Diane and I had the opportunity to do some camping and bicycling in and around Yamaska National Park, which is about 60 miles east of Montreal, Canada. We brought our tiny camper, a Rustic Trail Koala, which provides a comfortable sleeping spot. We were happy that our 21 year old Honda Element was able to tow it that far (230 miles one way on the right roads, 260+ miles when taking some wrong ones). Canada has a remarkable network of bicycle and pedestrian trails, many paved, and some packed fine gravel. There are sculptures along the trails, and beautiful scenery along the farmy and woodsy ones. Some of the town to town trails are heavily used, which provides a more urban experience. Most of the hundreds of bikers we encountered were courteous and responsible riders. We estimated that about 90% of the bikes we saw were e-bikes. Ours are not. The terrain is pretty flat, and some of the trails are rail trails, so our moderate conditioning rides over the past month or so enabled us to do a 20 mile ride Monday and a 29 mile ride Tuesday with no problem. Autos encountered at trail crossings usually stopped to let riders go, more so than at home in my opinion. Happily our riding companions knew the trails, so we didn’t have to navigate. There are plenty of trail signs, but we don’t read much French!

Yamaska National Park

Sanctuary Arts