any advice for NY to Montreal

[georgek]

I'm heading to Montreal around Sept 17. I'm going to take a full week or so to ride up, then go to Portland, and then back to Brooklyn. I'm thinking of camping on the way too. I would rather not take I87 up, if I can help it.
I'd appreciate any other ideas for roads, or for camp sites for that matter?
Bikercamps.com has been helpful, but it seems lots of sites, at least in NY State, are closed after Labor Day.

Thanks.

[TonyT47]

Don't know about closer to NYC, but you definitely want to go through the Adirondacks and cross over into Quebec around Rouse's Point. There are plenty of backroads in QC you can pootle around on before heading to Montreal. Get a map and follow it.
Cheers,
Tony

[brownj]

I'm sure you know the part close to NYC. I love some of the parkways - the Taconic, Palisades, etc Bear mountain bridge - really anywhere along the Hudson. But the best riding IMHO is in Vermont. Route 100 is top notch and fortunately for you it runs north south through the entire state. There are many places to stop for a swim along route 100, the best known is called the Ledges in Wilmington (also close to a Vermont state campground just east of route 9/100 intersection) Vermont state campgrounds typically have beautiful locations, 3 sided huts you can pitch your tent in as well as conventional camp sites, hot showers, clean bathrooms and most always have firewood available. As you head north, if you have time, I would cross the Green Mountains on route 17 and then u-turn back to route 100 again. (Its not that long, and you will want to ride it twice.) When you get to Stowe, you can continue north on route 100 or cross Smugglers Notch. If you cross the notch, you might want to continue via Hero Island on Lake Champlain. Either way, once you cross the border, the terrain becomes much flatter as you approach Montreal. Its interesting, but the riding is nowhere near as much fun as VT. It sounds like a great trip! Have fun.

(Eating out in Canada is pricey. Don't forget your passport and proof of Canadian insurance coverage.)

Jon

[georgek]

Thanks for all the advice. What I ended up doing was not ideal, but all the roads were great. I enjoyed every minute of the ride, except for the first part.
1. Rode from nyc to portland, ME to visit friends. That was all interstate and not worth mentioning, although the bike handled it very well.
2. from portland to Montreal, I took 302 in maine to 112 through the New Hampshire White mountain area, including the Kankamangus Highway.
3. Then I found route 5 in VT and took that north all the way to Stanstead, QC.
4. Then route 55 N to route 10W (Ouest) to Montreal.
5. On the way down, I took I87 all the way, which was actually pretty nice, to around Albany, where I found 22 to take most of the rest of the way.

George

[NoRRmad]

Canadian insurance coverage? I just did a trip to the Canadian Rockies, and nobody even asked about that. Was I just lucky?

[sjbmw]

Canadian insurance coverage? I just did a trip to the Canadian Rockies, and nobody even asked about that. Was I just lucky?

Lucky in the sense that you did not have an incident to need insurance. Trips to Canuckland require a Canadian insurance card from your provider. I got pulled over in Toronto at a hockey tournament years ago, and the Toronto police gave me a warning for not having one.