Any of the Canadian guys been on this thing? I’ve been reading reviews by people on motorcycles and even a Prius making the trip up to Radisson. Apparently the road is clear and wide open for what seems like forever. The terrain is mostly flat but the road is in great condition and fun to drive. It’s very remote and nearly silent.
No signs of police or anything really, lol. You can drive for hours at high speed according to one motorcycle guy. And you have to ‘check in’ before leaving on the road… in case you don’t come back?
For more than 600 kilometres, the James Bay Road cuts a wide, two-lane swath of pavement without Draconian speed laws, stop-and-go traffic, clogged intersections, stop signs – or any of the other daily driving obstacles known as “modern civilization.”
Constructed in the early 1970s to transport workers and materials to build a massive hydroelectric project in northern Quebec, the road is a series of lengthy straightaways connected by fast sweeping curves.
It’s known as the longest service-free stretch of road in Canada, and the second-longest service-free stretch of road in North America, after the highway up to Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay.
To enthusiasts, however, interested in the freedom of open road driving, some consider it Canada’s own Arcticbahn.
…In one particular stretch, I learn that if you get the two front wheels of the X6 airborne, the ABS kicks in.
…In these conditions, outside the confines of urban driving, it’s easy to drive here as fast the road allows.
In the BMW, that means stretches – and I mean tens of kilometres here – cruising around 140 km/h. Effortlessly. Just like the engineers in Munich and the driving gods had intended.
I have a trip planned up there that was intended for last summer but was waylayed by unemployment. There’s a massive hydroelectric facility up there that offers tours and the like, and it has a direct line that runs to Boston. Kinda neat. There’s a now dry river half way up that was diverted to contribute to the hydro reservoir.
It’s very very remote, and the scenery is bland, but it’s long, undulating, fairly straight and the asphalt is in relatively good condition. It’s a long, remote drive, but it’s awesome if that’s your thing. Do your research before going, but I’m confident it’ll be an amazing trip. Definitely not for the feint of heart or those who need city comforts. If you have something offroad worthy, you can hit the Trans-Taigian highway that leads you to the most remote road-access part of North America, nearly the other side of Ungava Bay.
That sounds like a pain in the ass. Last thing I want to do is crash my car on a dirt road in Bumfuck, Canada with no cell service or towing and questionable insurance coverage.
Google says 27 hours to reach the end, 1,040 miles. That’s one way. So, probably 4 days to complete. And that’s as far off the grid as I’d want to be anyway.
I’ve been pretty far up north but not THIS far. And I could see the northern lights then so I can only imagine how bright they’d be up at this point.
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That’s not a problem. And AAA works up there and so does your US insurance. However you might need a sat-phone to place the call, lol.
