Touring - Does anybody know about an East-West Canada Trail? How about for USA?

This weekend, I heard about an interconnecting paved trail in Canada that spans all or much of Canada from West to East (or East to West depending on your perspective).

I also heard that the USA is in the process of developing a similar trail.

Does anybody know anything about these expansive Canada or USA trails?

Please provide any information you have or advise where I might look.

The Trans Canada Trail is not yet complete. At the moment, it's a patchwork of local rail trails and other recreational paths, but has yet to be integrated into a whole. You can find details at http://www.tctrail.ca/trail.htm

johncbennett, welcome to bikeforum.com, yes your right, the trans-canada Trail, is not yet complete, I have used the Toronto, Niagara Route, It is partially completed, I don't know anything about the other provinces

It's also not paved.

People have used the trans Canada Highway, but be advised that the stretch through Northern Ontario is horrific. Go through the states to avoid it.

Bubba

The trans Canada Trail in the Atlantic Provinces is not complete except for Prince Edward Island which one can cycle from one end of the island to the other on the completed path. There are portions in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick that are passable by bicycle.

I've found that in all NB,PEI,and NS the trail medium to construct them is not always the same and as a result it can be difficult to navigate if your are using skinny road bike tires. There is an excellent portion in New Bruswick along Saint John River Valley by Edmunston, a portion in Nova Scotia via Musquodoboit valley and others portions spread throughout the provinces.

Keep an eye on the web site for the status of trails in other provinces.;)

There is a new trail system in the U.S. which goes across the upper midwest. I thought it was supposed to go across the country, but didn't see any indication of that on the website. Check it out at: http://www.northcountrytrail.org/

Also, the Trans-Canadian Highway north of Lake Superior is gorgeous country - very rugged - would give your quads a good workout. We were up there on vacation a couple weeks ago and saw many long-distance bicyclists and even spoke to one couple that had started in Victoria, BC, traveling the Trans-Canadian Highway the whole way. Unfortunately we did not have our bicycles & were so envious of every bicyclist we saw along the way!

The Trans Canada Trail is not yet complete. At the moment, it's a patchwork of local rail trails and other recreational paths, but has yet to be integrated into a whole. You can find details at http://www.tctrail.ca/trail.htm

How has this progressed over the past seven years? Anyone?

The problem with the Trans Canada trail, aside from its incompleteness, is that you can never count on its quality. In some spots it's fantastic, in others it's a rocky, completely unpassable trail that's been ripped up by ATVs. Unless you hear from another cyclist that it's good, you can waste a lot of time with trails in Canada, at least that was our experience biking in the east. Quebec tends to have excellent trails, PEI was pretty good in spots, apparently not so good in others. NB was a joke.

I recently cycled parts of Route Verte/TCT through Quebec and you can almost cross the entire province by the TCT, the Route Verte and other trails. Interestingly, some immature Quebec nationalists have gone around and vandalized many of the Trans Canada signs and spray painted over the English information placards. Most of the tourist information along the way were in French only and it is really a pity that the repressive language policies are extended to the tourist sector. I live in Quebec and I find it embarrassing, but I digress.

It would be nice if a data base if all of the off road cycling trails in North America were identified on one map!

It would be nice if a data base if all of the off road cycling trails in North America were identified on one map!

Check out this website: http://ridethisbike.com/bike_trails-north_america.htm

Ray

Check out this website: http://ridethisbike.com/bike_trails-north_america.htm

Ray

A good beginning, but very incomplete. Just in PA it overlooks the Schuylkill River Trail (27 miles) and Perkiomen Trail (20 miles).

paved and unpaved are different types of trail systems.

I thought this could be a valuable resource for those interested in crossing the USA on as little pavement as possible.....

http://www.transamtrail.com/about/

with a DELORME gazzeter atlas for each state you wanted to cross you could piece together a mighty viable xc american route.

Hi Mike,

there are 2 books which describe the Transcanada Trail. I think it's impossible to follow the trail without these guide books. I wanted to cycle the TC in Vancouver Island, but there were on signs at all and the maps of the mentioned webpage didn't help. I think it was never planned to create a complete paved cycling path through Canada. It's a mixture of local paths which are combined - if there is no path they use the Transcanada Highway (also on Vancouver Island).

I tried to buy the guide book in Victoria - but I couldn't. 5 book stores hadn't had this book. I could take once a look into this guide book in a local visitor center. There are several maps and a detailed description of the stages in.

To follow this trail would be a nice adventure...

Thomas

Just after the Trans Canada trail was opened a guy did a great blog crossing all of Canada, I think, I lost track when he hit Manitoba and canned it for the year. Unfortunately the TCT website took it down or hid it. It sure wetted my appetite, but the sections I traveled a year or two later sucked. At their best trails are wonderful. But in general they are local and can take you way out of your way. They often climb every tiny hill, some of which appear to have been laid in for the enjoyment of local afterworkers. I remember this one place on the waterfront trail in Ontario where I took a several mile digression down to the waterfront in an industrial park and eventually the trail came out one short block down the main road virtually having come full circle. Another favorite was picking up the waterfront trail in the scenic thousand islands where it immediately crosses the road, to the non-water side, into a ditch and bumps along crossing every driveway in just the sort of way that leads to getting t-bonned by people leaving their properties. I like quiet roads better than trails in most cases. Well, actually, I prefer busy roads too.

The Petis Temis over the Quebec hills on the way into NB is a great trail.