Trans Canada trail
05-22-20, 07:09 AM
#1
Short Bald Fat and Lazy
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SW Florida
Posts: 20
Bikes: ice trike, HP velo trike
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Trans Canada trail
Request for information
Does anyone have any relatively recent information regarding the trans Canada trail, also known as the Great Trail.
Would it be amenable to a tandem bike? A recumbent bike? A tandem recumbent bike? or is it more like a stream bed only for a hard core mountain biker?
Are there facilities along the way? such as hotels/ motels pubs restaurants, shops, campsites etc.
I know there will be some stretches with more facilities than others what might those be? or what are the low facilities areas?
Are there some sections where the bugs are so bad it makes the experience untenable?
We normally go to Europe for a couple months tour but with everything going on that may not be possible this year.
All thoughts greatly appreciated.
K
Does anyone have any relatively recent information regarding the trans Canada trail, also known as the Great Trail.
Would it be amenable to a tandem bike? A recumbent bike? A tandem recumbent bike? or is it more like a stream bed only for a hard core mountain biker?
Are there facilities along the way? such as hotels/ motels pubs restaurants, shops, campsites etc.
I know there will be some stretches with more facilities than others what might those be? or what are the low facilities areas?
Are there some sections where the bugs are so bad it makes the experience untenable?
We normally go to Europe for a couple months tour but with everything going on that may not be possible this year.
All thoughts greatly appreciated.
K
05-22-20, 08:27 AM
#2
Junior Member
At 27,000 km (16,777 miles) of trail, it depends on location. Some sections are on old rail beds, other sections are hiking only, other sections are on paved roads to link up off road sections.
See thegreattrail.ca/explore-the-map for details on different sections in different Provinces
See thegreattrail.ca/explore-the-map for details on different sections in different Provinces
05-22-20, 08:54 AM
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Left Coast, Canada
Posts: 5,126
Mentioned: 24 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2236 Post(s)
Liked 1,314 Times
in
707 Posts
I live in the middle of the lower mainland BC section of the TCT, such that it is. Even here in a populated area it is sketchy - definitely not recumbent friendly. Amenities in low population areas (most of it) are sparce. There is no infrastructure planning for it as such.
It's really more of a patchwork of trail ideas at this point, rather than one defined and rideable trail like the GAP. In the metro area it follows some roads and pathways, often a rambling course. In the Fraser Valley it follows some dike systems. There are stretches we did last summer that were hike a bike through the Cascade mountains (not tandem friendly).
Then I think it links up to the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) which is a well defined railtrail route from Hope (more realistically Merritt) to Penticton and around the hills there. About 2-300km's and a good destination ride. You could probably do it on a tandem if you had wider tires (can be sandy) You can easily google lots of info about it. Then it heads east again on other rail rails that have some single track components.
If I were to try it I would pick a section and focus on that rather than trying to link the whole thing. It sounds good but the riding in many parts is not that great compared to other trips you could do. Look up The Columbia Icefield Parkway between Jasper and Banff as a good example of world class touring. You could easily do a nice tour in and around the Rockies there.
Section of KVR near Hope
At MIra Canyon
The trailhead for the TCT near Chilliwack
and what it turned into
The Columbia Icefield Parkway
Riding near Banff
It's really more of a patchwork of trail ideas at this point, rather than one defined and rideable trail like the GAP. In the metro area it follows some roads and pathways, often a rambling course. In the Fraser Valley it follows some dike systems. There are stretches we did last summer that were hike a bike through the Cascade mountains (not tandem friendly).
Then I think it links up to the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) which is a well defined railtrail route from Hope (more realistically Merritt) to Penticton and around the hills there. About 2-300km's and a good destination ride. You could probably do it on a tandem if you had wider tires (can be sandy) You can easily google lots of info about it. Then it heads east again on other rail rails that have some single track components.
If I were to try it I would pick a section and focus on that rather than trying to link the whole thing. It sounds good but the riding in many parts is not that great compared to other trips you could do. Look up The Columbia Icefield Parkway between Jasper and Banff as a good example of world class touring. You could easily do a nice tour in and around the Rockies there.
Section of KVR near Hope
At MIra Canyon
The trailhead for the TCT near Chilliwack
and what it turned into
The Columbia Icefield Parkway
Riding near Banff
Last edited by Happy Feet; 05-22-20 at 08:58 AM.
Likes For Happy Feet:
05-24-20, 02:58 PM
#4
Short Bald Fat and Lazy
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SW Florida
Posts: 20
Bikes: ice trike, HP velo trike
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Thanks
Thanks for the information and the links. I will have to do some more homework.
I have to be in southern Ontario in August (if they let me in) and was thinking of doing a few weeks there. Any thoughts as to the validity of this idea?
thx
I have to be in southern Ontario in August (if they let me in) and was thinking of doing a few weeks there. Any thoughts as to the validity of this idea?
thx
