Touring - Help! (Toronto - Niagara Falls Biking Trip)

Hello all,

I am planning to ride a bike from Toronto to Niagara Falls, and since I am a newbie and have no previous experience with planning long 'bike-packing' trips like this, I am in desperate need for some help.

Questions that I have:

1. What are the routes that I should take?

2. Where can I find/buy the maps?

3. How long does this trip take?

4. Is it safe to camp by the side of the road, or is it better to crash at a motel?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
-Andrew

This exact trip was covered in a recent thread by Stokell who did the trip this spring. And Stokes also has a site on stealth camping that goes into issues like where to camp.

This exact trip was covered in a recent thread by Stokell who did the trip this spring. And Stokes also has a site on stealth camping that goes into issues like where to camp.
Yeah I took a look at what he wrote but I couldn't make out his exact path. My questions were not really answered after reading his posts.

Thanks,
-Andrew

WELL,
Go on the web and print out the PDFs of the entire Waterfront Trail maps from Toronto to Niagara. This will show your options.

If you are doing this on a weekend, you might want to take your bikes on the GO train to either Oakville or Burlington. There are restrictions in that you can't take a bike outbound from Union station during evening rushes, Monday to Friday. By doing this you can avoid the heavy traffic on LakeShore Blvd and Lakeshore Road between Toronto and Mississauga. I've been this route so often I usually take the GO to save time.

Once you are in Burlington, there is a leisurely run to Stoney Creek on a shared pathway. I wrote a story for NOW Weekly several years ago and it is posted on the net. It gives some good options for this area.

It gets a bit nasty from here. After Stoney Creek you travel on the North Service Road of the QEW for quite a while. Not pretty. Not quiet. Not nice, but not really dangerous.

Things get better around Jordan. Take the sidetrip from Jordan station. There are lots of B&Bs, a campsites and some good stealth camping sites but you will have to email me for the latter.

From there you can easily head into Niagara-on-the-Lake (very pretty tourist trap) and down to Niagara Falls on one of two trails. I've followed the Waterfront Trail, but there is a railtrail too.

Good luck! It's a great trip.

Do you think I can go to Niagara Falls from downtown Toronto, and come back within 3 days? How ambitious is the plan for a beginner?

-Andrew

I haven't done the trip (or anything close), but it should be extremely flat
I would say burlington-NF could be done confidently in one riding day (50-60km). Burlington-toronto is about the same distance. Make sure you have done 40km in consecutive days before.

Do you think I can go to Niagara Falls from downtown Toronto, and come back within 3 days? How ambitious is the plan for a beginner?

-Andrew

The problem with 3 days is that it is not evenly divisible by 2. There and back in 3 days means that you must spend a day and a half getting there. That's possible, but where will you be staying. Again not a problem if you are credit card touring it could look like this:

Day 1: Toronto, Burlington, Stoney Creek, St Catherines
Day 2: St Catherines, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Falls, St Catherines
Day 3: St Catherines, Stoney Creek, Burlington, Toronto

Another alternative might be to take the GO train to Oakville each way. This could extend your 3 day tour:

Day 1: Toronto, Oakville, St Catherines, Niagara Falls
Day 2: Niagara Falls self Guides tour, Niagara-on-the-Lake for Lunch, St Catherines
Day 3: St Catherines, Stoney Creek, Burlington

I will go with one of the two possible itineraries, not sure which one yet.

Thank you very much!
-Andrew