I wanted to explore this rail trail for a while and was finally able to bike most of it. Le Parc du Corridor Aérobique is a 58 km rail trail somewhat isolated from the rest of the cycling network.
As I have no car, I took a train from Montréal to Saint-Jérôme and cycled to the trail head in the village of Morin-Heights, via the very popular P'tit Train du Nord rail trail. Here's my return itinerary and the profile.
The surface quality varies quite a bit. Sometimes it's crushed gravel, sometimes it's dirt with rocks pointing out and painted orange. There's a few bits on roads but the vast majority is a dedicated trail. Wild camping is not permitted in Québec but there are three sites with platforms along the trail, where one can pitch a tent and spend the night.
I just got back and didn't expect such a spectacle of colours. It was glorious. I'll have to go back!
Here are some more pictures.
Yeah, sharing with cars is fine on gravel roads and small country roads, but even moderate amounts of traffic on rural roads makes for a pretty unpleasant and daunting experience in my opinion. I do hope quebec improves the Route Verte, hopefully it can serve as an example for the rest of Canada.
The Go train can be used ti get further out and there is some good cycling not far from Hamilton and a lot of good multi day routes out of kitchener like the BT700 but im personally a little underwhelmed by southern Ontario geography, its very fast and goes through lots of farmland, and the on-road portions cam often be sketchy. I have had an overnighter in mind that I've wanted to try out from Barrie that would take me north into the shield, but its a route I sort of made up myself and haven't had a chance to scope it out. Im a bit nervous to attempt an unknown route but I may just go for it and hope for the best since I wont be too far from help if something goes wrong.