Hi,
I’m Jason from London (UK), hoping to find here anything that may help me plan a trip from Halifax to Quebec in August 2017 (exact dates yet to be finalised). I have a bunch of general and specific questions that I’m hoping people may be able to help me with. To kick off with specifics, I’ll ride from Halifax to a friend's place not far from Carelton-sur-Mer, just within the Gaspé peninsular. I have a maximum of five days for this trip.
It looks to me like there are two main alternative routes – the ‘coastal route’ going north east from Halifax, then roughly follow the line of the coast towards Campbellton; and the ‘inland route’ which would go first to Digby, on the Bay of Fundy, then take the ferry over to Saint John, up to Fredericton and on to Campbelltown.

Question one: I currently fancy the inland route, it looks a bit more fun, and perhaps more varied for scenery (and maybe less heavy traffic??). Is any of that right?

Question two: what are the prevailing winds and temperature/humidity like in August? Is there likely to be much difference between the coast and the inland route? For you guys who ride in this area, how much do you need to drink per hour?

Other questions are specific to the routes I’m proposing. My (initial sketch) itinerary looks like this:

Day 1: Halifax – Digby (by going straight west across N.S., via East Dalhousie, ie not taking Highway 1)
Day 2: rest day, ferry to Saint John
Day 3: Saint John to Fredericton, initially by heading north to Kingston, then crossing the river at Evandale and up to Gagetown
Day 4: Fredericton to Plaster Rock, via Bath and Arthurette (highways 104, 105 and 109, I think)
Day 5: Plaster Rock to Gaspé, via Riley Brook, Saint Quentin and Campbellton

General questions: what are the roads like? Are there lots of roadside restaurants/shops to buy food and water along the way? I usually ride with two or three bottles, and a pocket of carbs but may supplement this with a pannier for this trip so could carry extra water.
Does this proposed route miss out on any unmissable scenery/lovely roads, etc? I’m trying to keep my daily distance down because days one, four and five are already over 250km, which is quite far for me, but if there’s something amazing out there, I’d love to know.
If I took the coastal route (eg Halifax – Truro – Moncton – Campbellton) I could avoid taking a rest day, thus reducing the distance required each day (quite attractive to me) but the topography doesn’t look as nice on that route. Any comments?
Really, any insights will be gratefully received.
Thanks!

Jason in London

Hi Jason,

I can only comment on the Halifax Area and coastal bicycling 30 miles to the south-west and north-east from Halifax, whereas I've driven most of the inland roads.
The number 2 highway Halifax to Truro is quite busy with lot's of stores and not much paved shoulder. Once past Truro I would imagine a lot less traffic.
The rails-to-trails is very good parallel with the 3 to Chester or Bridgewater. Once you leave the coast and head inland it's pretty sparse with the only stores being at the intersection of some of the main roads in the middle. The roads are long rolling hills again no paved shoulders. Once you reach the valley I've heard they've been doing a good job on their rails-to-trails which would take you to the ferry.

If you google-maps and turn on Bicycling routes you'll see the majority of the routes are in the southern coastal areas of the province.

Municipality of the County of Annapolis - BICYCLE ANNAPOLIS COUNTY: A Cyclist's Guide To Outdoor Adventure

If I can be any further help, don't hesitate.

Hi Warren,
Thanks very much for this - much appreciated. I'm going to get out my maps (as well as the bicycle route on Google maps) and figure things out based on what you say, and probably come back to you later - maybe next week (busy with work now). If I could put together a straight-through one-day route that would be really cool.

In NB if you cross at Evandale you will have to cross again to get to Gagetown and there WILL be a lot of serious climbing involved. If you WANT to go through Gagetown (very lovely village), it would be best to stay on rt 102 from Saint John and follow the Saint John river all the way to Fredericton. The roads are narrow with little to no shoulders but not very well traveled by cars until you get near Gagetown. Moncton to Fredericton is a nice tour on the back roads with only about 30 miles of sub-par roads of a roughly 100 mile ride. IMO I would not consider the Campbellton route because of the climbing (Miramichi - Campbellton) Where in Quebec are you going?

I have to say that you may be really underestimating the time it will take to do your NS leg. Halifax-Digby is at least 240 kms of rolling country no matter what route you take and to do it in a day will require ironman strength. Plan on 2 days, go along old highway 1 for water and support and stop at the top of the Annapolis Valley near Wolfville. Email me at warren@slowdough.ca (lots of Warrens here!) as a backup. There's lots of space to camp 'rough', or do a campground or take a motel. Then it's the rails/trails and old highway 1 will get you to Digby and the ride is lovely. To cross the province otherwise via crappy roads will be a roll of the dice...lots of gravel, bugs and not much else. It's very rural and basic here.

Agree, except that he'd be crossing at Evandale in the correct direction - he'd be coming through Belleisle after doing the Rothesay - Quispamsis - Gondola Pt Ferry, cross Kingston....
and then I'm not sure if you're planning to cross at the Belleisle Bay ferry. I'd recommend it unless you're wanting to add distance that day - and if you are, you could bike around either Saint John or Fredericton, both interesting cities.

I'd recommend that route. A bit hilly, but beautiful. The run through Grand Bay-Westfield isn't as nice, and isn't a lot flatter.

I have cycled both routes. If he is going for an easy day than the 102 is the way to go and the scenery is excellent.

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread, I'm sorry I didn't get back here before now. Yes, I did this trip as planned this summer (August 2017) and very nice it was, too. For anyone else planning similar routes, I'd say that I found Halifax - Digby just fine for a day trip, it's surfaced all the way, and there's water available along the route. I'm accustomed to roads in SE UK, and by comparison Atlantic Canada is empty, friendly and very nice. The Digby ferry is fun (I saw a whale and lots of porpoises, gannets and other seabirds), and Saint John - Fredericton is good, too - big wide river valleys, lots of trees, and some nice little ferries to break it up. For other Europeans, I'd say Go to Atlantic Canada, it's great. High points for me were the scallops in Digby, some nice beer in Saint John, and chatting to people along the way. I ended up in Nouvelle, Gaspe, Quebec, some nice scenery up there, too. Highly recommended. x