The good people of Backcountry Discovery Routes are about to take the wraps off their latest project, which runs through New England.
Backcountry Discovery Routes is an adventure travel-focused organization that puts together GPS routes (known as BDRs) through a combination of paved and unpaved roads, combining easier terrain with more challenging sections. The idea is to give motorcyclists good places to ride, while also providing an economic boost to the remote areas they travel through (the routes come with recommendations for eateries and places to stay).
The majority of the BDRs so far are located in the southern or western states, but two of the existing routes (Oregon and Idaho) end at the Canadian border, and are therefore of interest to Canadian riders.
Now, there’s another ride opening that will be accessible from Canada. The North East Backcountry Discovery Route (NEBDR) will be released next month. It runs through New England, and ends in Jackman, Maine, just before the Quebec border. As far as we can tell (full details haven’t been released yet), the start is in Delaware County, NY, which is about six hours away from the GTA, and five hours away from Montreal. The end point is about nine hours away from the GTA, and four hours away from Montreal. The route itself is about 2,250 km long.
The next question is, how long until BDR pushes into Canada? Jackman, Maine is not a good place to transition into a BDR for eastern Canada, as a push instead to the east, into the forestry roads around Edmundston, NB, would allow easier transitions towards the Gaspe, northern Quebec and ultimately Labrador, or towards Cape Breton and Newfoundland.
Conversations we’ve had with BDR staff don’t seem to indicate either of these are pressing priorities for the organization … but they do seem interested. So maybe it’s time we started pestering them to keep this going, and bring BDRs into the great wilderness Canada can offer in both the east and west, linking up with the new NEBDR as well as working on routes for the existing routes in Oregon and Idaho.
