Hi Dave 713,I live on the Cabot Trail and have riden down to New hampshire a few times.From Lincoln NH to North Conway then head towards the coast.Follow route 1 North (Acadia park is nice)to Calais.New Brunswick is mostly divided highway right through to Amherst Nova Scotia.In Amherst we usually take the northumberland shore route to Pictou or cross on the confederation bridge and take the ferry back to Pictou.From Pictou,a short highway drive will take you to the Arisaig turnoff (route 4) This road will take you to the Canso Causeway.Then take the ceilidh trail to Margaree harbour,and turn left (you're now on the Cabot Trail,about 45 minutes from the Cape Breton highlands national Park)Around the trail and out towards Baddeck.There are lots of other nice roads on Cape Breton if you're interested,Bras d'or scenic drive through St Peters is also nice.Let me know if I can help out in any way!
Check out this website, cabottrailbiker.com Daniel Ross is a fellow biker very knowlegeable and loves the Cabot Trail also

 

We are now starting to map our trip.How is Route 2 from Mountpelier Vt. to Bangor NH.,then take Route 9 to Calais Ma.?Thanks for any info.

 

Route 2 is a great ride all in all and Route 9 is really nice to get to NB. A good choice if trying to go across the three states in a relatively quick manner while seeing some sweet scenery. If you are looking to spend a couple of days in each state, there are good options right off of Rt 2. You can choose to skip the ferry and ride right through the islands in VT or cross the bridge over Champlain at Chimney/Crown point and ride over to Rt 2 from Whiteface. I reckon it depends on your timeline.

 

This is great advice--time permitting and good weather ,ride 2 through Grande Islands area Vt--thru 2 NH [check out Mt Washington auto road]-to Bangor Maine--9E out of Bangor is scenic Blueberry area towards Canadian Border . If staying in Maine before entering New Brunswick stay at Iveys motel in Houlton.Ive only been on Cabot trail once so I won,t give advice on that. When leaving,ride rt1 south in Maine,try to hit Acadia in Bar Harbor area ,Old Orchard Beach, and Bentley,s Saloon in Arundel ,sounds fun----ENJOY

 

Agree big time about not doing the 95's all the way around - actually, your route is not too much different from my suggestion if you look at the intent. As an alternative to 496 / 66, if you don't want to go the country roads in Clifton, rt 286 (Fairfax County Parkway) is a great way to get from Lorton to 50 and then 15, Point of Rocks, and then on to Gettysburg. I see a lot of riders doing parkway runs every weekend to get from there to Point of Rocks, or out rt 50 to Middleburg.

If you do decide to take 95 (which means you will also take the Beltway (495), you can use the express lanes on a motorcycle without an EZPass. If you do have an EZPass mounted, it's recommended to put it back in the original bag if you don't want to get charged. I don't know if you can turn those off, but that blocks the transponder. It sounds silly, but that's straight from vDOT's website.

Dave - one last thing: This past Saturday I-95 through Lorton was dead-stopped from 8am to about 3pm. The The most likely reason was the Cherry Blossom Festival. Part of your plan really needs to identify if there are road-closing events inbound of the city. Every weekend carries about a 25% chance of this, and that number goes up in summer. Things like marathons (such as Marine Corps), festivals, and presidential events can effectively shut down I95 right at the point you'd be getting on it, but you can do a little to predict.

 

So far we have planed on leaving Lorton and heading to Binghamton NY.The next day go to Plattsburg NY. to check out Whiteface Mt. area.Then the next day go to Skowhegan Ma.That's the plan so far.Thanks for all the info.

 

Rt 95 from DC to Boston has to be the worse stretch of highway in the US. I'm on it everyday and the caliber of nut job drivers seems to increase exponentially by the month.

 

Not sure what type of sleeping you are planning for but Hampton Inn in Vestal has been handy for us in the past (same basic location as Binghampton). If you are staying in Binghampton and then headed for Whiteface, stay in Lake Placid rather then Plattsburg unless you prefer the city type areas. Route 30 or 10 (or 8) off of Rt 17 east of Binghampton are good rides north (all converge with 30 eventually) then Rt3 off 30 to 86 into Saranac or Lake Placid. Figure on about a 300 mile ride.

kjc gives some great recommendations above and I have conversed with Daniel and he is a great guy. Got to get the "official" Cabot Trail T shirt. Another good resource is http://www.motorcycletourguidens.com/order-your-guide

This will have his trip route (Northumberland shore road) in it as well as many others. I would try to do Hopewell rocks in the Bay of Fundy for sure. Won't see tides like that very often.

 

I too, live 5 miles from the Auto Train and the route above is a good one. Just take 15 up through Gettysburg and keep going. Detour a few miles near Thurmont and go up Rocky Ridge Road and buzz the mountain for a change of scenery (Camp David is there). Cut over on HWY 30 and go to York PA and take one of the daily tours at the Motor Company Factory and see where they made your bike. The tour is worthwhile.

After leaving York, go to Stroudsburg PA and ride 219 along the Delaware valley...its stunning. Then point to the Green Mountains and head that way, then the White Mountains and into Maine.

Stay off the Coast, all the roads suck and traffic is nightmarish. Central PA and New York are gorgeous. Now I want to ride along....

 

Thanks for info