Planning advice needed - Heading to the Great Northeast for this year's trip

[RossKean]

The Sunrise Trail will take a fair amount longer (1.5 hr+?) than the Trans Canada Highway but is very much worthwhile. The New Brunswick sites you mention are interesting (wouldn't bother with Saint John) but they add time. You could try: https://goo.gl/maps/11i4aNUbz1q This also takes you through Fundy National Park which is only mildly interesting util you get towards Alma (unless you want to do some camping or hiking).

In Cape Breton, the Cabot Trail is great although road condition varies from poor to fair. You might consider a ride along the Bras d'Or Lake and a CCW ride around the Trail. https://goo.gl/maps/sPrzLPQrPHE2

Other stuff in CB - Fortress Louisbourg is off the beaten track and will take much of a full day. Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Baddeck too.

 

[Mike Aldea]

New York will not be impacted by Laconia except for an increase in motorcycle traffic, primarily on the slab. You won't even notice it until you get close to Laconia itself. I'm not sure what you consider central NY, but I guess that would be the Adirondacks. The 'dacks are a tourist area and prices vary a lot depending on what town you stop in. Lake Placid or Lake George are both very interesting to visit with your wife, but expensive. Saratoga is also nice, and may be less expensive that time of year.

Lake George, NY should be cheaper than Lake Placid & Saratoga at the time of year you will be traveling through. You will miss Americade and the prime Summer season doesn't start till the first of July. I recommend the Sundowner Motel on the Northend of Canada Street in Lake George Village as a place to stay. It is directly across the street from Mario's Restaurant one of the better places to eat in Lake George. King rooms are $62-82/night from June 12th to 14th. There is a Firemen's convention 15th-18th so you have to call for rates during that period. If you want someplace cheaper but not as nice there are the Motel Montreal (Queen $55+) and Lake Haven Motel (King $69)on Lake Street just North of the Sundowner.

 

[Mike Aldea]

<Snip>

I will disagree with 08FJR4ME on one point, and that is on the main (second) weekend of Laconia you really do not want to be anywhere in northern NH if you want to avoid the throngs of pirates. One year I was just trying to drive over the top of Lake Winnipesaukee on Rte 25 over to Mt Chocorua in Tamworth to hike, and it was a horribly tedious slog as the hoardes jammed up the roadways. So if you have a specific timetable for your trip I would suggest coming through Northern NH either well before or after the 2nd weekend.

<snip>.

I have to disagree with Fred W. Tamworth is central NH not North NH so his experience is not typical for the White Mountains. If you stay North of Conway, NH you will be clear of most of the Laconia crowd. Lincoln, Littleton & Gorham, NH should only be effected in a minor way by Laconia.

If you choose to stay in the St. Johnsbury, VT area you could enjoy the White Mountains of NH the next day and stay in Bethel, ME or some place even farther East that night. Personally, I would plan on staying in Stowe rather than St. Johnsbury VT after riding through Smugglers Notch. The Commodores Inn in Stowe has been particularly friendly to NERDS.

Be forewarned that US-1 along the coast in Maine can be very slow going at times. I usually try to use the inland roads and just cut down to those points along the coast that I want to visit rather than ride along the coast. Once you get East of Milbridge, ME, US-1 along the coast is not too bad.

While in New Brunswick, you will want to visit the Bay of Fundy's Hope Well Rocks aka the Flower Pot Rocks at The Rocks Provincial Park.

The Bay of Fundy has the highest tidal change of anyplace in the world. The tide comes in so fast that people take boat rides where they are pushed up the bay at high speed by the incoming tide.

Here is a video showing the speed of tidal change.

 

[Fred W]

Sorry, man. But you are dead wrong. The entire state of NH is completely ****** up on the two weekends of the Loudon classic. And FWIW, Tamworth is like 10 or 15 miles from Conway. I don't know what the hell you are smoking.

I guess when we are looking for advice on New Hampshire we should ask the guy from New Jersey, not the one who actually lives in the state?

 

[Mike Aldea]

Yes, Tamworth is 10-15 miles Southwest of Conway. I said for the OP to do his riding North of Conway which would mean skipping the Kancamangus. I've never found many of the Laconia crowd in Gorham and especially not up at Dixville Notch and Colebrook.

The OP can always just make a quick 2 hour, St Johnsbury,Vt to Bethel, Me, dash on US-2.

May be I've just got more tolerance for sharing the road with the "Pirates", as you call them, than you do.

What is that famous NH greeting, "Welcome to NH

, now GO HOME!

"

Btw, just because I live in NJ now doesn't mean I've never lived in NH. My sister still lives in Dover. I lost my virginity to a girl from Rye.

 

[101stpathfinder]

I totally love this thread ! This is some great info on an area that I know very little about.

Don't mind me snooping over your post… I am getting ideas !

 

[SacramentoMike]

From Buffalo, stay off the NYS Thruway. Just Google "New York State Waterfalls"--there are hundreds of them, mostly in what they call the "Southern Tier" of NY, and it's all beautiful country. You can skip ALL the touristy areas and still have terrific roads and scenery. And believe me, NOBODY knows New York State like a Californian! :lol:

 

[Goodman4]

I'm enjoying this too. I think I've got the whole trip pretty well planned out and am starting to load the finished route into the GPS. Changes at work are putting some pressure on this vacation, but so far it is still a go.

On an interesting side note, I decided to learn how to use Basecamp instead of Mapsource for my GPS routing for this trip. I was really struggling with it and the info from Garmin just made it worse. I searched for a tutorial and found a PDF that was great. I was very surprised when I learned it was created by a forum member and the host of NewEnglandRiders.org which was recommended to me for New England routes right at the beginning of this thread.

The tutorial is www.newenglandriders.org/learn_basecamp_pc.pdf .

Unless we have to cut the trip short, we'll not be in much of New Hampshire until a day or two after the final weekend of Laconia.

 

[Fred W]

Yes, Tamworth is 10-15 miles Southwest of Conway. I said for the OP to do his riding North of Conway which would mean skipping the Kancamangus. I've never found many of the Laconia crowd in Gorham and especially not up at Dixville Notch and Colebrook. The OP can always just make a quick 2 hour, St Johnsbury,Vt to Bethel, Me, dash on US-2.

May be I've just got more tolerance for sharing the road with the "Pirates", as you call them, than you do.

Yeah, if you stayed on Rte 2 or North of that the crowds are not as bad during bike week. But even Gorham gets jammed up as many of the packs will run up through Pinkham Notch, then across 2 and back down through Twin Mt.

Years ago they would tend to just hang out in the lakes region south of the mountains, but in the past several years I've run into their travelling road blocks all over the state. Yes, my tolerance for their road manners is very low.

It's just really too bad for someone like Goodman that they would be coming through at that particular time and can't easily enjoy what it the prettiest part of the state. But, I guess it is good for business and the local economy. And they will certainly need it this year after such a piss poor ski season.

Unless we have to cut the trip short, we'll not be in much of New Hampshire until a day or two after the final weekend of Laconia.

In that case, by all means hit some of the White Mountains roads. If you can email me your GPS route when you have it completed I can take a look at it and suggest a few roads that aren't necessarily the ones you would have picked coming through.

What is that famous NH greeting, "Welcome to NH

, now GO HOME!

"

Well, you got that part right, Mike.

And please leave your money at one of our big state liquor stores on the way out.

 

[Goodman4]

I'm getting squeezed with timing at work. Do you think this trip would work almost 4 weeks earlier - May 15 to May 30? Summarizing the basic route again:

- Slab from KY to Niagara Falls

- across NY through Letchworth, Watkins Glen

- Adirondacks and Green Mountains in NY and VT

- Straight over to Bar Harbor / Mt Desert

- Up into New Brunswick and ride Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia

- Work our way back down through port towns of Maine

- NH White Mountains

- SW Massachusetts

- Slab home

I am ignorant of NE Weather, so advice is appreciated. If we had to cut Nova Scotia, it could still be a go, but Maine, NH and VT are the prime targets and we'd want at least some decent weather for that. We can handle 40 degree mornings and we can handle some rain but the two of those together suck.

Also, the only time I've been to the northeast was a quick trip around Valley Forge and Philadelphia one early spring. Everything had warmed up here in KY and was beautiful and when we got up there it was still like winter and dead. It was depressing. May should feel like spring in Maine, right?

 

[LittleJon]

NE weather is ignorant in and of itself. Expect temperature ranges somewhere between 20-80 degrees Fahrenheit, with possibilities of snow, rain, or blinding sun.

 

[Fred W]

Snow and ice would be pretty unlikely the second half of May. But it could be quite cold in the northern parts of New England, even more so up in the Canadian Maritimes. I think cutting out Nova Scotia would be a good idea if planning it in May. Sabve that for your next foray to the north and spend more time in ME, NH and VT. Since you won't have to deal with the Laconia Bike Week pirates, you could spend a couple of days knocking around in the NH / ME White mountains, and a couple of days in the VT Green Mountains.

 

[Mike Aldea]

Snow and ice would be pretty unlikely the second half of May. But it could be quite cold in the northern parts of New England, even more so up in the Canadian Maritimes. I think cutting out Nova Scotia would be a good idea if planning it in May. Sabve that for your next foray to the north and spend more time in ME, NH and VT. Since you won't have to deal with the Laconia Bike Week pirates, you could spend a couple of days knocking around in the NH / ME White mountains, and a couple of days in the VT Green Mountains.

If you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes . . . it will change.

The good new about late May is "Mud Season" will be over.

While in the White Mountains of NH be sure to visit the world famous Polly's Pancake Parlor in Sugar Hill.

 

[JIMMY REB]

Fredw is right about motorcycle week. It messes with the whole area. I work in NH but live in Maine and there must be 200 loud Hardleys going by my house every night of motorcycle week.

 

[Fred W]

I second the recco for Polly's. Go early to avoid waiting and go hungry because you'll eat a lot.

 

[Goodman4]

May is no longer an option. Right now I'm thinking I can still make the full trip work in June, so I'm planning like it's still on. I've done enough work with the routing that I could rework it into an 11 day trip if we had to. I'd have to cut out the Cabot Trail and some of NH / Massachusetts. NH only gets cut because of Laconia, not that it wouldn't be a highlight.

I probably won't know until a few days before we leave whether I can do the whole thing, cut it short, or not go at all this summer.

I am trying to whine a bit, but I certainly realize that having a team at work that allows me to take a 2 week motorcycle trip with my wife for the third year in a row is a special thing and I have no room to complain if it doesn't work out this time.

 

[Goodman4]

It's looking better for the trip. I've been converting my initial Google routes to Basecamp routes and I'm making several changes as I go. I originally based the roads off the NewEnglandRiders "best of" recommendations and it IS very helpful. I just got the newly published Butler map of NE and have been making some changes because of it.

From NY to VT I'm planning on taking the Ticonderoga Ferry now. Any issues with that? It says it runs every 20 mins.

Also, BikerGeek gave me some advice that convinced me to take the boring route through OH and NY to Buffalo instead of the Urban Traffic route through Michigan. I think I'm going to be really glad about that. He also convinced me to get an EZ-Pass and I ordered that Thursday. I'm going to try the "per trip" version and see how that goes.

Fred, I'm saving NH for last, and I'll send you that when I get it done which should be within the week. I'm starting to get excited about it.

 

[Goodman4]

Less than three weeks away and am already dreaming about getting on the road. I'm hoping for good weather so we can still do Nova Scotia. Here is most of the trip. If you need more details for any reason, PM me and I'll send you the routes. The yellow sections are just optional parts.

 

[yamafitter]

I think cutting out Nova Scotia would be a good idea if planning it in May....

You people do realize that the Cabot Trail is IN the province of Nova Scotia yes?

Watch the forecasts closely. If the weather is poor riding the Cabot Trail could be a disappointment since it can get socked in with clouds and fog. However saying that I have ridden the Cabot a number of times in June and have always had perfect conditions.

For the best views ride the Cabot Trail counterclockwise. This puts you on the shoreline side of the road....

 

[Goodman4]

Yamafitter, I'm not sure what got off track with the Cabot Trail / Nova Scotia thing, but everybody involved seems to know one is a subset of the other. I heard a rumor one or even both may be in Canada, too.

I'm watching the weather closely because we won't take Nova Scotia on at all if it's going to be socked in any heavy rain. There's enough to do in Maine and NH / VT to avoid seeing the inside of clouds for a day like we did on the Blue Ridge Parkway a couple years ago. Also, my wife has commented that she is not interested in getting blown off the road into the ocean. She's funny that way.

Right now accuweather is still forecasting good weather on the Nova Scotia days we are planning. That could be bad news because they've seldom been right that far out any other time I've planned a trip and watched their weather.

Seriously, I know we'll cut NS if by the day before we leave Bar Harbor it's calling for low clouds, high winds or thunderstorms up in northeast NE. I'm only concerned about what to do if it gets to that day and the forecast is cloudy with some occasional rain. That will be harder to decide.