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Ontario’s Tail of the Dragon

Some say that Highway 129 from Thessalon to Chapleau is Ontario’s Tail of the Dragon. For those unfamiliar with it, the Tail of the Dragon is the nickname for a road in Tennessee, also Highway 129, that has 318 curves in 11 miles. It is a Mecca for motorcyclists. There are many YouTube videos about this road. Three years ago, I went down the Blue Ridge parkway and rode this very curvy highway and thoroughly enjoyed my experience. Today, I decide to ride Ontario’s version of it.

A wet motorcycle
A wet Bonnie

It rained last night, and it’s still raining when I wake up. After my prayers and readings, I keep an eye on the weather radar maps to find the best time to start packing and head out. In the meantime, I take advantage of the showers available on the campgrounds.

A rainy day over a gravel road
A rainy campground

As soon as the rain lets up, I do my best to dry the tent and pack it away, then load the bike up. I head over to Espanola for my breakfast and to have a look at the day’s route and weather. It looks like there won’t be much rain most of the day, but I decide to keep wearing my rain suit anyway. Besides, it has high visibility, and so, is safer to wear while riding on darkish days.

The road from Manitoulin Island to Espanola is really beautiful: it passes through bogs, small islands, cuts through tall rocky hills, and curves around them as well, just the kind of road I love riding.

Heading out of Expanola, we have to wait, while a very long freight train crosses our road on its way West. Train crossings isn’t something we see anymore in Ottawa or Gatineau. I remember being fascinated by them when I was a kid back in North Bay.

Vehicles lined up waiting for a train to cross the road
Waiting for a train to cross

Highway 17 to Thessalon is quite busy, since it’s the main transcontinental road out West, to Sault Ste. Marie, and further, to the western provinces. The road is wet from the earlier rain, so I keep to a slower speed and safer distances from other vehicles; it dries up soon though. The road has long stretches of straights, and some long curves and hills. I can see far most of the time. I think about how riding a motorcycle is such an involved process, like piloting a machine, that I don’t see the time go by, nor the distances involved. Motorcycling seems to make the world a smaller and much more accessible place.

Arriving in Thessalon, I look for a place to fuel up. I ask for directions, and they tell me there’s a trading post with pumps about 30km up the 129, and that it’s the only fuel stop for two hundred kilometres on that highway North. I’ve been riding pretty conservatively so far, and I have plenty of fuel left from my last fill up in Espanola, but I certainly don’t have enough to go all the way to Chapleau. I better not miss the trading post.

I finally head up the 129, hoping to enjoy some nice twisties like in Tennessee. So far, the road has long curves and long hills. It stays like that for much of the way until I finally spot the Tunnel Lake Trading Post, just like they said, 30km up the road from Thessalon. I take a break here for some coffee and a snack. The sign mentions Tail of the Dragon and there are dragon statues here: this must be the right road then. I ask if they see a lot of motorcyclists, and they said there have been more and more over the years. Sadly, I’ve not seen one on the road yet.

A motorcycle parked in front of a store with two fuel pumps
Tunnel Lake Trading Post
Metal sculptures of dragons
Ontario Highway 129 Dragons

Back on the road, I’m somewhat anxious to experience some twisty curves. After a while, the road’s surface changes to an older, a little more rugged asphalt, and starts to follow along the bank of a river: now it gets interesting. Until now, I was riding at 95km/h, just like most of the time on this trip so far, in 6th gear. At this point on the 129, I have to shift down, sometimes down to 4th gear, since some of the curves are a little sharper than the rest. My fun is short-lived though, as the road turns away from the river, and resumes long straights, and up, down, and through forest-covered rocky hills, back to a standard provincial Ontario road.

For the rest of the road, I keep expecting to see some more sharply-curved sections, to no avail. The monotony of the typical road gets broken at times by construction. Sometimes, lakes and rivers add to the beauty of the experience. There are very few other vehicles on this road, let alone any other motorcycles, so it’s relatively quiet most of the time; I barely hear the steady whistling, popping sound of my exhaust, as well as the wind going around my helmet. I always wear ear plugs to dampen the noise.

Arriving at the 101, I feel somewhat disappointed: this dragon is nowhere near like its namesake down south. I miss my twisties! I guess my expectations were heightened by my research before coming here. My favourite roads near home, Centennial Lake Road, near Calabogie, and Tatlock Road, near Carleton Place, offer a better experience. No other road I’ve ridden even comes close to the skill required to ride the real Tail of the Dragon. I’m glad, however, to have experienced this Ontario Highway 129, and would do it again, knowing what to expect, so I can really enjoy what it has to offer.

A motorcycle loaded with bags parked next to a highway
Ontario Highway 129

In Chapleau, I find the railroad a prominent feature of the town. I’ve always enjoyed trains and railroads. After taking some pictures, an OPP officer warns me that my bike isn’t safely parked. When I find something worthy of photographing, I always do my best to find a safe spot to stop and park the bike. I figure this time, they saw a bike by itself on the side of the road, and came to investigate. By the time they got to the bike, I was already packing my camera away.

A curved road and a pair of train tracks next to a lake
Chapleau, ON

I feel time is pressing, since I still need to find a spot to set up camp before sunset, and Wawa is an hour and a half away. I eagerly head back westwards on the 101, the sun slowly making its way down in front of me. I miss my sunglasses.

At one point, the sun gently hides behind some clouds, giving me some relief from its glare. Taking a second look at where it went, I see very dark clouds all the way down to the horizon. Uh oh! I forgot rain was in the forecast for Wawa. The road then curves left, away from the darkness, but then curves back; it then curves right, then back; and soon afterward, I see raindrops on my visor, and then, full on rain, all the way to Wawa. Aw shucks!

Drenched, I stop at Tim Hortons to take stock of my situation, this close to sunset. Setting up a tent in the rain, on a wet surface would definitely be an uncomfortable challenge; I decide to see if staying at a motel is worth it, and after making a few calls, I’d rather face the challenge, than pay three or four times the price of camping in my tent. Fortunately, soon after I entered the café, the rain stopped. The forecast indicated it would start again in an hour and a half: I have time to go set up camp in as dry a spot as I can find on the campground.

A man wearing a helmet and a very wet rain suit, holding a very wet bag
I am very wet!

I head out of the restaurant, and pass by Wawa’s famous Canada goose sculpture. I quickly stop to take a few pictures, then ride on to the campground nearby.

A large statue of a Canada goose
Canada Goose at Wawa

The attendant sees my predicament, doesn’t want to see me drown in the rain all night, and offers me to spend it in one of their cabins, for the price of a tent site. How compassionate, considerate and generous of her! After thanking her profusely, I make may way to the cabin, grateful to not have to set up and take down my tent in the wet, and to spend the night in a nice, dry, and cozy cabin. What a wonderful way to end this day!

The interior of a small cabin with a queen sized bed and a bunk bed
My cabin near Wawa, ON
Google map of direction from Whitefish Falls to Chapleau and Wawa, via highway 129
Day 3: Whitefish Falls to Chapleau and Wawa via Highway 129

3 replies on “Ontario’s Tail of the Dragon”

WOW ! Good stuff, mon ami !!!

(If you’re thinking of re-writing … Spot the mistake:) I ask if they see a lot of motorcyclists, and they said there has been more and more over the years.

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