satellite images, you can easily find the wharf.

A note about boon docking north of Rimouski, you can do it if you keep driving and looking, but there are a lot of no parking signs.

Heading north, we parked at Chloridorme in a small waterfront park across the street from Poissonnerie De Cloridorme Inc. You might be able to fit the trailer there, but I can’t say for sure. You can get supplies at the Poissonnerie. This location encourages you to park. It appears they want to capture some of the tourist dollars.

We plugged in the next night at Camping Havre de la Nuit, Percé. There is a good restaurant at the campground called Comptoir Monsieur Émile.

We stayed in a few Walmarts on our journey until we got to Charlottetown where there is a Walmart. We were able to park the Interstate downtown at the waterfront park, but a silver trailer might be a problem. The best food is at Water Prince Corner Shop. You might like to watch the Harness Racing at Red Shores. You can even walk over to the the barns and pet the horses and barn cats.

Here’s another restaurant: Windows on the Water in Montague.

Fast forward to NS:

Halifax is good with lots of good food. Check out the Maritime Museum for sure. I’ve been to all the restaurants in Halifax, but on this trip, we went to Cafe Chianti. The food was excellent, and the wait staff was superb.

Other highlights of NS include Peggy’s Cove, Lunenburg, and Annapolis Royal. Check out the generating station in Annapolis Royal. Yarmouth has plenty of supplies and a Walmart.

Check out these two restaurants: The Seashore Restaurant and Blue Rock Lounge in Methegan and Bailey’s Bakery Seafood and Grill in Hebron. Eat a hamburger at Baileys and get a pastry. Eat a larger meal at the The Seashore Restaurant. I’ve probably been to 10,000 restaurants and am pretty picky at this point. If you’ve had “fresh” seafood in Atlanta, then wait until you get to NS where it’s much cheaper and exponentially better. But wait, there’s more- try Piper’s Landing in Lyon’s Brook.

And in random order, be advised about the cruise ship schedule in Charlottetown and Halifax and try to avoid those days when a lot of people crowd the waterfront. When in NS, read about Maud Lewis.

If you want to visit a nice little town with good enough food, a great campground (Kiwanis) , and easily accessible everything, then go to St. Andrews by-the-Sea in New Brunswick.

If you want more info, then reach out. I’ve probably driven 15,000 miles across the Maritimes. Enjoy.

www.coasttocoastphoto.com @coasttocoastphotoatl

[MickeyC]

No suggestions on the route getting there but be sure and tour the Cabot Trail. And, when your on the Cabot Trail, take the east cost up and the west coast down. That always puts the ocean on your right hand side. Its definitely worth the trip.

Talking about it makes me want to do that trip again.

[Tincampers]

Originally Posted by coasttocoast

Check this out: https://parks.novascotia.ca/content/parks-guide.

Please note that the independent campgrounds do not want you to dump. You either cannot do it at all, or you have to pay a large sum. The Provincial Parks have very reasonable dump fees.

And more for you, Runs With Dogs: For the first 3 nights in Quebec along the St. Lawrence, we boon docked.

In Montmagny, we parked just across the street from Commission Scolaire de la Côte-du-Sud. There is a river with picnic tables and parking places. No one bothered us in the Interstate, and we were able to drink coffee and watch the water the next morning. You can Google this and see street views and the river.

Also, look at Rimouski. You can park on the wharf at Site historique maritime de la Pointe-au-Père and visit the lighthouse and Empress of Ireland museum. Just drive out and park where you want; no need for any registration. The food at the Marina, a few minutes south, is excellent. The restaurant is upstairs, and they might have a laundry there. Again, if you look at satellite images, you can easily find the wharf.

A note about boon docking north of Rimouski, you can do it if you keep driving and looking, but there are a lot of no parking signs.

Heading north, we parked at Chloridorme in a small waterfront park across the street from Poissonnerie De Cloridorme Inc. You might be able to fit the trailer there, but I can’t say for sure. You can get supplies at the Poissonnerie. This location encourages you to park. It appears they want to capture some of the tourist dollars.

We plugged in the next night at Camping Havre de la Nuit, Percé. There is a good restaurant at the campground called Comptoir Monsieur Émile.

We stayed in a few Walmarts on our journey until we got to Charlottetown where there is a Walmart. We were able to park the Interstate downtown at the waterfront park, but a silver trailer might be a problem. The best food is at Water Prince Corner Shop. You might like to watch the Harness Racing at Red Shores. You can even walk over to the the barns and pet the horses and barn cats.

Here’s another restaurant: Windows on the Water in Montague.

Fast forward to NS:

Halifax is good with lots of good food. Check out the Maritime Museum for sure. I’ve been to all the restaurants in Halifax, but on this trip, we went to Cafe Chianti. The food was excellent, and the wait staff was superb.

Other highlights of NS include Peggy’s Cove, Lunenburg, and Annapolis Royal. Check out the generating station in Annapolis Royal. Yarmouth has plenty of supplies and a Walmart.

Check out these two restaurants: The Seashore Restaurant and Blue Rock Lounge in Methegan and Bailey’s Bakery Seafood and Grill in Hebron. Eat a hamburger at Baileys and get a pastry. Eat a larger meal at the The Seashore Restaurant. I’ve probably been to 10,000 restaurants and am pretty picky at this point. If you’ve had “fresh” seafood in Atlanta, then wait until you get to NS where it’s much cheaper and exponentially better. But wait, there’s more- try Piper’s Landing in Lyon’s Brook.

And in random order, be advised about the cruise ship schedule in Charlottetown and Halifax and try to avoid those days when a lot of people crowd the waterfront. When in NS, read about Maud Lewis.

If you want to visit a nice little town with good enough food, a great campground (Kiwanis) , and easily accessible everything, then go to St. Andrews by-the-Sea in New Brunswick.

If you want more info, then reach out. I’ve probably driven 15,000 miles across the Maritimes. Enjoy.

www.coasttocoastphoto.com @coasttocoastphotoatl

My kind of traveler!

[farafield]

I just drove across the top of Vermont on rte 105 and highly suggest it. The pavement condition was very good (unlike rte 2), there is not a lot of traffic, and the scenery is really nice.

[Tincampers]

Originally Posted by farafield

I just drove across the top of Vermont on rte 105 and highly suggest it. The pavement condition was very good (unlike rte 2), there is not a lot of traffic, and the scenery is really nice.

How did you go through NY? What road did you take after 105?

[ajwbarnard]

If it were me, I would go one way through US and one way through Canada and make it a loop. We have gone up many times, but we lived in Maine and always went up 95 and across New Brunswick to Nova Scotia. But in the way back you could go up the east coast of New Brunswick and either up and around the Gaspe or straight up to Quebec City. Having grown up in Ohio, we rarely took a NY route always took 80 across PA only because it was faster.

[farafield]

Originally Posted by Tincampers

How did you go through NY? What road did you take after 105?

Sorry, I live on one side of northern VT and went camping on the other so I never left the state. I found this map of pavement conditions in VT and wonder if other states have the same thing. It was very helpful as I'd been taking a different route (2) and the condition was too bad to keep doing that.



http://vtrans.maps.arcgis.com/apps/w...53f48c3daf0275

[Flynavy]

Many thanks for all the tips. We are planning to make a loop i.e. northern going up and down into Maine and Mass. coming back.

I will print this entire thread and take it with us.

[BigSxyWhtGuy]

That’s some loop you have going. We started in South Carolina in March of this year. Went into Nashville TN and headed north to Jackson Center. From JC, we went to Detroit, around the Great Lakes on the US side to end up in Niagara Falls. NY tolls the interstate so to get to eastern NY it will be mostly side streets unless you don’t mind paying tolls.
We found an awesome ferry that took us from NY in Vermont. Cut into NH and Portland ME is practically right there. From Portland ME to Halifax it’s something like a 10 hour drive.

We did our tour starting in SC (March) and ended up making it to Florida at the beginning of August.

There is a TON to see. Let me know how specific you want me to get and I can information dump on you.

[rwood]

Sorry for the late response, just saw your post

We regularly travel from northern VT to the Maritimes(hockey camps), and out to the left coast (kids; our son's on a boat out of Pearl). We enjoy travelling state and county roads vs interstates

Currently our favorite route through OH (eg Dayton/JC) is up to Hubbard, then NW PA (eg Oil City, Titusville) towards Bradford or Williamsport, over to Corning/Elmira NY, through the Finger Lakes region (either SR14, SR13, SR54 or US11 at Cortland, follow US11 to south of Watertown (avoiding Syracuse).

If you want to go through the Adirondacks/"High Peaks" area, get off US11 at Adams Center, pick up SR117 to Lowville, then SR812 to SR3 (Remington Corners), then Tupper Lake, Lake PLacid, Plattsburgh and north to Champlain/Rouses Pt.

If you want to go further north, stay on US11 (skirting Watertown)and follow it all the way across the top of NYS to Champlain/Rouses Pt.

Either way, take the Korean War Veterans Memorial bridge into VT, now US2, switch to VT78 just south of Alburg, take 78 through Swanton, Highgate Center to Sheldon where it joins VT105, over to Newport VT. Once in VT, you're never more than 10 miles from the Canadian border

From Newport,there are multiple ways to get through ME, all pretty, none direct. We prefer following VT105 to Bloomfield VT, then taking US3 south to Northumberland, then NH110 to Gorham, the US2, either all the way up to Houghton and New Brunswick, or Lincoln (hometown of Gary Gordon MOH) and ME6 to Macadam NB, or ME9 at Eddington to Calais/St Stephen NB and CA1. From there it's a straight shot to the TransCanada Rt2 near River Glade then to Amherst, NS

From Jackson Center to Newport VT is a full but leisurely 2 day trip with a 23' Safari, mostly 2 lanes, with friendly Walmarts in Canadaigua, Horseheads, Potsdam (NY campgrounds aren't cheap, some NYS parks require more than 1 day stays; check Allstays). There are a lot of neat places to see; a visit to the Corning Glass Museum is especially interesting. These roads are not difficult

Feel free to PM with ?s

[bigredwine]

A real nice Hiway that, but for getting around the Great Lakes, US 2 is a great route if not in a hurry. Starts in Snohomish, Washington and ends at Houston, Maine. A good quality 2 lane hiway, in good condition that goes thru the towns we all miss from the freeways.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by Flynavy

Many thanks for all the tips. We are planning to make a loop i.e. northern going up and down into Maine and Mass. coming back.

I will print this entire thread and take it with us.

Wondering if you are still monitoring this [your] thread?

Have a great trip!

Peter

Originally Posted by Flynavy

Planning on leaving right after Labor day.
. . .