Prince Edward County – Day 3 – Codrington to Campbellford

Two years ago when we were in Peterborough, I planned a ride to  Ranney Gorge, but we had more rides planned than we had days, and on the final day when choosing where to ride, none of us felt like a gran fondo, a 100 km ride. When planning this trip I recalled Ranney Gorge, and the suspension bridge that spans the Trent River there, and thought we might be able to see the fall colors. The distance from where we are staying is also about 100 km return, which which would take us longer than we would want to leave Oakley on her own, so we found a community centre in Codrington, where we could leave the car, and rode our bikes from there. It was a 39 km round-trip.

It was a very simple route from the community centre to the bridge along County Road 30 which had a wide paved shoulder. The traffic wasn’t too heavy, and everyone was courteous, moving left, even though we had a wide shoulder. 

The road had an 80 km/h speed limit, but with the wide shoulder, not too much traffic, and pastoral scenes it was a pleasant ride. We also had a significant tail wind as we headed north.

The road roughly paralleled the Trent Severn Waterway, which we saw a glimpse of at this point.

A couple turns and short sections and we crossed locks 11-12 of the canal, passed a hydroelectric generating station, and arrived at the suspension bridge.

The bridge is located in Ferris Provincial Park.  The bridge is about 10 m above the gorge, just south of the Falls. The bridge is about 90 m long and is part of the Trans Canada Trail. 

The bridge construction began in September 2002 and was completed at the end of 2003. The eighth wing CFB Trenton agreed to construct the bridge as part of a training project. Because of this the total cost of the project was only $465,000. It is the only pedestrian bridge of its kind in Ontario.

The views from the bridge were beautiful, but unfortunately, there was very little autumn colour left.

Here, Cindy rides past the dam.

We had lunch in Campbellford. There is a small park on a corner in town.

They have a small river walk.

We had lunch at the Dockside Bistro in a building that has been repurposed from being a church to a restaurant.

The food was good, hot, and well presented.

It had been warm and sunny when we entered the restaurant, and we had enjoyed the strong wind at our back on the ride north. When we emerged, it was quite overcast and looked like it might rain. The winds had also increased, and we faced a direct headwind of 30 km/h, gusting to 45 km/h.

I had a minor headache when I woke up this morning, and I realized when we got to the bridge that it had become much worse so I took a migraine pill. It was clearing a bit, but my back was hurting as we headed back to the car, so Cindy offered to lead the way, blocking the wind for me, for the full 17 km back. I was very grateful.

We were still full from lunch well past our normal dinner time, so just had a light dinner about 8 PM.

The weather will continue to be windy tomorrow, and much cooler, with a chance of rain in the afternoon, so we will ride from the house, hopefully on the Millennium Trail, but it will depend on how smooth we find it surface, to Wellington on the south coast.