Cycling 3 days from Toronto to Tobermory [275 km]

I spent 3 days cycling 275 km from Toronto to Bruce Peninsula National Park in Tobermory in my most scenic bike tour yet. Here’s how it went!

Route: https://maps.app.goo.gl/L3zCgPvGZfeeWgpy9

00:00 Intro
0:23 Day 1 – Brampton
4:30 Orangeville
6:26 Day 2 – Orangeville
11:08 Markdale
13:25 Inglis Falls + Meeting a fan!
14:59 Owen Sound
19:18 Wiarton
21:38 Day 3 – Wiarton
24:46 Lion’s Head
27:40 Brinkman’s Corners + “No Exit”
31:17 Bruce Peninsula National Park
31:51 Cyprus Lake + Hiking
34:48 The Grotto
36:14 Final Thoughts

Gear:
– Giant Escape 2
– DJI Action 4

Tips:
– The vast majority of the route is on a rail trail, it even goes downhill mostly
– The most notable rest stops are Orangeville, Markdale, Owen Sound, Wiarton and Lion’s Head
– Resources are sparse north of Lion’s Head, make sure to stock up on food + water
– You can enter Bruce Peninsula National Park by bike even if the parking is full, but you do need to pay an admission fee ($9 as of writing)
– In the Bruce Peninsula, Highway 6 is busy, but is direct and has a nice bike lane. Or you can take highway 9 like I did.
– You can return via Parkbus, and they can take your bike back too even without a bike box (you need to email them first though)
– The Parkbus meets at Cyprus Lake Head of Trails parking lot (double check with them beforehand though)

Music: First Rain by Tokiwave / トキ波 is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
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Support by RFM – NCM: https://bit.ly/4o2QlYU

Music: Filo Starquez by Journey is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
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/ @filostarquez
Support by RFM – NCM: https://bit.ly/2xGHypM

I’ve always been curious what it’s like to cycle to the Bruce Peninsula. So, I spent 3 days cycling from Toronto to Tobber through old rail trails, quaint towns, and along the waters of Georgia Bay, leading up to an epic hike from Cypress Lake into the famous grotto cycling through rain or shine. Here’s how it went. Hey everyone, it’s Zestie again and I’m over here at the north end of Bmpton and I’m going to be cycling to Tobber. So tonight’s stop is going to be Orangeville and then tomorrow from Orangeville I’m going to cycle about 150 km up to Wyon and then the day after I’m going to finish from Wyon to the Bruce Peninsula National Park and that’ll be my first time in Tober. So I’m really excited to see that. All right, let’s get going. Here you go. All right. So, I’m just at the north the north boundary of Bmpton and I’m on my way to Orangeville. Wow. Then we’re already in farmland. That was fast. There’s no shoulder whatsoever, but the traffic’s pretty calm, so I’ll take it. Man, look at these bougie mansions. I already love this route. Straight out of Bmpton, just from the north end. I’m not I’m barely made it out of the city. It’s so nice. Now, I do know there’s a pretty nasty climb uh about midway from here to Orangeville. So, yeah, you guys can see my mood changed then. So, yeah, we’ll see how that goes. What’s this? Kilman. Is that Is that the town I’m in? I guess so. Turn left here onto the Kaledan Rail Trail. Yep, here it is. And tomorrow from Orangeville to Wirein, it’s going to be almost entirely rail trail. I feel like right there when it turn right onto the road, this going to be the lowest point and it’s just going to be a climb for the rest of the day. So, it’s been fun while it’s lasted. Yep. All right. Come on. Okay. At least these hills aren’t so bad as the muscoas. Let me tell. I’ll give it that. Oh, I’m getting a cramp. Shouldn’t have had that subway foot long right before this. Damn. All right, I think this is it. The first walk of shame. There will be a day when hills like these are nothing to me. But that day is not today. I find it helps. We just look down and stare at the road. Watch the cracks pass underneath. Let’s go. Just finding out. Finally. I think that was it for today’s major elevation climb. and just go straight up to a truly flat road up to Orangeville. I got 1 hour left before sunset, but I should be able to make it to Orangeville by then before it’s dark. These roads are great. If I lived in Brmpton, I’d go up and down these roads like every day. That’s a very interesting mailbox. It’s a pack of wild turkeys. Got a mama and her six babies. All right, see the main road up ahead. I turn left. It’s going to take me all the way straight into Orangeville. There’s some nasty looking clouds up there. It’s supposed to rain tonight. All right, what to eat? This place looks pretty good. Topville Jamaican cuisine. I’m definitely in Orangeville now. Oh. Looks like I’m entering the more touristy part of the town. More like Game of Bones. Am I right? I was expecting to just blast through that center street, but it was so nice. I I really wanted to just slow down and walk it. It’s nice when you have like spare time in your itinerary and you’re not doing like crazy distances on your first day. I want to get some candy. Tonight’s haul. Got the junk food. Got the real food. It got dark very quickly. Okay, now it’s proper raining. Ah, shoot. I think this is it. What a day. Yeah, home sweet home. I am so glad I went with this than a another roach motel. We got a little bit of a mini kitchen right here. Got the microwave. Got the curig. Some complimentary snacks. Oh, that is a lot more than expected. Hell yeah. Always great to find that prolevel Airbnb host. All right, it’s 8:00 in the morning. Uh, it’s the second day and I’m just about to head out from Orangeville. Going to cycle down to Wyon. It’s going to be a long one. It’s going to be at least 150 km. Rained a lot last night and uh I was I was just waiting for the rain to stop this morning. That was a really nice day. I just want to stay here again, but I just got to keep going. It started raining again. All right. All right, here it is. The real trail. I got to keep wiping my face off. Should have brought glasses or something. Something tells me I’m not going to see any sheltered rest stops along the way. All right. At least it’s sunny somewhere. Come on. Morning. Morning. Everything’s wet. Okay, I can’t really use my phone right now, but I think I got the gist of it. It’s a little bit cold, but I’m putting off so much heat that it’s balancing out. So, I feel okay. I’m comfortable. The terrain’s pretty nice just because I am on a rail trail. I see the sun poking out from a distance, so I’m hoping it gets a little bit warmer, a little bit drier. So, not bad. I passed by a bench a while back over there. I always think, well, I don’t need to sit down right now. You know, I’ll find a bench up ahead. But that was literally the only bench I’ve seen all day. And now I’m tired. I want to sit somewhere. Just do it. Cuz you’re not going to find a bench later. One thing that I love about these rail trails is you get a lot of natural foliage and wind cover. Like it’s a pretty windy day and I can feel it when I’m out on the roads, but here the wind’s very still. Man, look at all that splashback. All the gunk that got kicked up. Time for some candy. I think I just had like 200% of my daily serving of sugar. Sun’s finally out. It’s actually warming up a little bit. If you’ve watched my previous videos, you know how much I hate the sun. But I’m just happy to see my arch nemesis back. I’m actually starting to feel warm again. What the heck? That was a unexpected surprise. One minute I was cycling through some like rural farmland and now it’s like a nice lake. Looks like the trail cuts through a town called Markdale. Maybe that’s my lunch spot cuz if I skip Markdale, it’s a slim pickings for a long time. You know, I see these little guys everywhere. Why are they everywhere? Oh my god, it’s a bench. I’m not skipping this bench. No way. So nice to get my feet off the ground, man. Even my tire pumps all gked up. Okay, much better. I think that guy was like bike packing. I saw a flag. I couldn’t tell what it was, though. Oh, good for him. I wonder how far he’s going. I’m so hungry. I could eat like a whole pizza if I wanted to. What a cute dog. Oh my gosh, that dog like lunged at me. 46 kilometers to Owen Sound. Here we go. Mark Dale. Can’t wait to eat. Is this place open? Yes, it is. Oh, it looks kind of bougie though. Really great restaurant. That’s Maryland and Markdale. Check it out. I love visiting random towns like these. They’re always so nice. People are so nice, too. All right, back on the rail trail. Oh no. I think there was an accident here. Oh, never mind. Hi. Hi. Hi. little kit with a Maybe I should bring one of those next time. Oh, they’re rocky. Oh, okay. There’s more. Holy crap. Oh no. It’s kind of nodding off there. And then those guys woke me up. So hopefully I can make it to Watton before sunset. We’ll see. Nice. It’s actually getting warm, which is good. Never mind. It’s cold again. All right, this is Rockford and that’s the end of the rail trail for me. I’m back on the streets where I belong. Is this Is this right? What the heck is this? Are these jails? But they go down somewhere. What the heck? Looks like a dungeon. Interesting. I don’t have a ton of time today, but I actually am genuinely curious what this is. Welcome to English Falls. Okay, that is so funny. I actually met someone who’s watched my videos in real life. Then you went Toronto to Niagara. Yeah, I know. That’s so crazy. I know. And then um I did a Peter bro trip and then uh that I need to see. And last week I uh I cycled to Alangqu Park. Okay. And uh now I’m cycling to Tobber. You are going to to Oh my god, that video blew up the Toronto to Ottoa. Yeah. Yeah. And I watch and it’s really beautiful that you’re going through countryside and then you’re crashing at the night and you’re currently tired as well, I believe. Yeah. I have a car. I can just make you cheat. That’s very nice of you to offer. Yeah. Thank you so much. Have a good one. Have a wonderful trip. Uh shout out to Kyville. Um it was really cool meeting you and uh yeah, back on the road. I know he was joking, but how crazy would it have been if I just hopped in Kyle’s car and he drove me up to Toberi and I just pretended that I did the trip. Here it is. The city of Bowen Sound. Never thought I would actually cycle here. I go for something warm. So cold. All these towns have been so pretty on this trip. Orangeville, Markale, and now Owens Sound. All right, just 40 more kilometers to Barton. I got 2 hours left of sunlight and I expect I’ll be arriving at least 30 minutes after the sun sets. Okay. You got this. You got this. Wow. Look at that view. This is Georgian Bay. And if you follow the the coast down this way, you’ll eventually hit Tobber in the Bruce Peninsula. This is incredible. What’s also incredible is there’s a shoulder now. Thank God. Nope. Spoke too soon. All right. Lock in. I do recommend this route at least for now. You can check the description. I always post my routes. I’m so far. Still 30 kilometers left. Oh my god. It’s like no sunlight left. Oh, my taint is so sore. This area is gorgeous. Georgian bluffs. What could have possibly been inside this box? That’s how much time I have left. It’s beautiful, though. I I just had never idea what’s in those spaces between the places we visit. There’s so much you can miss by just driving everywhere. Now entering Kembell. I’m so glad I took the long way from Owens sound to Won because of direct route. It’s 30 km but it goes along Highway 6 and I figure that’s really busy. It’s worth it. Also, the views are incredible. This is like the perfect cycling road after all that crap I went through this morning with the rain. This This kind of makes it worth it. This is so worth it. This area just south of Warton called the Georgian Bluffs has been a highlight of the trip so far. I highly recommend it. I can only hope that tomorrow on the way to Hobi the roads are like this too. Fingers crossed. I I thought I’d be cycling well into the dark, but I’m like almost there. I’m just 8 km away. Now entering Zion. Wasn’t Zion the name of that underground city in the Matrix 2 where it was just like a rave like all the time for some reason. That was such a weird movie. Even though I can’t feel my feet, like I feel great because it’s so much relatively better than the rainy morning I had to deal with. That’s what I love about bike touring. Just makes you appreciate when things just go like a little better. All right, home stretch. Wire Commons. I actually made it on time just as a sunset. I think I’m actually getting better at this bike touring thing. I’m not even in that much pain. Usually I can barely walk at this point. Going to see if they have decent hot takeout here. Imagine though someone steals my bike on one of these trips. I’m such an idiot. I got this huge bag of groceries, but place is one and a half kilometers and can’t cycle with this. And my bag just ripped. Never mind. Problem solved. That looks like the main street up ahead. It’s crazy how quickly it gets so dark. I’m not even mad that I have to walk up this incline. This day has been so wonderful. This hill is actually insane. What the heck? I made it. Spear Rock Lodge in North Barton. Let’s go. I can’t wait to pick out and gain back all the calories I lost today. All right. Is this a roach motel? Okay. Not bad. Yay. Just drying out all my stuff. Check out this haul. What a great day. It started pretty miserable coming out of Orangeville in the rain. But all in all, the terrain is just so flat. It’s so comfortable. It actually goes downhill for most of it. And even between Owens Sound and Wire, there’s so many beautiful roads up there. Cycling next to the Georgian Bluffs and the seeing Georgian Bay. And there’s like no one there, too. It’s amazing. I’m going to go eat now and then crash. Maybe I’ll post a post cycling junk food mukbang someday, but that day is not today. All right, it’s day three. I’m in where am I? I’m in Watton and I’m going to be cycling up to Bruce Pinsilla National Park up in Toverore. Uh I’ll check out a couple sites along the way. I want to check out Lion’s Head. That looks like a really nice area. The biggest variable for me is how busy these roads are. They don’t seem too bad otherwise. It should be a pretty good dry day. So, let’s do this. Pretty brisk. Just exiting Warton from the north end. There’s like a big hill going up. Oh, my joints are a little sore. Maybe someday I’ll be able to do this without any pain. It’s not today. Not a soul in sight. This is why I love cycling in the morning. Here we go. 77 km to my That’s a highway 6. That’s the big road that uh most people take up to go to Tobber. I’m going to take a right here. Going to go along Highway 9. Should be a little bit quieter. Also lets me see more of the east side of the peninsula. You can see all this mist just hanging over the brush over there. Now entering Callo Bay. I think it’s gonna be a good day. I almost missed that. I’m going to take it easy on the uphill today. My knees are acting up. This is a nice road. I think I chose well by staying off Highway 6. It’s always sad to see such a nice bike lane turn into this. You know, I should be grateful that these roads even exist to Tobber. I heard back in the day that if you want to get to Tobber, you have to go along like the beach along the side of the peninsula. So, I’m very grateful to all the public infrastructure. Oh, it’s so cold when I’m going down these hills. Woo! Just entering Adamsville. The whole town is like shrouded in this fog. I think it’s like sitting at the bottom part of a valley or something. All right, just 17 more kilometers the lines. Honestly, the hills aren’t that bad up here in Bruce Peninsula. So, it’s an almost entirely straight shot. 60 km heading north this way to get to Tobber. All right, now we’re in Lion’s Head. It’s a lot more rural than I thought it’d be. Hopefully I find something to eat. Uh, too bad it’s so early. There’s a lot of interesting looking places that are closed. Let’s check it out. Cindy lose. In college, we used to have a professor called Cindy Lou, and she was like the meanest professor you could ever have. like she would make the students cry pretty regularly. So, all my friends and I were terrified of her. And uh one time my friend Mark was called up for like a one-on-one with her. And he was so nervous to talk with her, he accidentally called her Cindy Lhoo from the Grinch. And uh we just call her that ever since. Cindy Lhoo. It’s pretty cute sound. It’s very quiet. I think they’re just wrapping up the tourist season. So, everything’s starting to close. Going to check out the lighthouse here if I can get to it. I should probably get like actual psych gloves and not just cut holes out of old ones. It’s a great stop if you’re on your way to Toberi. You can stop at the public restroom, fill up your water bottle here at the water station by the beach because there’s not much between Lion’s Head and Toberi, which is another 45 km. Just amazing. Feels good not to have to wear that gross jacket anymore. It’s like covered in sweat. My gears keep skipping. I got to get this actually tuned up. My clutch repairs aren’t cutting it anymore. Road’s starting to get a little sketchy. This will be interesting. That’s the first car I’ve seen in a while. And I’m really in the middle of nowhere right now. It’s a good thing I stocked up on water, that lion’s head. Otherwise, I’d be kind of screwed. I won’t lie. I didn’t have much expectation for how the roads are for cycling up here. But this is this is amazing. Like there’s no one around. It’s all like freshly paved. Feels like a paradise for cycling. It says no exit, but my navigation tells me to go through here. Am I going to get stuck if I go this way? I don’t know what to do. I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’ll be very upset if this ends up being a dead end. Okay, road’s getting a little more sketchy. Just take my time. I should be fine. Really don’t want to blow out a tire. Oh, good thing I’m not on a road bike. Oh my god. Oh, that was a deep puddle. Oh. Oh my god. No, don’t don’t stop. Don’t stop. Don’t stop. Okayoo. I want to get my feet wet again. Yeah. Yeah. Whoa, slippery. Oh, it’s the golf carts again. There’s like five of five more of us coming. Oh, okay. Good to know. Hold there. Awesome. Okay. Yeah. Here comes the cavalry. Oh, yeah. Have a good one. Hey. Thank you. Brave or stupid? This is kind of fun though. I won’t lie. Oh man, it stinks. Smells like something died here. Oh, there’s more. Please. No more puddles. No more puddles. Let’s get me out of here. I think I made it out of the boonies. Let’s go. Take that. No exit sign. How do I open this? It’s like a puzzle. Come on. Get me out of here. Just want to go home. Yes. What the heck? Up, Bessie. Oh, she’s so cute. All right, here we go. The last road, Highway 6. Christ, these cars are fast. Let’s see if this place has any good food. Just eating out right behind the Lone Wolf drive-thru. I kind of have to eat now cuz I don’t think I’m going to find anything to eat once I hit the park. Sun’s finally out. Got some food. Life is wonderful. I actually feel good right now. Usually I feel like I’m dying at this point in the trip. Here we go. Cypress Lake and Grotto coming up. There we go. Bruce Peninsula National Park. Let’s go. I see they have like a toll gate. That’s how they limit people coming in. If the parking is full, but you come on a bike, they’ll just let you in. You just got to pay like the N bucks for admission. Feels kind of weird to have special privilege as a cyclist for once over cars. I’m not used to that. Feels good, man. Here we go. Cypress Lake. Going to ditch the bike and hike down. There’s a couple of trails that start from the trail head that get you to the grotto. Here we go. It’s finally opening up. Oh my god, that’s amazing. This is awesome. I’ve never been here before. This is all fresh to me. Be careful. It’s really slippery. Okay. Is this the way to the grotto? I don’t know. I mean, I couldn’t get past that because you have to go in the water. Okay. And I I really slipped. So, it’s really slippery. Are you okay? Yeah, I’m okay. But it’s really slippery. Well worn. I don’t know if I’m even supposed to go this way. All right. Jesus Christ. Too bad I’m not a rock climber. Oh my god. How are we ever supposed to go past that? This is so cool. Just keep following the rocks along the the coastline. What’s nice is you can get past that little crack there cuz all the tourists stop there. I’m a tourist, too, but you know what I mean. You can just keep going this way on your own. I don’t know if I can make it all the way, but let’s see. This is so much fun. I am 100% going to get my feet wet. Watch. I just miss the grotto and just keep going along the shoreline and get lost. Let’s try going up. Yeah. Oh my god, that is a big drop. That was a crazy height. Do I dare climb down? I really shouldn’t, but I’m going to try to climb down there. Wish me luck. I got a helmet on, so that’ll help. Full disclosure, I am not a rock climber, and I don’t recommend anyone do this. Do as I say, not as I do. Okay. Uh, okay. Okay. Oh my god. What the hell am I doing? Look at the way the lights poking out through underneath. It’s like glowing. Christ. Okay. Not bad. Not bad. Getting a hang of this. This ride, I think, has been my favorite so far. It’s just amazing. And you can do it on a weekend and head back on the park bus, which I’m about to do now. You just hike down from the trail head at uh Cypress Lake and come down to the grotto and just check it out. It’s a little bit touristy, but it’s worth it. And if you can, and if you have the dexterity to do, try to climb down there cuz it’s amazing. Thanks for watching. My name is Estie. I’m the clueless biker. Be sure to subscribe and let me know where to go next. And I’ll catch you on the trail. Finish it up.