Cycling around the Great Lakes

Lake Ontario 

Harvey MacHattie, Dylan MacHattie, Stephen Kamnitzer
June 1999

We cycled around Lake Huron on 2000, Lake Erie in 2001, Lake Michigan in 2002 and Lake Superior in 2004.

The idea came to Harvey and myself after a weekend cycling 125 km each way one weekend, from Toronto east along the Lakeshore Greenway Trail to the pretty town of Port Hope and back. The multi-use Lakeshore Greenway Trail stretches along Lake Ontario from Niagara-on-the Lake past Toronto to Trenton , a distance of about 400 kilometers. On another occasion we had taken the ferry (unfortunately now defunct) from Toronto to Queenston (near Niagara falls) and cycled back to Toronto along the Lakeshore Greenway trail. So we thought we should finish the trail by cycling the section to Trenton sometime, but then why not just go right around the lake ?

At the end of the day-to-day description of this trip you will find a section on logistics, planning (or lack thereof), equipment etc.

We had great weather throughout the trip and did not get rained on at all. It was very hot and sunny the whole week. There were lots of spots for swimming in Lake Ontario. Sunscreen and hats or visors were mandatory. We all started from home and finished at home. The only time we were not self-propelled was on the 2 ferry rides, 30 mins from Kingston to Wolf Island (no charge) and 5 minutes from Wolf Island to New York State ($1).

We enjoyed the trip so much that we decided to do another one of the Great Lakes in the year 2000.
Please click here for a report on our Lake Huron trip which we did in June 2000,  here for Lake Erie in 2001, and here for Lake Michigan in 2002, here for Lake Superior in 2004

Map of Lake Ontario

 

Saturday June 5th

Start: Toronto, Beaches, home 10:00
  • Kingston Rd through Scarborough.
  • Followed the Waterfront Trail.
  • Off-road mostly through  Pickering and Ajax.
  • Bad section along busy Bayly Rd between Ajax and Whitby.
  • From Whitby to Trenton, Waterfront Trail is marked and either off-road or on very quiet roads.
  • Near Oshawa, detour to Canadian Tire for new chain for Harvey (with help from a friendly native).
  • Darlington, patch my front tire while Stephen moves a turtle off the trail to a safer place.
  • Avoid busy highway 2 by going through retirement community near Bowmanville (nobody complained).
  • Bond Head to Port Hope: followed very quiet road with good views along the edge of the Lake Ontario.

End:  Port Hope (Tower Inn motel) 20:30
Distance 122 km,  time  10:24  hrs, 11.7 km/hr

  • Dinner at Greek restaurant walking distance from the motel.
 ont00.jpg (115050 bytes)
The Start, in the Beaches, Toronto.

 

Sunday June 6th

Start: Port Hope - 8:50
  • Breakfast at Tim Horton's Donut store.
  • Following Waterfront Trail until Carrying Place, sideroads from there.
  • Patch Dylan's rear tire while we are next to the Murray Canal.

End: Campsite, Sand Banks Provincial Park - 19:05
Distance 131 km,  time 10:04 hrs, 12.9 km/hr

  • Camp dinner:  freeze-dried rice mix.
  • Walked on the beautiful sandy beach.
 Colborne, Ontario

Colborne, Ontario

Monday June 7th

Start: Depart from Sand Banks Provincial Park - 9:00
  • Took pictures of abandoned Air Force base (is it "Mountainview" where Harvey and Dylan's mother worked during the war?).
  • Sideroads up through Glenora (Lake on the Mountain), swim in the lake.
  • Ferry across the Reach.
  • Pleasant ride along the edge of the lake on the Loyalist Trail, a road with paved shoulder part of the way. Near Kingston the traffic became heavier.

End: Kingston (seedy motel on Princess St.), 18:45
Distance: 103 km, time 9:35 hrs, avg speed 10.7 km.hr

  • Good dinner at Kelsey's a short walk from the motel.
 Abondoned Air Force BaseAbandoned Air Force Base, Isle of Quinte, Ontario

 

Tuesday June 8th

Start: depart from Kingston on ~10:30
  • Purchased a rearview mirror for Stephen at a friendly Cyclepath in Kingston.
  • Ferry to Wolfe Island.
  • Arrive at Marysville ~11:00, bakery with freshly baked goodies.depart from Marysville - 11:30 (clock started).
  • Pleasant ride across the Island 
  • Arrive at other ferry dock ~12:30
  • Arrive at Cape Vincent - 13:30
  • On the Seaway Trail (gets very hilly near the end of the day).

End: Selkirk Shores State Park (near Pulaski) - 20:30
Distance: 110 km, 8:50 hrs, 12.4 km/hr

  • Friendly State park skunk visited while making dinner.
  • Camp dinner - stew + beans.
 Ferry from Kingston to Wolfe Island, Ontario
Ferry from Kingston to Wolfe Island, Ontario

Wednesday June 9th

Start: Depart from Selkirk Shores State Park - 10:15
  • Before breakfast Harvey rescued an injured fawn which gave us a late start.
  • Took pictures of nuclear plant near Oswego but Harvey's camera wasn't working properly.

End: Arrive at Idlewood on the Lake Camp Ground (near Sodus Point) - 18:55
Distance  104 km,  time 8 1/2 hrs, 12 km/hr

  • On the Seaway Trail (very hilly most of the way).
  • Camp dinner - stew + beans.
 Camp site near Sodus Point, New York

Camp site, Sodus Point, New York

Thursday June 10th

Start: Depart from Idlewood CG - 8:40
  • On the Seaway Trail, Rochester gets in the way, very flat after that.
  • Stopped at a bike store in Rochester to get Harvey a new spoke and wheel turning.
  • Took Lake Ontario State Parkway until we couldn't stand it any more, the back roads were nicer.
  • Dinner at restaurant at Point Breeze on the way.
  • Slow leak in Dylan's rear tire shows up after dinner but holds up.

End: Golden Hill State Park - 20:50
Distance: 161 km, time 12:11 hrs, 13.2 km/hr.

  • Lighthouse in park has been restored, we had a tour.
  • In the morning, Stephen scrambled down the cliff and had a swim in Lake Ontario.
 Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls (on June 11th)

Friday June 11th

Start: Depart from Golden Hill State Park - 10:00
  • On the Seaway Trail to Niagara Falls (flat most of the way).
  • Visited fort at ?
  • Paid 25c to cross the Rainbow Bridge.

End: Awful campground near Niagara on the Lake (6 Km south of town on the bike trail) - 20:10
Distance103 km, 10:10 hrs, avg speed  9.9 km.hr

  • This was the only camp ground near Niagara on the Lake - didn't like it.
  • Gunfire in neighbouring fields kept up 'til dark.
  • Replaced my rear tube due to slow leak in rear tire.
  • Good dinner at restaurant in Niagara on the Lake.

 

 Fort Niagara, New York
Fort Niagara, New York

Saturday June 12th

Start: Depart from camp - 6:20
  • Awakened by air-raid siren at sunrise.
  • Almost couldn't get out of camp ground since nobody at the gatehouse and we had not paid yet.
  • Followed Waterfront Trail when we could.
  • Swam in Lake Ontario just before Hamilton.
  • Helped friendly native fix her bike near Harbourfront in Toronto.

End: Home - 19:15. Distance 163 km, 12:52 hrs, 12.5 km/hr

Total distance covered = 1017 km.

 Back where we started, THE END
Back where we started. THE END

GENERAL INFORMATION

We camped for five nights and spent two nights in motels.  We each had two rear-panniers and a handle-bar bag. We had two tents between the three of us and one MSR Whisperlite camping stove with one pot. Dylan and Harvey rode ordinary road bikes and Stephen a hybrid. For maps we used the Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail guidebook, an Ontario road map and copies of pages from the Delorme 1:150,000 book of maps of New York  State.