Pembroke Stratos 285XL Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Myself and three other fellows have planned a last-minute RAP tour leaving from Pembroke/Petawawa where we live going counter-clockwise around Algonquin Park, leaving this Wednesday morning and returning Friday. First night in Bonfield (Dinner Bell), second night in Dwight (Spring Lake Resort, never stayed there before), third day back home. Its been 6 years since I have done the RAP tour, I'm not that familiar with the west side of the park. We will be stacking to the common trails (D101B, TOP D). Can anyone offer any suggestions or input? I've heard that the TOP D between Astorville and Trout Creek is iffy...any input or tips for us would be welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whits-end Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 You're gonna run some road no matter which route you choose, but my choice from Bonfield would be to take A102D (staked) west across Lake Nosbonsing to Top D thru Astorville. At that point there's no choice but to run the main street thru Astorville, which may be down to pavement. Just south, turn west on D102C to C110D. Then turn south on SSR700, past the south end of Powassan, and back on to Top D. You eliminate a big chunk of road running on Top D this way. You will ride some forest access road south of Trout Creek, but there's usually some snow on it. Any road running south of that should be well covered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aar0n Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 You're gonna run some road no matter which route you choose, but my choice from Bonfield would be to take A102D (staked) west across Lake Nosbonsing to Top D thru Astorville. At that point there's no choice but to run the main street thru Astorville, which may be down to pavement. Just south, turn west on D102C to C110D. Then turn south on SSR700, past the south end of Powassan, and back on to Top D. You eliminate a big chunk of road running on Top D this way. You will ride some forest access road south of Trout Creek, but there's usually some snow on it. Any road running south of that should be well covered. Astorville main town road even if bare really isn't that bad of a haul. Id say 200m and your done. South of trout creek about 10k of road but fast and should have decent snow coverage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grover_yyz Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 That's going to be a fast trip. You won't have time to stop and smell the pinecones. Hope you have a good trip. Spring lake in Dwight is very good. Restaurant is on site and free wifi. Warm comfortable rooms. Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aar0n Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 that 3rd day is very long Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pembroke Stratos 285XL Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 You're gonna run some road no matter which route you choose, but my choice from Bonfield would be to take A102D (staked) west across Lake Nosbonsing to Top D thru Astorville. At that point there's no choice but to run the main street thru Astorville, which may be down to pavement. Just south, turn west on D102C to C110D. Then turn south on SSR700, past the south end of Powassan, and back on to Top D. You eliminate a big chunk of road running on Top D this way. You will ride some forest access road south of Trout Creek, but there's usually some snow on it. Any road running south of that should be well covered. Noted thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pembroke Stratos 285XL Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 That's going to be a fast trip. You won't have time to stop and smell the pinecones. Hope you have a good trip. Spring lake in Dwight is very good. Restaurant is on site and free wifi. Warm comfortable rooms. Jerry I agree Jerry, the fellows I am going with are pretty quick, maybe a bit faster than I would go but I'm not too worried, as I'm not leading LOL. The reviews I have found for Spring Lake Resort have been positive. Is it easy to find? that 3rd day is very long I have the third day calculated out as per the OFSC Interactive Map at 282 km's (Leaving Spring Lake Resort on #77/D101B/#63/#68/#64/#62/#11 Kennesis /Redstone Lakes/TOP B home to Petawawa). Sound about right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadoo Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I agree Jerry, the fellows I am going with are pretty quick, maybe a bit faster than I would go but I'm not too worried, as I'm not leading LOL. The reviews I have found for Spring Lake Resort have been positive. Is it easy to find? I have the third day calculated out as per the OFSC Interactive Map at 282 km's (Leaving Spring Lake Resort on #77/D101B/#63/#68/#64/#62/#11 Kennesis /Redstone Lakes/TOP B home to Petawawa). Sound about right? great ride, you'll be home before supper easily. We ran from golden lake to baysville today. Run down 76 to Lake of bays and into Dorset. Run raven to 64 to 62 to kennisis. Or you can run 64 to sherborne and hop the lakes to kennisis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulsFST Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Staying at Spring Lake Resort Thursday night for 3 days of riding the area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobills Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Best route out of dorset is 60 63 68 62 which takes you across kawagma lake to kennesis. Sounds like a lot but it's super easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PISTON LAKE CRUISER Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 You're gonna run some road no matter which route you choose, but my choice from Bonfield would be to take A102D (staked) west across Lake Nosbonsing to Top D thru Astorville. At that point there's no choice but to run the main street thru Astorville, which may be down to pavement. Just south, turn west on D102C to C110D. Then turn south on SSR700, past the south end of Powassan, and back on to Top D. You eliminate a big chunk of road running on Top D this way. You will ride some forest access road south of Trout Creek, but there's usually some snow on it. Any road running south of that should be well covered. Pretty nice ride through Mattawa and the north loop to get to the Dinner Bell. Its a little confusing getting finding your way from A112A to the Dinner Bell. Maybe Brian or one of the other locals could chime in with easy directions You should fuel at the General store in Astorville since there isn't fuel real close to the trail until you get down in the Kearney area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pembroke Stratos 285XL Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Pretty nice ride through Mattawa and the north loop to get to the Dinner Bell. Its a little confusing getting finding your way from A112A to the Dinner Bell. Maybe Brian or one of the other locals could chime in with easy directions You should fuel at the General store in Astorville since there isn't fuel real close to the trail until you get down in the Kearney area. Good advice, I will make sure we fuel up at Astorville off of Lake Nosbossing. I agree on the north trail, awesome ride. Is the fuel stop in Kearney well marked from the trail? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 You should fuel at the General store in Astorville since there isn't fuel real close to the trail until you get down in the Sand Lake/Kearney area. X2 on that. You don't actually have to go into Kearney for gas. On Sand Lake (closer to TOP D), Edgewater & Silversands had fuel last winter. Can anyone update this winter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aar0n Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 X2 on that. You don't actually have to go into Kearney for gas. On Sand Lake (closer to TOP D), Edgewater & Silversands had fuel last winter. Can anyone update this winter? They have fuel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viperules700 Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 They have fuel. Edge-water only has fuel. It is 1.30 for 91! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkronOrange Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 We did the RAP about a month ago. It was not a good experience, hope yours is better. We did ride the weekend. It was very busy in places and the trails were rougher than I thought they should have been and there was too much road riding. I did post an update for each of our three days. Post your experience here, I'll be interested in your experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 AO, the weather/snow conditions have in improved in southern Ontario since your trip. It's hard to schedule a RAP tour ahead of time because of the weather can vary so much. A friend that has a cottage on Oxbow Lake beside D101B said her road (West Oxbow), Limberlost and Billie Bear roads were snow covered on Friday. That stretch of D101B can be hit or miss for snow coverage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blakesnowcrest Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 You're gonna run some road no matter which route you choose, but my choice from Bonfield would be to take A102D (staked) west across Lake Nosbonsing to Top D thru Astorville. At that point there's no choice but to run the main street thru Astorville, which may be down to pavement. Just south, turn west on D102C to C110D. Then turn south on SSR700, past the south end of Powassan, and back on to Top D. You eliminate a big chunk of road running on Top D this way. You will ride some forest access road south of Trout Creek, but there's usually some snow on it. Any road running south of that should be well covered. The road running in astorville was not too bad last weekend. X2 on that. You don't actually have to go into Kearney for gas. On Sand Lake (closer to TOP D), Edgewater & Silversands had fuel last winter. Can anyone update this winter? Edgewater has gas. Great Place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pembroke Stratos 285XL Posted February 24, 2015 Author Share Posted February 24, 2015 Thanks for all the help folks, I will report back when we return! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nunz Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Thanks for all the help folks, I will report back when we return! Have a great trip....!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Myself and three other fellows have planned a last-minute RAP tour leaving from Pembroke/Petawawa where we live going counter-clockwise around Algonquin Park, leaving this Wednesday morning and returning Friday. First night in Bonfield (Dinner Bell) My son and I just completed that route yesterday (pics and report to follow). Pembroke to Bonfield (Dinner Bell) was our 'Day 2'. We rode the A trail: Pembroke>Pettawawa>Deep River>Stonecliffe (fuel)>Bonfield (Yamaha 4 strokes, one 'low fuel' light came on as we were approaching Bonfield - so use caution and ride up to Mattawa if you don't have the range). Exactly 7.5 hours "on trail" with only 1 fuel stop in Stonecliffe since we continued on Top A rather than make the jog up into Mattawa. My advice - add an hour, stop for gas and lunch in Mattawa (Valois) and take A112A into Bonfield. It's wide open gas lines and logging roads. Trails were absolutely mint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 One of the reasons we ran counter-clockwise was to take advantage of the forecasted weekend snow and run the roads of Top D rather than swing out to Powasson as we did in years past. So, using Whitt's End's intial advice: " my choice from Bonfield would be to take A102D (staked) west across Lake Nosbonsing to Top D thru Astorville. At that point there's no choice but to run the main street thru Astorville, which may be down to pavement (depends on your conditions...we were lucky that the forecasted snow arrived). See image for "short road rash" location. By now, you've either gotten fuel near Dinner Bell (pm for further info) or will stop at the gas station on the staked Lake Nosbonsing (oddly, no sign on the lake). Image attached for the stake line that runs almost to the gas station, but veers sharply left. I noticed gas pumps outside the General Store that Piston Lake Cruiser mentioned, but we stopped a few kms. earlier, 'lake-side', for fuel. There's also a sign for fuel a few kms south of town (Feed mill?) but we didn't check for a 'pump open' sign there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 There's also a sign for fuel a few kms south of town (Feed mill?) but we didn't check for a 'pump open' sign there. I had seen that signage as well during either our RAN or RAP trips. I checked 1trailmaker's site & no location on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 I've heard that the TOP D between Astorville and Trout Creek is iffy...any input or tips for us would be welcome! With "new snow", no problem running the 10 km road and stay on the D trail. Otherwise, swing out to Powasson as mentioned above. Our route was Bonfield to Dorset. D trail, roads and lakes. Bonfield>D Trail>Kearney (arrive on fumes, a common theme)>D West to 95>95 south to the lakes (Peninsula Lake in front of Deerhurst)>Staked Lake of Bays route to Dwight > Unstaked but well travelled Lake route to Dorset. Don't ride the lakes unless there's someone there to guide you. We were warned at lunch in Kearney that Trail 95 involves lots of roads and, once again, only went that way due to fresh snow. If you take it, Trail 95 punches you out at Deerhurst Resort outside of Huntsville. You can take the staked Peninsula Lake trail 77 across and then land trails to Dwight. The hash marks are my "express" lake route. Again, exercise caution. Ride with a guide if veering off the stake line (#77) on Peninsula lake. What would I do differently? Get gas at Edgewater Park Lodge (see above comments). We were hell bent on seeing the Iron Skillet restaurant in Kearney, and once again didn't want to divert to the Edgewater for fuel/food. We got fuel in Kearney and had an incredible lunch at the Iron Skillet. If you get fuel/lunch at Edgewater then you can take D101B and tie into the "70's" trails to Dwight. Or, D101B into the bottom portion of Trail 95 and the ice run outlined above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 I have the third day calculated out as per the OFSC Interactive Map at 282 km's (Leaving Spring Lake Resort on #77/D101B/#63/#68/#64/#62/#11 Kennesis /Redstone Lakes/TOP B home to Petawawa). Sound about right? Yes, sounds about right. Take Gobills advice once you get to Dorset (ironically, the route we took Sunday am): Gobills - "Best route out of dorset is 60 63 68 62 which takes you across kawagma lake to kennesis. Sounds like a lot but it's super easy" Consider lunch at Haliburton Forest off Kennisis Lake (fuel as well, although you'll only have burned a 1/3 tank from Dorset...but way more from Dwight). Best to get fuel since you'll pass the pumps on the way to the Haliburton Forest restaurant anyways. Then Trail 11 (back past gas pumps, right 200 metres later); stay on Trail 11 to B Trail, and either B (recommended on this long day) or up one of the side trails. Careful - many gas stations close at 6 pm (Whitney and Mattawaska come to mind). Barry's Bay is a safe bet. Have a great trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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