has anyone here driven to/from Soo or Thunder Bay

[momud]

from Toronto area? tell me all about it, please.

thanks

[Morpheus]

There were some roads, some trees, a few animals...

j/k, never been farther than sudbury.

[momud]

lol.. i figure lots and lots of trees and road.. but i want details.. national or provincial parks, etc..

[inblack]

I have -- used to be part of my sales territory.

Plan an entire day in the truck to get from T.O. to the Soo. Spend the night. Dont try to push straight on to Thunder Bay it seems a lot longer than it is, andit is a long way.

Lots of parks, not many national, but they are all nice, Generally beautiful country.
Just about everything closes in the winter, watch for road clousures.
The Outdoors is Soo's best asset.
http://www.saultstemarie.com/
Try the Historic train ride, real nice way to see the region.

If you ski there is s Blue Mountian Sized hill not far from Soo, Searchmont
http://www.searchmont.com/

Then there is Northern Michigan right there as well.
I have never been there

[Spider 007]

I drove most of it when I moved out from Montreal to Edmonton last year. I drove from Montreal to T-Bay in one day and I didn't find it so bad. It's a very nice road and the scenery is quite impressive in some areas.

I wouldn't drive it in the winter though...

And my advice would be to never let the tank go lower than half... there are a few places where gas stations are few and far between!

[momud]

cool, thanks inblack. this is for a possible trip next year.. from USA to Tnt. i am just trying to figure to see if or which part of this i want to check out. the shortest way for me is through Detroit but that drive is boring and nature less.

oh, i definitely like ot see the soo falls too as last time i was there i just didn't have the time to play with the friendship bridge and all that.. locks are pretty cool though.

also, thanks Spider 007

[inblack]

Spider is RIGHT dont get low on fuel,
there are great distances between fillingstations, and just because there was a little independent one here last year doe not mean that he will still be there NOW.

From Montreal it is more a straight shot than from TO and also from Montreal you dont have to deal will all the traffic on the 401/400 till you are past Parry Sound or Sudbury.

It you are not in a rush, head up through Owen Sound towards Tobermory then take the Ferry (Chichimon (spelling)) to Manitoluin island. The Island is a nice drive as well and the north end features a very unique Swing Tressle Bridge @ Little Current that you will cross to get off the island and back onto HWY 17 west at Espanolla

[xrover]

You get to go through Marathon, I think.
It was okay but almost 20 years ago. Two lane highway but lot's of middle passing lanes. Plenty, and I mean plenty of trucks.
I do recall hating the drive from TB to Winnipeg. Mainly stunted trees and scrub brush.

[momud]

wow. awesome responses. thank you..

are the parks expensive for a foreigner? i would like ot check out both great lakes from that side of things and was kind of thinking of camping at one or more of the parks along the shores..

i'll have to look ino the ferry someone here just mentioned. sounds interesting. thanks.

oh, btw. how much is petrol running now?

[inblack]

Canadian parks dont care where you hail from, they welcome anyones money
Posted rate is posted rate, nationality does not matter,
up that way you will fint a lot of reservation and native run establishments they are quite frendly in my experience.

http://www.ontarioferries.com/chi/english/index.html

Petrol -- today in Oakville 81.8 cents per litre
or $3.23/gallon in CDN currency

[momud]

petrol is still that high up there? it's about 1.60-1.70 U$/gal.. ouch.. maybe it will retract a bit more by next august.

[BaTmAn13]

i am from manitoulin island so i drive up there allot it is a pretty easy ride just watch for police they get pretty creative with the hiding spots. other than that 400 north to 69 north to Sudbury once at Sudbury get on 17 west to get to the SOO

cheers

[Pezzy]

Don't bet on it (gas prices), it's common practice to jack up the prices come driving season. It hasn't been this cheap here in quite some time. I doubt it will be the same, or less come next summer.

I second the suggestion of taking the ferry and checking out Manatoulin Island. If you have a chance, from Tobermory (where you get the ferry), you can check out Flower Pot Island, something I have always wanted to do...

http://www.tobermory.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.tobermory.org/flowerpot.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Time it right, I wouldn't mind hooking up with you for that section of the road trip!

And of course, you cant forget to drop by exciting Brampton, ON

[momud]

yeah, i am trying to figure out how i can get my "tim's" to go.. and also meet up with simon.. hehe

i was thinking of coming to Tnt from that dir but maybe we'll do it in reverse.. except it's always hard to leave family on/in time.. i know how they are.. oh, stay another day.. and another... and... yeah.. i'll never leave.

[BaTmAn13]

yes the ferry is a good idea but if you are going in the near future you are going to have to wait a wile it is currently in service dock at owen sound.

[Scotto]

This time of year the ferry is down and to be honest it's faster driving around - now that #69 is mulit-lane (sorry to make you laugh, Pezzy - 69 ha!, made you laugh again!). In the summer, the ferry is nice on the way back (meaning going to Toronto), as you can stop at the south end of the island (South Baymouth - name?) and crash, then grab the ferry in the morning. Trying it northbound is tricky, as you might not get on. Or it decided not to run. Staying in Tobermory is not an option. It's a long way back down to Wiarton and around the bay...

I've done the drive a lot, as my grandma lives in Northern Michigan (Houghton). The road is very good, with not a whole lot between Espanola and the Soo. Generally what I have done from Toronto is try get to Parry Sound and stop for food and fuel. Then off to Espanola. Stop. There's a Timmy's there - very busy. Get fuel. If you do not refuel here you are screwed. Then drive to the Soo. That's a total of about 8 hours at 120 Kph. (From the Soo to my Gran's was another 5 hours - total 13 hours. I still do it in one day, but it's a hard drive.)


Scott

[Pezzy]

Going by his comment above, I think he's looking at doing this trip in August.

Scotto... I laughed, and Simon came in from smoking and wondered what was so funny.

[SlaveX]

you can check out Flower Pot Island, something I have always wanted to do...

Beautiful place, worth to see . Been there last year

[momud]

awesome info guys and gal. anyone have a linky to any of the parks along the shores of both lakes?
i doubt i'd make this trip in a day or two, i'd like ot take more time and really check it all out.

Scotto, Houton is pretty nice.. have you been to copper harbour? that place is pretty cool too. i still need to drive around the keenewah. the last place in UP of MI I really haven't checked out completely.

Pezzy, long time ago you linked me to some tubing thing in SW ON, i think that's where it was. could you do it again?

thanks

[Pezzy]

Pezzy, long time ago you linked me to some tubing thing in SW ON, i think that's where it was. could you do it again?

thanks

I'm gonna guess that was Elora Gorge...
http://www.grandriver.ca/index/document ... 124&sub2=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;