You can see a great deal of Canada at highway speed, sure, but imagine how much more of it you’ll see at human speed. Spurred by an increase in awareness of healthy and active living—coupled with a spreading environmental consciousness—more visitors to Canada are bringing their wheels with them when they come. They’re exploring cities, cruising farms and wineries, venturing into the backcountry or sampling our daring lift-serviced downhill parks. Here, 10 places to put some mettle to the pedals.
1. If you live for long, gruelling, bug-chewing, thigh-mashing climbs, don't bother visiting Prince Edward Island. This is a casual cyclist’s paradise, with long country back roads that thread past ocean beaches and through pastoral farmlands, never rising more than 142 m (466 ft) above sea level. If you don’t want to box up your own wheels, more than 25 rental shops will set you up with any kind of bike, including tandems and trail-a-bike third-wheel rigs for the kids. Visit Prince Edward Island.
2. The Route verte isn’t so much a designed cycling trail as it is a network of trails that crisscross Quebec. Some sections of the 4,000-km (2,485-mi) route wind through city streets; others traverse villages and country lanes along the St. Lawrence River. If you want to sample a bit of the route without bringing your bike, try Bixi, a brand-new system of pay-per-use rental bikes throughout downtown Montréal. Visit Quebec.
3. Cycling in Saskatchewan? Sure; though the prairie is indeed flat as a cake pan, cyclists have long enjoyed the secret that is Highway 56, which winds through the lush 2.5-km-wide (1.6-mi-wide) Qu’Appelle Valley, just a few clicks north of the Trans-Canada Highway. Roadies make their way along the Fishing Lakes chain comprised of Pasqua, Echo, Mission and Katepwa lakes—and through the small communities of Fort Qu’Appelle, Lebret and Katepwa Point Provincial Park. It’s a multi-day tour through one of the nation's hidden treasures, with Saskatoon berries, bridges, rivers and smiles all along the way. Visit Saskatchewan.
4. Like many backcountry routes, British Columbia’s Kettle Valley Rail Trail follows a long-abandoned right-of-way around gentle curves and up forgiving climbs—the kind of ride where scenery outweighs adrenaline. Well, mostly. The route’s thrilling Myra Canyon segment, about 80 km (50 mi) east of Penticton, ducks into tunnels and crosses 18 high steel-and-wood trestle bridges spanning roaring creeks and gullies. Visit British Columbia.
5. Nova Scotia’s classic Cabot Trail clicks with cyclists for the same reason it’s beloved by motorists: sweeping North Atlantic panoramas, authentic rural fishing villages, beaches and rolling green hills with whales blowing offshore. Note the terrain on this 300-km (186-mi) loop around Cape Breton Island can be quite challenging; this is a touring adventure nonpareil. Visit Nova Scotia.
6. Access museums, galleries, restaurants and public markets, roam forests and farm landscapes, and watch sailboats navigate 19th-century canal locks via the Capital Pathway, a well-developed network of loops and dedicated cycling trails in and around Ottawa, ON. Similarly, the provincial capital of Toronto has an impressive cycling network; the city’s Bikeway Network will have more than 1,000 km (621 mi) of cycling routes that once completed will connect you with greenways, waterfront parks, etc. Visit Ontario.
7. Thanks to The Bike Train, Ontario is emerging as a leading North American cycle-touring destination. The service connects cyclists arriving in Toronto with the wineries and waterways of the Ontario countryside by way of Via Rail—Canada’s passenger railway—which has outfitted several baggage cars to accept bicycles. Take the train, bring your bike, spend a night, explore any number of loop rides, then ride the rails back to town. Visit Ontario.
8. Boréale Mountain Biking—the Yukon’s dedicated bike outfitter—brings knobby tires out onto the tundra. Stay in yurts just across the river from Whitehorse and drop in on hundreds of kilometres of fast single-track. The company also leads trips to Carcross, a historic Klondike Gold Rush town, where mountain biking has become a catalyst for cultural and economic revival with the area’s First Nations residents. Visit Yukon.
9. Spot moose, elk and black bears as you pedal the escarpment, boreal forests and southern boreal plains in western Manitoba’s Riding Mountain National Park. Try taking the easy Central Trail out to Whitewater Lake to see the remnants of a World War II prisoner-of-war camp, where you can still see concrete foundations and a few dugout canoes—carved by German prisoners to pass away the days. Visit Manitoba.
10. Alberta fat-tire aficionados rack up their rides and head for Kananaskis Country, a region of jaw-dropping Rocky Mountain peaks, lakes and rolling foothills (Hello, “Brokeback Mountain”!) in the province’s southwest corner. On offer: more than 300 km (186 mi) of fire roads and single-track, like the famous Big Elbow-Little Elbow, a 45-km (28-mi) loop around a mountain that follows roller-coaster fire roads over creeks and gullies, with views of the jagged Opal Range. Visit Alberta.