Le ride du jour - Voie Maritime / St-Laurence Seaway

In the near future there will be bike paths lining both sides of the st-Laurence river

Today our sunshine daytime ride is leaving the urban jungle to get some fresh air and river views along the Voie Maritime / St. Laurence seaway.

1. This bike path (actually a closed-to-cars roadway) exists between
2. Longueuil near Pong Jacques Cartier bridge
3. Parc Drapeau/Ile Notre Dame/Ecluse St-Lambert locks
4. Estacade/ice bridge between Nuns Island (ile des soeurs) and the seaway (parallel to Champlain bridge)
5. You can touch south-shore terra firma at Ste-Catherine.

The Voie Maritime / St-Laurence Seaway bike path has many attractions:

• Completely & totally away from roads and cars
• Amazing view of Montreal from across the river
• A nature park at St-Catherine end of path, with lots of rest/picnic possibilities
  
• Follows the St-Laurence river's edge - real nature, not park designer-built "nature."
  
• No commercial activity, this is 100% away from civilization (this is a good thing).
• 1/4 dirt road 3/4 paved road (the section between the Estacade to St-Catherine is completely paved). Can't win them all.
• Two ship locks (St-Lambert & Ste-Catherine) to entertain you with transportation technology and infrastructure
  

The downside, the Parc Drapeau access is blocked during the grand prix and other races at the Ile Notre Dame Circuit Gilles Villeneuve race track.

The future: This path will soon be connected to the Pont Mercier bridge new bike path sidewalk (a couple of years away) and will make a great loop ride on both sides of the st-Laurence river/fleuve St-Laurent.

If you have never visited here, we think this should be your number one exploration goal, and it may even become your favorite local bike ride and nature destination.