The best damned motorcycle road in Canada!

Sounds like a bold statement.
Especially from a guy that only got into the saddle last year. A guy who uses the Tatlock road, or the 327 from Tremblant as his reference points.
A guy who rides a cruiser. And took a trip to British Columbia. Oh sure – he’s an expert.
Well, I may not be anything remotely resembling an expert. But I am an avid motorcycle rider. An aficionado, of sorts. Maybe, an enthusiast. A passionate biker. All of the above.
Also a rider who has put just shy of 30,000kms beneath his butt in less than 1 year. Or more correctly – less than 1 full season.
And also, a guy who just rode the 3A from Creston to Kootenay Lake in BC.
On a cruiser. With about 50 kgs of camping gear strapped to his bike.
In the rain. With lots of surface water.
Even in the pouring rain, this was far and away the greatest road I have ever ridden.
Only 62.1 kilometers long, you are guaranteed to feel like it was at least twice that length. The sheer frequency and complexity of the twisties will have you using all of your skill, and I promise you will be air and water-tight as you approach any number of it’s undulating apexes. I had to remind myself to breath on several occasions – and not simply to avoid fogging my shield in the rain.
So there’s my opinion. Then I checked with a group of riders who were also waiting in the queue for the Balfour / Kootenay Lakes Ferry.

Each one of them agreed. There is no other road in BC – home of Canada’s greatest motorcycle roads – to compare with the 3A.
Destination Highways also agrees. Rated #1 in Canada.
But don’t just take my word – or theirs, for that matter. Come on out. Ride the 3A. And then give us your opinion.

So that was the start of my day – riding the 3A from Creston to Kootenay Lake  - and then taking the ferry across to Balfour.
It was here that I began yet another absolutely incredible ride.
Referred to as the Nelson - New Denver – Kaslo loop, this ride was at times even more challenging than the 3A – primarily due to the steep downhill grades and wicked sharp switchbacks.
I headed north after getting off of the ferry at Balfour, BC and rode up to Kaslo. Just prior to the first switchback on the route I noticed a sign out of the corner of my eye indicating a motorcycle campground. Moving too quickly in the rain to make any kind of sudden stop, I rode to the switchback – snapped a couple of pics – and rode back to – yup – Toad Rock Motorcycle Campground. Well and widely known, specifically amongst the motorcycle vagabond rider-types, I could not ride right by and not stop in to say hello. I met the owners – Mary and Grant – as well as one of their closest friends and two of the three camp dogs – and even though I made it clear up front that I was not planning on staying, I was made to feel right at home and one of the family. A hot cup of really strong coffee, and a half-hour of hearty laughter and conversation allowed me to realize that these are good people. Really good people. I just may have to alter my return route in order to stay a night or two at Toad Rock. I know the stories alone will be worth it!


I then continued on through Kaslo, a beautiful little town full of art galleries and artisans shops – and then to New Denver, and finally back down south towards Nelson. I stopped along the way in a little hamlet called Silverton and had a bowl of the very best chicken curry I have ever had, followed by an equally tasty Jamaican beef patty. All in a tiny little bakery-cum-sandwich shop run by a couple from Australia, if my ear for accent was true. The town is so small and remote that there is absolutely no cell service, and the Cup and Saucer Cafe actually offers free WiFi service to its patrons – largely made up of tourists, since the population of the town itself is only 185 people. Just one more noteworthy treasure that I will be sure to revisit, and to recommend to anyone heading this way.
After leaving Silverton it was time for me to buckle down and actually put some distance in my mirrors on the way to Vancouver. I rode long and hard from Castlegar to Princeton– at one point through snow flurries in Paulson Pass – cruising along highway 3 through some of the most stunning scenery to be seen anywhere. Sunlight quite appropriately began breaking through the clouds as I approached Osoyoos, and by the time that I was in the Okanagan Valley the sun was warming my rain-chilled bones. It was short-lived though, as the sun began setting behind the Cascade Mountains about 40 minutes outside of Princeton.
The Okanagan Valley is truly a south-western US step-child. Like a piece of Arizona, or Utah somehow got tossed out of the family and ended up in BC.The climate is very much like the Napa Valley – they even grow peaches here!

So I am now in Princeton, and by tomorrow afternoon I will be in Vancouver. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and I will be able to ride without raingear for a change. I would also like to do some more camping – but honestly – 5 to 11 degrees and rain does not make for enjoyable camping experiences.
A link to all of todays pics is found right here.
See you in Vancouver friends and fellow travelers.