I've got to get from Sarnia to Hamilton/Toronto in a couple weeks. Please please don't make me take 401/402...... What's a better, prettier, less scary (trucks) way to get there?

Thanks!

ChuckS

I kinda want to find this out as well, but I keep taking the 401 anyways.. I'm lazy so I don't do it but try mapquestiing and say that you don't want to go on freeways.

I wouldn't mind finding a good way back from Ottawa to Toronto avoiding the 401 but I can't imagine there being a faster way and after 5 hours I feel it enough.

go to futureshop or best buy and purchase microsoft streets and trips

it is about 40-50 bucks and it will let you find every which way between points. I love it, i have been using it weekly for years.

To get that program seems like a lot of work compared to my old strategy.. Use a compass and sometimes flip a coin. 
I've been able to find amazing roads, but I can't seem to find them for a 2nd time because I don't know where I am when I find them. I live off of Lake Ontario so I know when I want to get home head south till I hit the lake or the border then I find my way.

I might look into getting a gps thingy because even in cars I have 0 sense of direction, lol. 

Quote from: DMac on April 29, 2006, 11:46:54 AM
To get that program seems like a lot of work compared to my old strategy.. Use a compass and sometimes flip a coin. 
I've been able to find amazing roads, but I can't seem to find them for a 2nd time because I don't know where I am when I find them. I live off of Lake Ontario so I know when I want to get home head south till I hit the lake or the border then I find my way.

I might look into getting a gps thingy because even in cars I have 0 sense of direction, lol. 

today i bought a handlebar mount for my garmin geko gps i use for hiking.

Thanks guys!  I'm too cheap to actually buy anything, so I'll just leave early & go East until I get there.  Love my GPS, but I always try to defer to local knowledge.  More than once I've been on what was supposed to be a real road that turned into a cowpath.  Fun, but tough if I'm on a schedule.

ChuckS

Chuck,

If I didn't care how long it took and I had all day to get there, I'd take Hwy 7 from where it starts (or ends) the foot of Centennial Park (Front St) in Sarnia, above London, past Stratford, all the way to Kitchner.  Make a right there on Hwy 8 South, through Cambridge, Dundas and into Hamilton.  A lot of pretty farm land though there are quite a few miles of straight roads. You'll hit the Niagara Escarpment in the last 10 miles of so.  Should be a pretty view coming into Hamilton.

I've been on both these roads and for the most part they're two lane and good asphalt.  No guarantees on slow-moving traffic or farm vehicles. 

When I head from Sarnia to Toronto it takes me 2-1/2 hours via 402 & 401 -- you'll need at least 4 hours to do it via Hwys 7 & 8.  This is not the direct route but way more fun.    They're "historic" roads designed in the 1800's so they go through every little farming town.  (Hwy 7 goes all the way to Ottawa.)

If you do it, grab a camera and write us up a story of what you see.

I like highway 7 - i ride that road often

the rural drivers are often more alert on the roads than some of the minivans swerving every which way on roads closer into the city.

Quote from: RedShift on April 30, 2006, 12:21:03 PM
I'd take Hwy 7 from where it starts (or ends) the foot of Centennial Park (Front St) in Sarnia, above London, past Stratford, all the way to Kitchner.  Make a right there on Hwy 8 South, through Cambridge, Dundas and into Hamilton. 

Like Mike_Mike says, take 7 from Sarnia (turns into 22) ... then alternatively, shortly after London, duck down to Hwy 2 and it'll take you right into Hamilton.  Perhaps a little shorter.  If you don't want to pay the money for Street and Trips, try maps.google.ca or mapquest.   

the OPP bike cops are all over the place this morning - looks like they're out now.. so be careful.

Quote from: daneilah on May 01, 2006, 07:05:37 AM

Quote from: RedShift on April 30, 2006, 12:21:03 PM
I'd take Hwy 7 from where it starts (or ends) the foot of Centennial Park (Front St) in Sarnia, above London, past Stratford, all the way to Kitchner.  Make a right there on Hwy 8 South, through Cambridge, Dundas and into Hamilton. 

Like Mike_Mike says, take 7 from Sarnia (turns into 22) ... then alternatively, shortly after London, duck down to Hwy 2 and it'll take you right into Hamilton.  Perhaps a little shorter.  If you don't want to pay the money for Street and Trips, try maps.google.ca or mapquest.   

I agree that Daneilah has the more direct route.  But you do need to go through London, Woodstock & Brantford.  Microsoft Trips & Streets says it'll take a little over three hours -- not bad considering the back roads.  Daneilah's suggestion has the benefit that you're paralleling the 402, 401 & 403 highways, so anytime you feel you're not making progress, you have an out.