Rollin' to the north

[shyco99]

Hey,
Im looking to go north for a week and a half road trip leaving from nyc. I have a conference in Toronto that I have to be at for about an hour so my goal is to to stuff along the way there, then do stuff in canada that is more hiking/adventuring instead of touristy. Anyone know good stuff to do en route to toronto or what stuff there is to do in that area that is sporty? This is a fledgling idea since this just came up so I dont have too much time to pan this. I need to be toronto the 9th of august and id plan on leaving the 5th or 6th and plan on being back on the 16th.

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

With a few days to get to (and from?) Toronto, and some of the best backcountry in the Northeast at your disposal then this would be a great opportunity to get out and see some nature up close and personal. This early in your planning stages I'm just going to point you to some of the areas you could include and should be looking at for the opportunities they offer. There are two basic routes you can use between New York and Toronto. Both could be driven in a day (well maybe a little longer for the 'northern' route), so any time you have in addition to that for either transit (up and back) could be used for exploring the outdoors. If you can bring along your own canoe, kayak or bicycle so much the better, but you should also be able to rent such vehicles on the fly if that suits you better.

Looking at this as a loop trip going clockwise, the northbound trip up to Toronto would first cut across northern New Jersey to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and then either continue up the Delaware River or cut through the Catskills to around Binghamton. From there you have another choice: either head east across the southern tips of the Finger Lakes to see such places as Watkins Glen, or go along the northern ends of the lakes along the old Erie Canal. In either case a great final stop before crossing the border at Niagara would be Letchworth State Park. The southbound trip home would follow the northern shore of Lake Ontario to the Thousand Islands region along the head of the St. Lawrence River, cut across the Adirondacks on NY-3 to Lakes Champlain and George, and finally follow the Hudson River valley back to New York City

AZBuck

[pancakesx]

If I were you I would go to the Catskills, if you have not already. Then head to Watkins Glen for more camping, hiking, gorges/waterfalls, and a cute little town. I would then probably head to Letchworth. The views there are amazing. Then down 20A to Buffalo where you could see Delaware Park, shop on Elmwood and Allentown or head to Route 5 and go to one of the beaches on Lake Erie-stay away from Woodlawn as it costs money and is not as nice as Hamburg Beach or Wendt beach (in Derby). Then from here you can easily hop on the 90 and head to the border. I would also recommend stopping in Lewiston if you have the time or Old Fort Niagara.