The Best of Ontario Motorcycle Touring Bucket List

There's Enough to Keep the Adventurous Rider Busy Right Here in Our Backyard

When it comes to satisfying the desire to travel and explore I often turn to the distant and exotic as the only means to quench the travel thirst. It’s “the grass is always greener somewhere else” mentality. Then I open up a road map of Ontario, browse a web site like this or skim a few forums and instantly a season full of adventures materializes. 

In the past four seasons I have managed to clock forty thousand kilometres on the odometer and have yet to leave the province of Ontario. Whether your bike is sporting slicks or knobby, whether you are looking for a weekend getaway or a month-long tour, believe me when I say there is plenty of green grass, grey gravel and black tar right here in Ontario.

Need some help planning? Here are a dozen adventures to get you started:

Biker's Reunion 2014: The Biggest Motorcycle Event in the North

When it comes to motorcycle gatherings, the Bikers Reunion in New Liskeard is on top of the must-do heap. Thousands of bikes, a festival kind of vibe, lakeside setting and a good cause. It’s a solid day’s ride for most which means getting there is half the fun!

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Algonquin Park Route - Adventurizing a Classic

The ride to and through Algonquin Park is an Ontario motorcycling classic but what if you prefer knobby to slicks and gravel to tar? No worries this adventure bike friendly route might become a classic in its own right.

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A Kind of Reckless Joy: New Pavement and Old Secrets Make the Great Legends Tour One of the Best 

Like the above photo demonstrates, The Great Legends Tour means plenty of turns and little traffic. Encompassing some of the best roads in Northeastern Ontario add to this an array of interesting roadside attractions and a choice of comfortable accommodation, this 1350 km five day adventure is guaranteed to leave an impression.

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Untapped Gold—Adventure Touring on the Algoma ADV Route

With the Lake Superior shore and numerous twisty paver roads to explore, Algoma has been a popular motorcycle touring destination for years. Take Algoma’s best twists and turns, add hundreds of kilometres of gravel roads and voila, adventure bike paradise, aka, The Algoma ADV Route.

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Blue Sky, Blue Water and Blue Mountains—Riding in Grey County

There’s no such thing as a bad view of the Georgian Bay and from the seat of your motorcycle these amazing views can last all day. Grey County is known for white sand beaches, plentiful waterfalls and quiet country roads, perfect for a day or a weekend. On this particular trip there was even an Elvis sighting.

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Three Days on the TCAT—Wawa, Gogama, North Bay, Toronto

Created for the two and four-wheel dirt enthusiasts, the Trans Canada Adventure Trail is an 18,000 kilometre ribbon of mostly dirt stretching from coast to coast. We sample a 1200 km section of it on a three day trip from Wawa south.

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Happiness of Loneliness—A Solo Ride Through the Ontario Highlands

The Ontario Highlands are known for its thousands of lakes which makes it a perfect motorcycling destination. "How can this be?" you ask, well, with all those lakes there is no way you can run a straight road through it. At a tad over a thousand kilometres, the Highland Route might be the ultimate long weekend getaway.

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The Journey is the Destination: Four Days Exploring Northern Ontario's Best Motorcycle Roads

Getting away from the hustle and bustle of the big town to the motorcycle touring goods of Northern Ontario often comes at a price in the form of grid lock, traffic, the slow crawl up Highway 400. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are ways to get there and enjoy every minute of the journey.

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Ride or Adventure—Riding the Path Less Traveled Through the Bruce Peninsula

The obvious path is not always the most interesting. A quick study of the Ride the Bruce motorcycle map and I realize there's more than one way to get to Tobermory even when that means getting a bit lost in the process. 

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Touring the Haliburton Highlands and Beyond—4 Must-Ride Loops 

Just a couple of hours north of Toronto, roads spider web in all directions. Yes there will be breathtaking scenery, points of interest, places to stay but sometimes it just boils down to the ride and the road beneath your wheels and these roads are as good as it gets.

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Best Kept Secret of the Motorcycle Season: An Insider's Guide to the Ride Manitoulin Rally

I always find Manitoulin Island has a certain faraway feel to it. Approaching from the north, Hwy 6 is spectacular. Arriving by ferry from Tobermory is equally memorable. Either way it takes effort to get here but I have yet to meet anyone who would say the effort is not worth it. My first trip here was for the annual Ride Manitoulin Rally and I have been coming back yearly ever since.

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69 Reasons Why Canada Does Beer Best—Soaking Up Ontario's Microbrew Culture by Motorcycle

For those of you who enjoy a fine brew after a good day’s ride this is not a route per say, more of a long-term goal. With a number of Ontario microbreweries producing some of the best beers in the world as a motorcycle / beer enthusiast all you need to do is google, pack and go. This could be a season worth of riding in itself.

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About Martin Lortz

Martin Lortz is a freelance photographer/writer specializing in the outdoor lifestyle. Whether he is covering adventure motorcycling, kayak fishing or family oriented outdoor pursuits, his passion for capturing the beauty of nature and the people that partake in it, is evident in his work. His photos and articles have appeared in magazines such as Ski Canada, Explore, Bike, Mountain Life, Couloir, Kayak Angler and Family Camping, as well as in calendars, catalogs and brochures.

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