wak9

What the best route to Lake Simcoe from Bathurst and Finch? Planning a bike trip. Thank you!

MikF

I can't speak to "best" as I've only just begun exploring these roads. Last Saturday I took John St east to 14th Ave and went north on Reesor Rd (that is 22 km from my location Yonge & Finch..if I remember correctly) for the first time then onto York-Durham Line and liked it quite a lot. I liked it more than Leslie which I've gone on a few times.
https://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&q=R...ed=0CAgQ8gEwAA

When York-Durham merged with Hwy 48, east of Keswick, I turned back. In hindsight I should have gone west to Leslie at any of the roads I passed near there. Ravenshoe was closest but didn't take it so don't know.

Hope someone with more knowledge than I can help you.

cyclocommuter

When you say best do you mean shortest, least traffic, hilliest (if you're looking for a workout)?

The shortest from your place would be to head north along Leslie until you get to Keswick, Leslie becomes Queensway then Metro Road the further north you go. At some point you turn left to Lake Road which runs parallel to Metro Road.

If you prefer less traffic go all the way north along Warden until it ends at Regional Rd 8/Baseline Rd then head east about 2 km until you reach Kennedy then head north all the way to the Lake.

The hilliest route would be to head north via Concession 3 in Uxbridge... once you get to Ravenshoe (past the town of Zephyr) head West 1 km until you reach Park Road which will take you straight to Lake Simcoe.

In my case, I usually head north to Lake Simcoe via Uxbridge and head south via Warden.

wak9

I'm looking for a scenic route, not too dangerous traffic wise. I don't mind hills as long as its not excessive. Thank you!!

I'll check out those routes on Google.

lucille

My favourite ride! Cut across to Warden and ride north. Sorry, I'm not sure what the best route from your area to Warden would be, we go from Yonge. If we have less time, we take Viva bus north (from Finch Station, you can put bikes inside Viva bus where the wheelchair spots are, as long as nobody needs them), even as far as Newmarket, and cut across to Warden.

It's a great road, quiet just with local traffic, fields, horses and tons of cyclists (no amenities along the way though, none). Woodbine has better surface and shoulder, but it's a lot busier. Leslie is kind of busy too, and never feels like you're out of the city. But if you need a store, there are quite a few along the way.
We just go straight north until Warden runs out (at Baseline Rd, I think), then a quick left and a very quick right and straight all the way to the lake. Once you get to the lake, turn right and you'll go along the water, by some parks (and public bathrooms) to Jackson's point, where there's a convenience store, pub with OK food and Tim Horton's (that's all we found, I'm sure there's more). A little further on there's a Sibbald Point Provincial Park (nice way to get there is along Hedge Rd, have a look on Google Maps for Jackson's Point).

Enjoy! I love this ride!

RedWhiteandRed

The best route depends on the day of the week and the time of day. Getting north of the 407 is the hardest part from a car density perspective. You could try this route.

https://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3678563

There are many great route planning sites - the best IMHO is www.ridewithgps.com (even if you do not use a gps)

MikF

Reesor Rd/ 10th Line/ York-Durham became moderately busier for a bit north of Stouffville but on either end of that busier patch in the middle it could even be described as dull. Very little traffic, very little of anything. Although I did take notice of the farm dog that chased me and my then newly acquired bad knee! It's ease of crossing 407 being one reason I tried it. I didn't mind it being unnecessarily east of my location as I did a century, my first.

I'm definitely going to give Warden a try. Are there any recommendations of the west/ east running roads regarding amount of traffic? Most and least heavily trafficked? Those GPS sites look great. Going to have to upgrade my phone at some point.

paul2

Scenic route with low traffic: East on Finch. Left on Don Mills. Don Mills becomes Leslie. Right on Vandorf. Left on Warden. Right on Catering. Catering becomes Ravencrest. Left on Kennedy. Right on Glenwoods. Left on Mount Pleasant Trail. Left on McCowan. Right on Baldwin. Left on Catering. Right at Country Mile Rd. to remain on Catering. Curves left to become Dalton Rd. in Sutton. Lake Rd. goes along the lake.

wak9

So it didn't happen this weekend because I'm just getting over a cold. But its going down sometime in the next 10 days. I'll let you guys know which route I took and how it went and maybe take some pics. Thank you!