bdhoun
Waterdown, Ontario
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I live just north of Burlington and will be heading to the Pinery for a trip in August. According to Mapquest, Streets and Trips, etc. they say the shortest route distance and time wise is to take Hwy 7, 83 etc to Grand Bend. Is this really the best route? I was going to take the 401 to the 402 and head that way. I would think that 7, 83 would be more scenic but I worry about all the traffic lights, small towns. Any suggestions?
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rick_niagara
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
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Take the scenic route, no fun on the 401!!! We'll be at the Pinery in late Aug., then we need to go to Waterloo after that, so we'll take 83, 23, 8 through Stratford. You have a decent setup to handle a few traffic lights and small towns.
Enjoy your time away!
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bdhoun
Waterdown, Ontario
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bdhoun wrote:I live just north of Burlington and will be heading to the Pinery for a trip in August. According to Mapquest, Streets and Trips, etc. they say the shortest route distance and time wise is to take Hwy 7, 83 etc to Grand Bend. Is this really the best route? I was going to take the 401 to the 402 and head that way. I would think that 7, 83 would be more scenic but I worry about all the traffic lights, small towns. Any suggestions?
I forgot to mention that we will be caravaning with my parents in their diesel pusher and that we have 2 small kids, 3 and 5. They seem to start the "are we almost there" talk about 10 minutes down the road.
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P-51
London, ON
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Sounds like you will want to make good time getting there. I would avoid taking any minor highway east of Woodstock. Hwy 7 through places like Guelph and into Waterloo will take forever due to all the traffic and lights you will undoubtedly hit. My advice (and I'm not sure what part of Burlington you are in) is to take the 403 to Woodstock, 401 to London, and then the 402 towards Sarnia. Get off anywhere from Strathroy west, and make your way up to the Pinery from there (Google maps are the best).
BTW, there is a store just outside the park gates towards Grand Bend at the corner of Hwy 21 and Greenway Rd, that has the best deal on firewood...great big bag for about $6.00, and is Pinery approved. Have a great trip! We'll be there later this year for Thanksgiving.
Paul
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VE3ESN
Ontario, Canada
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Joined: 03/08/2002
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Here's the route we use to get from Mississauga to the Pinery. It is scenic, but avoids congested areas. It works very well for us!
DIRECTIONS TO PINERY PROVINCIAL PARK
Trafalgar Road north to 401 West.
401 West to exit 278 – Kitchener.
7/8 West to Wilmot-Easthope Rd.
Left (south) on Wilmot-Easthope Rd. for a short distance and veer to the right on Road 101/24 to Tavistock. Road number changes to 26 in Tavistock.
Continue on Road 26 past the village of Harmony until Highway 7.
Left on Highway 7 until Highway 4 at Elginfield.
Right onto Highway 4 until Road 5.
Left onto Road 5 (Mt. Carmel Dr.)
Road 5 changes its name to Greenway Drive. Stay on it all the way to Highway 21. Note: There is a confusing part of this route where Road 5 becomes Road 81 for a very short distance. Don’t panic!
Turn left to get to the park entrance on the right.
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BarryD
Under a cabbage
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We go up to Ipperwash every weekend and won't take the Stratford route. Ipperwash is 20kms south of Grand Bend. The Stratdford route is nice nice for a change but you can get stuck behind a tractor or a slow vehicle out for a "sunday" drive. Hard to pass in a Diesel Pusher. VE3ESN's route is a better alternative if you want a scenic route.
We are in Oakville and take:
407 - 403 - 401- 402
You can take a couple of different exits from 402. We rarely run into traffic and there are lots of places to stop. Travel time is usually 2hrs 20 mins @ 110 kph. You can avoid most of highway 21 by taking the exit just before the highway 21 exit from the 402. It's Navaroo Rd I believe.
I went through Stratford several weeks ago and the downtown was completly ripped up for construction. Not sure what the status is now.
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skrams
Burlington, Ontario
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I avoid the back route when going to the Pinery. I usually want to just get there without too much hassle. We go from Burlington just as a few others have said, 403, 401, 402 and up to the Pinery from there. If I had all day to get there then I might consider the back roads, but the kids do not enjoy the scenery, they just want to get to the campsite and start camping.
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VE3ESN
Ontario, Canada
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We've also tried the 403/401/402 route to the Pinery from Mississauga, but actually found that the "scenic but not congested" route we described in a previous post is quicker, and of course shorter. IMHO, the 402 puts you too far south of the Pinery. Our route puts you onto hwy 21 just a little bit north of the Pinery entrance, thus avoiding the horrendous Grand Bend to Pinery traffic, especially when the flea market is open.
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1kennyOG
Port Credit
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Joined: 01/22/2007
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hmmm- What about Inverhuron from Port Credit?
we're going August 18-22
driving up on a Monday morning will be quite different for a weekend warrior like myself.
65, 68, 02, 03
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BarryD
Under a cabbage
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The only time the traffic is heavy in Grand Bend is when there is an event on. Any other time it's a two traffic light town. The time difference between the two routes is no big thing 20 mins tops. Both routes can turn into a much longer drives due to traffic, accidents, weather, etc.
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