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Eastern Canada road trip days 1-7: Chicago to Quebec

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Day 1 -3.

The trip started with pretty much non-stop driving. We crossed the border in Detroit on Ambassador Bridge (after relatively short wait) and arrived at Big Band Conservation Area campground in early evening. Yes, we camped on Thames River near London. Ontario has great network of small Conservancy Areas that offer short walks, picnic and camping. Next day we passed Toronto and camped at Darlington Provincial Park on Lake Ontario, where we walked along the shore. The following day we drove to Milles Roches/Snetsinger Island campground (recommended). On the way, we spent some time exploring locks 46-49 of Rideau Canal at Kingston Mills. We also took a short break from highway-driving (Hwy 401) and slowly moved along St Lawrence River on 1000 Islands Pkwy (between Rockport and Butternut Bay) with good views on the river (Thousand Island National Park).

Day 4.  

We moved past Montreal to Petite-Rivière in Quebec where we stayed two nights at camping du Domaine à Liguori/Coopérative de Solidarité l’Affluent (recommended). We knew nothing about this place as Joanna found it in late afternoon researching options for O/N stay. Pleasant surprise: not only a nice place to stay and friendly people, but also mountains in the backyard to hike.

Day 5.

Finally without driving. We walked over to the lower Massif de Charlevoix gondola station, took the gondola to the top and following advice received at the Co-op started looking for trails to walk back down. We were unprepared. To a hiker it looked like the mountaintop was just plowed over –  it is skis and mountain bikes territory. Nobody insisted on selling us single-ride tickets as everybody else had a pass. When asked about “the trail”, locals told us just to go downhill. Friendly ATV rider directed us to power line on the horizon and we found it there. Piotr tuned-in to Organic Maps. There are many well maintained and marked walking trails on the mountain, separate from mountan bike trails. Once a bit away from the center of activity, it was quiet, with good views on surrounding hills and St Lawrence River. We completed 14 km loop (almost 3 km/650 m gondola ascent and 11 km walking) through forest with some open vistas and visiting small waterfalls near our campground (recommended).

Download Piotr’s GPX file

Day 6.

Laundry, hot shower and good, morning coffee at the Co-op, and we are ready to go. After short stop in Petite Rivière, we drove closer to the river  through small towns and villages along Rte Du Fleuve (382) from Baie Saint Paul to La Malbaie, rather than on the main highway (138). We stopped at St-Irénée beach and train station. A round trip on Train de Charlevoix along St Lawrence River sounded interesting, but we were a day behind our initial schedule already. We stopped for lunch at Boulangerie Artisanale in La Malbaie: good coffee, pastry and bread (recommended).

Next stops: Pointe-Noire Interpretation and Observation Centre to watch belugas and, after crossing Rivière Saguenay by ferry, Marine Environment Discovery Centre in Les Escoumins (both Parks Canada). We visited this part of Quebec on earlier road trip (☞ Quebec 2009). We purchased our annual park pass there (hoping to use it also in western Canada in 2024). We then observed several beluga pods for an hour or so. The Discovery Center was closed, but we were allowed to visit the rocky coast behind it – popular whale-watching spot (no luck this time).

We arrived at Les Dinosaures du Quai De Ragueneau after 7 pm.  Popular and very nice (parking lot) camping site on the peninsula (recommended on iOverlander etc) was packed with large campers. Not for us even though a tight parking spot was available. We walked around to check out the views and dinosaur-like sculptures next morning. We decided to O/N on the main picnic area parking lot (next to Oie de George-Henri Gagné) with a few other (dispersed) car-campers, not bad. Access road to perfect camp sites on the other side of the bay, which we checked-out next day, looked impassable (mud). It was getting dark and started to drizzle. Enough time to cook dinner in nearby shelter. Toilet was permanently closed. Weather was nice next morning so we took to the trail through taiga and rock outcrops along St Lawrence River.

Day 7.

Real adventure begins: we are driving from Baie Comeau inland on Quebec Rte 389 heading north towards Labrador, tank full. The first section of the road to Manic 5 is in very good shape with very few cars/trucks. It feels somewhat remote but safe. The landscape is flat with some hills. Endless dense forest, meadows, marshes, lakes, rivers and streams. Changing all the time but not in very dramatic way, making the trip relaxing. We loved the emptiness. There aren’t any organized rest stops or even just accessible side roads to park for a break. It is continuous ditch on both sides of the road. We found a decent spot on side road for Piotr’s obligatory afternoon nap. Next stops: Visitor Center at Manic 5 (very engaging staff) and viewpoint on nearby hill. The size of the dam is impressive. We learned about meteorite crater filled with water when the dam was built.  Lac Manicouagan with island in the middle, the round shape on map,  attracted our attention years ago.

Two sections of Rte 389 between Manic 5 and Labrador City are unpaved gravel, but quite well maintained (mostly). We encountered few passenger cars and a number of heavy trucks. Yes, one speeding truck sprayed our windshield with gravel (luckily causing no damage), but the road does not really live-up to its reputation as difficult, bad and dangerous. Patience and slow driving helps.

As we were driving along Lake Manicouagan, we found on map a road section running very close to the shore. We decided to look for wild camp site in this area. We took first obvious dirt road towards the lake and found good spots on stony beach, but decided to park a short distance away. Weather was changing and we thought we would be better protected from wind there. Rain and wind came, but nothing serious. There were obvious signs (tire tracks) of other visitors but no one in sight that day, even at access points further down the road. Piotr started fire on the beach and Joanna cooked dinner. All sounds great, but we were also attacked by swarms of (nasty) biting black flies. Glad we had mosquito nets, but were bitten many times anyway before we took precautions. They fly in front of your eyes just for deception but crawl into your hair and bite your neck. It takes quite some time to feel it. Painful lesson learned. End of August was supposed to be already past peak fly season.

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11-day trip to Puerto Rico

We considered different short trip options for Piotr’s birthday and decided on “tropical island” – Puerto Rico. The main reason: it has three of World’s five bioluminescent bays, including the brightest one, which we really wanted to visit. Tickets were reasonably priced (Frontier). We arrived on time on the way-in, but were significantly delayed on the way back – we decided to rebook for the following day (non-stop flight to Chicago) rather than being stuck in Atlanta. Everything else was easy to arrange even on short notice (airbnbs, car rental, ferry, tours). We were very happy with the selected airbnbs (only one had less than ideal localization, it was selected on the spot for the last night after flight delay), all were very clean, well-organized and with kitchens/kitchenette. Some were really large with bedroom and living room. Hosts were easy to interact with and helpful. Food was good, especially seafood, but vegetables were scarce. Overall prices were similar to US, slightly cheaper.

We drove 770 km in rental Hyundai Sonata (from Enterprise in Isla Verde, good service). It was supposed to be Toyota. Piotr did not quite like small windows and low roof. We also used ferry and shuttles across Vieques island plus two tours. We even managed to take a bus from the airport twice, despite everyone saying that public transport does not work – it works well, but there is very little information. Driving required quite a bit of concentration on often narrow and winding roads (Joanna chose Ruta Panoramica through mountainous interior), some with sudden changes in pavement quality (potholes) and markings. Major highways (some with tolls, but most paid roads can be easily avoided) are OK. Most drivers are relaxed and we had no problems at all. The number of cars everywhere was quite surprising. As always, we walked a lot – 10 km a day on average (the seven short & easy trails shown on the map below are just 39 km).

We visited several forests (two tropical rain forests, a cloud forest, dry costal forest, mangroves) and a dozen beaches, some with good swimming some with sargassum accumulation to different degree. At El Yunque, rain forest  covers low, sometimes rugged hills on old volcanic foundations. The rest of Puerto Rico is pretty much uplifted and eroded limestone formation.

There is still damage from hurricanes Maria and Fiona, some abandoned properties, many trails and tourist amenities closed, but many houses and businesses were freshly renovated.

Puerto Rico road trip

Interactive map
Resources

additional resources/links are included in location-specific posts
☞ Rough Guides: Puerto Rico
☞ iNaturalist Puerto Rico
☞ PR Day Trips
☞ PR Travel Guide
☞ Ruta Panoramica map 1
☞ Ruta Panoramica map 2 (East)

Photo gallery – 120 photos
Nature – 102 photos
More on Puerto Rico (4 posts)
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Puerto Rico day 9-11: Bosque de Guánica and north coast (Arecibo – San Juan)

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Guánica State Forest was our next destination for its unique, considered largest and most pristine tropical dry coastal forest ecosystem (and Biosphere Reserve). It is located on the south shore (southeast of the island) facing Carribean Sea. Driving to Guanica was quite slow and boring. First stop was at Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center and botanical garden on the outskirts of Ponce with interesting plants used by indigenous Taino. We then drove along the coast to Playa Tamarindo, parked our car at the end of the road and walked part of Meseta Trail along the coast stopping frequently to examin often unique (to us) plants and birds. Plus swiming at Tamarindo beach afterwards. It was much hotter than in the mountains. Altogether we spent just four hours there and came back to Utuado at dusk. More photos of plants from the forest are in our Puerto Rico ☞ nature photo album.

On what we thought was our last day in Puerto Rico, we drove north to Arecibo for last swim at La Poza del Obispo, spent an hour exploring Cueva del Indio Nature Reserve which we realy enjoyed,  stopped briefly at Playa Caracoles, ate late lunch at Pura Pesca (recommended) in Barcenoleta, beat traffic to San Juan to return our rental, took bus to the airport and checked-in for our flight back. Only to discover a moment later that our flight departure was delayed by full 2 hours, more than our layover in Atlanta.  Quick decission to stay in San Juan rather than being stranded over night in Atlanta. Luckily we were rebooked for a better=direct flight next day. Our apartment that we quickly booked was nice and clean, but in less than perfect location. With extra time, in the evening we walked to Playa Ocean Park and back home through gated neighbourhood. And then again to the same beach for morning swim. Lunch at Degetau Sea Food Restaurant and we were back at the airport for an easy flight to Chicago. The day was very hot so we used Uber for transportation (efficient but requires patience to get good rates).

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Puerto Rico day 7 & 8: Ruta Panorámica and Rio Tanamá

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Ruta Panorámica runs 250 km from Maunabo in Southeast to Mayagüez in the West,  but we had one day to cover only 60-km PR143-section between Barranquitas and Adjuntas. We first drove quickly to Cidra and then followed PR172 and PR156 (already interesting) to Mirador Suñé (Barranquitas) for a quick look at Cañón San Cristóbal. A short drive later we joined Ruta Panorámica proper. The road winds along the central mountain range (Cordillera Central) most of the time staying on top of the hills/ridges with great views on surrounding forest, fields and small villages. The green had many shades from bright and yellowish in full sun to dark and bluish when the sky was overcast. We made several stops on the way: in Barranquitas, at a  small store looking for some food (not much choice), at  Al Horno Bakery & Coffee Shop for lunch break for good coffee and sweets (recommended), at Mirador Orocovis-Villalba, at Charco de los Suspiros to hike to Torre de Toro Negro (5.5-km loop), and at El Banquillo (best views). We followed PR10/ PR123 to  PR111  in Utuado and then to comfortable Mi Casita (recommended) with wonderful hosts, our base for 3 night, across the road from Capilla Perpetuo Socorro just off PR611 (winding and narrow).

Excellent practice of driving on narrow, winding roads with many potholes – all day just  135 km, not rushed. We had enough time for hikes which proved excellent: a short and well maintened Vereda Suñé to see a deep Cañón San Cristóbal and a longer trail in Toro Negro rainforest, much less popular than El Yunque. All tourist amenities (information, bathrooms, picknic areas) were closed at all viewpoints and trails but parking and limited number of trails were available.

Cañón San Cristóbal, view from Mirador Suñé

View from Torre de Toro Negro

Next day we made a trip to Rio Tanamá to kayak through Cueva El Portillo and then walk in the river and swim to Cueva Del Arco. The kayaking part was with a large group, but the second part was just us and our guide. We just wished the river exploration and swimming part was longer. The tour was very well organized by ☞ Batey Adventures (recommended ☞ TA review). Edwin, our guide, turn out to be also a gifted naturalist with good knowledge of local nature and very easy to interact with. After the tour, we walked across the street (PR111) from Batey’s office to Caguana Ceremonial Indigenous Heritage Center to learn about Taino past. Interesting archeological site and small botanical garden (recommended). We continued west on PR111 to Lares to try rosted pork at Lechonera Rancho T (very good), Piotr explored Heladería Lares and we walked around the town center to check out some murals. When we came back to Mia Casite we finally got to see coqui that we heard everywhere, all the time.

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Puerto Rico day 5 & 6: El Yunque and San Juan

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El Yunque National Forest (☞ reservation required) has the tropical magic: rainforest, fast moving low clouds, fog, passing drizzles and green vegetation.  On the way from Fajardo, we took really local road (google map challenge): narrow, winding, with potholes, but luckily no traffic. We drove to the last parking lot on PR 191. Trail status was not clear, what was closed, what had been opened. We started on the El Yunque Peak trail only to learn at the junction that the last section was closed. We walked to Los Picachos instead – very nice trail with a good viewpoint – and returned the same way with a short detour to Mt Britton Tower. We stopped a few times along PR 191 on the way back to visit historic pools/baths (long closed) and observation towers (open) constructed by Civilian Conservation Corps in 1930s and some small waterfalls. We arrived at Luquillo at what looked like serious rush hour – of course, we wanted to check out Kioskos. We had  dinner there and a quick swim at a very popular beach, and then beating heavy local traffic we came back to Fajardo.

It was now time to go back and visit San Juan old town. Prep work paid off – we quickly found our way to paid parking lot near the harbor ($3 per day), just where we wanted to be.  Street parking may be permitted in this part of town, but looked impossible. And we walked – first outside city walls on a lovely path along the bay, via San Juan gate near La Fortaleza and to Castillo San Felipe del Morro. After exploring the fortress we wandered through the old town, visiting beautiful gardens of Casa Blanca and to Castillo San Cristobal, another fortress on the oposite side of old town, both with great views of town and sea. We drove to Caguas in the evening to be closer to Ruta Panoramica next morning.

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