West Portage - Easterday - West
14 miles and flat
- Proceed west on Portage from Ashmun.
- Alternate for less experienced riders: North on Ashmun, left on Water St, left at curve onto Osborn Blvd, right on Ridge or Spruce to Portage
- The first few blocks on West Portage Ave typically have alot of parked vehicles and considerable traffic. Beyond that, West Portage does not have bike lanes and is not particularly wide.
- Beyond Ridge and Portage, there is very little traffic on West Portage. The street has 4 lanes and a multipurpose trail begins south of the power canal. There is a bit of an incline as you go south and west.
- Turn right (west) at light on Easterday Ave. Becomes 4th Ave at 12th St (stop sign past recycling center).
- The road west is a 3 lane road with very little traffic. There are no bike lanes at this time. At 12th St, just beyond the recycling plant, the road is in very rough condition and is scheduled to be resurfaced in the summer of 2017 with a bike path on the north side. An alternative to the path straight ahead is to go north on 12th Street to South Street and go left (west) on South Street. South Street isn’t paved but it’s in reasonable condition. Go west to 4th Ave.
- Turn right at next stop sign following 4th Ave.
- Continue out to Sherman Park. There is a beach at Sherman Park, along with picnic tables, but no food vendors. If you go straight after the stop sign, the road turns into Oak St.
- Turn left onto 24th St from Sherman Park.
- There is no paved shoulder on 24th St. but there is very little traffic.
- Turn right (west) on Sherman Park Dr.
- Sherman Park Drive goes though subdivisions. There is no paved shoulder but there is very little traffic.
- Turn right on Bermuda Ave.
- Bermuda has no paved shoulder but again there is very little traffic.
- Turn around at Shallow Beach Ave.
- There is a small public beach on Shallow Beach Ave. That’s a good place to stop to rest and refresh.
- Proceed east on Bermuda (returning to downtown Sault Ste Marie)
- Turn left (north) on Sherman Park Dr.
- Turn right (east) on W 16th Ave. Becomes Oak St at 20th St. Becomes 4th St at stop sign. Becomes Easterday Ave at 12th St.
- Some stretches of W. 16th Ave. have a bit of a paved shoulder while a stretch by Tanglewood Golf Course does not have a paved shoulder. A redeeming feature of riding on W. 16th Ave is that there isn’t much traffic.
- Continue east on Easterday Ave. beyond West Portage past Lake Superior State University (LSSU).
- Turn left (north) on Ryan at east edge of LSSU.
- Turn right on Prospect.
- Turn right (east) on Sheridan.
- Go down the hill on Prospect to Sheridan and east on Sheridan to Ashmun. Ashmun St. is the main street in Sault Ste. Marie.
- Turn right (south) onto Ashmun, then left into the Burger King driveway.
- Go through Burger King and take Hursley Street to Bingham Ave. Turn left (north) on Bingham to Portage, then turn left (west) on Portage to Ashmun.
- Bingham is a 3 lane street with no bike lanes but it has little traffic compared to Ashmun.