I'm planning to spend a week or so on Prince Edward Island this summer. I'm wondering if anyone has any recent experience with riding up there. Specifically, I'd like to know the general condition of the Confederation Trail, which appears to run straight through the entire province.
Also, what I'd like to do is drive up to PEI, dump my truck somewhere for the week and just go. Any thoughts on what to do with the vehicle while I'm biking? Anyone living on PEI willing to rent me some space in your driveway?
Thanks for any help.
I biked there last September. When we arrived in Souris (by ferry from les Iles de la Madeleine), we spoke with some other cyclists we encountered who had just crossed the island. They told us which parts of the Confederation Trail they liked, and which parts they didn't. They especially liked the section from Mount Stewart to St. Peters. So, we biked along the north coast near Souris on paved roads. That was nice and had very little traffic. Then, we picked up the trail at St. Peters and continued almost to Charlottetown on the trail. That part of the trail was very nice, especially along the bay near St. Peters. Near Mount Stewart, there were a fair number of mosquitos as we passed marshlands. When we left Charlottetown, we went by road to the north coast and west to Malpeque Bay. It was pretty there. Though we avoided all of the Anne stuff, traffic wasn't too bad around it because we were there right after Labour Day. We were amazed how early in September things shut down. We had to choose between taking the meandering Conf. Trail from Kensington back to C'town, or taking roads south of the trail. We opted for the latter, which turned out to be surprisingly hilly. Constant up and down on that route. I could look up the route number if you're curious. We didn't have enough time to go all the way to the western end of PEI, but most (but not all) cyclists we encountered seemed to prefer the central and eastern portions. The condition of the trail was generally OK. It's unpaved but reasonably smooth. We were both riding Bike Friday New World Tourist folding bikes, which is a touring model. From Souris to C'town we had to pull our suitcase/trailers, and we had no problems doing that on the trail. We never had to ride the trail under particularly wet conditions, though we had some rain when we were on roads.
You might want to check the provincial website to see if it says anything about parking at trailheads. I vaguely recall parking areas around some of the visitor's centres (often old rail depots) at places such as Kensington, which are right on the trail. You might want to call one of Visitor Centres and ask if you can leave your truck for a week.
I cruised through the big red mud last summer on my way across the country. I think that you might be able to park your truck at the shuttle van place on the New Brunswick side of the Confederation Bridge. If you can't park in the lot we were told (by the shuttle driver) that you could park just around the corner on the side of the road.. Worth looking in to. Good luck, have fun!
If you leave your vehicle in New Brunswick, you'll save the $40 crossing toll (taking the shuttle is free). That would pay for a few nights camping, or meals for a few days. This is what I hope to do this summer. Enjoy the trip.
View Profile
View Forum Posts
Reply With Quote
