I’ll admit it: Even though road trips are my business, I’ve run out of gas at least once and I’ve come dangerously close to doing so a few times.
The first time I ran out of gas, I was on an Ontario cottage country road trip with my friend Amy. We were in our early 20s and I was driving my first car. Like typical 20-somethings, we were chatting and laughing and watching the scenery without a care in the world…until the car started making a strange sputtering noise straight out of a cartoon. That, of course, is when I first noticed the glowing red “empty” light.
As for times I came dangerously close to running out of gas—well, those are almost too many to count. There was the road trip with my dad in Montana, when we basically coasted downhill out of Yellowstone National Park on fumes.
Closer to home, I was driving west on Highway 17 toward North Bay years ago. Because I hadn’t properly done my homework (gee, I wish there had been a site like Ottawa Road Trips back then!), I didn’t realize that there’s a long, long stretch of highway between Deep River and Mattawa with no gas stations. None. That was another instance when I was very glad to see a gas station sign in the near distance.
After many years of driving from Ottawa to the Bancroft area, I also learned to get gas in Renfrew, or I’d be crossing my fingers all the way to the gas pump at the Griffith General Store, 50 kilometres down the road.
So, how do you avoid being in my panicky shoes? There are two ways: You can use your GPS system or your smartphone’s map app to find gas stations along the way, or you can be mega-prepared and do your research in advance online. Fortunately, most major gas station companies have searchable databases of their locations.
Here are some of the most popular service station chains in Ontario, Quebec and New York state. (Electric vehicle drivers, don’t worry—later in this post, there’s a list of sites where you can search for EV charging locations. Keep scrolling!)
Gas stations in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada
- Canadian Tire Gas+
- Circle K (make sure to click “Add parameters” below the search bar, then click “Gas”)
- Costco
- Couche-Tard (Quebec) (make sure to click “Recherche avancée” below the search bar, then click “Essence”)
- Drummond’s (Eastern Ontario)
- Esso Mobil
- Flying J
- Husky
- Irving (Eastern Canada)
- MacEwen (Eastern Ontario)
- ON Route service centres (Ontario only; gas station varies by centre)
- Petro-Canada
- Pioneer (Ontario)
- Shell
- Ultramar (Eastern Canada)
Gas stations in New York state and New England
- BP
- Chevron
- Circle K (make sure to click “Add parameters” below the search bar, then click “Gas”)
- Citgo (click the “Locator” tab near the top of the page)
- Costco (click “Filter options” under the search bar, then select “Gas station”)
- Exxon Mobil
- Flying J
- Shell
- Stewart’s Shops (northern New York state and southern Vermont)
- Sunoco
- Texaco
Where can I find information on gas prices?
Gas Buddy tracks gas prices across North America and recommends the cheapest stations. It has a smartphone app, too.
Where can I find electric vehicle (EV) charging stations?
Of course, the smart and eco-savvy among us are driving EVs and hybrids, and they need to know where to plug in and charge up, too. Here are a few places to search.
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