G'day fellas,

Living here close to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, I was wondering about how the border people would perceive it if I changed my normal commuting route to take the path on the "other" side of the river to get to work (back on the Canadian Side) in the morning? So long as you have a passport, I can't see it being a problem. I wouldn't be surprised that the bridge tolls are waived for cyclists either (will have to check that one out). Obviously, if this works out, it would be nice to extend these loops on weekends and spend entire afternoon there exploring small town like Youngstown, Lockport, etc...

Has anyone done this before? Would this be too much of a hassle?

It's been a number of years since I crossed the border into Canada, but aren't there usually lines?

Do they have separate passport control for pedestrians or are they gonna make you wait in the car lanes?

I haven't done it yet, but I'm in Buffalo and I've been thinking about taking the Peace Bridge over and doing some riding on the Canadian waterfront, probably stopping down in Fort Erie as well. The first thing I would do (if you haven't already) is check the website for the bridge you intend cross. I know the Peace Bridge website has specific directions for cyclists, and pedestrians.

I frequently cycle over the border, either way. Just have your passport.
However, I usually cross at a small border crossing without a large bridge, etc.
The only problem might be if you have any food, like lunch. They probably won't
let you cross with a sandwich or a sub, pizza etc.

If you can take advantage of the non-major border crossings, do that. I don't know what's near Niagara Falls beyond that big bridge. (Been there, done that, a few times, in a car.)

People ride between Quebec and Vermont (and New York) all the time. It's not an issue. I keep trying to get my wife to do a ride with me to Montreal, but she doesn't think she can handle it.

Edit: What Martianone said.

Kojak, are you an Aussie ex-pat by any chance?

Do it a few more times with a power trip US border guard and you can ride off to Gitmo.

I wouldn't do it to get to work in the morning. Its not like you can jump the queue because you are on a bicycle. I crossed at Lewiston-Queenston when cycling around Lake Ontario - the toll for cyclists was 50 cents IIRC. (less than for a car)

Yep.. I recall a New York Times article about the border in Vermont.. Often your next door neighbor might be Canadian.. the Customs people will nab you for just hopping over the fence and borrowing a cup of sugar from your neighbor..
. It's a federal offense to cross the border without a passport.. Soon maybe the border between Quebec and Vermont might look like the one between Arizona and Mexico..
Dare to cross the border sans passport you might end up in court...
ps. Do they make bike wallets for racer types large enough to accomodate passports.?

Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies. To answer a few questions:

1. No, I'm not an aussie ex-pat. I'm a born-and-raised, grain-fed, range Canadian.

2. I didn't mean crossing over where there's no border point (impossible here with the Niagara River). And I would carry my passport with me.

3. There are 4 bridges that can be use to cross: Queenston-Lewiston, Whirlpool (may actually be temporarily closed for cars & bikes), Rainbow, and Peace. They vary in traffic depending on the time of the day and what other bridges are backlogged, but I would think the bike / pedestrians would have dedicated service.

4. Sure, there are horror stories about overzealous border guards, but the threat level of a guy riding a bike wearing 50% spandex and armed with bicycle gloves probably ranks low on the alarm level. I'd only be worried about the border guard on the CDN side, who could argue I'm crossing the border with a new bike, or, god forbid, I'm hiding something.

In Detroit , they have an international marathon , crossing the Bridge to Ontario.. Often it attracts thousands.. Seems some years they have cyclists preceding the event.. / Sure will be a pain to have all those sweaty runners need to pull a smelly passport from underneath one's singlet....... When I used to run, i'd rarely carry id nor did I have space to carry such.. Runners shorts just offers few compartments for carrying items such as passports.

There seems to be lots of confusion about border crossing here, actually it is sorta confusing as each the U.S & Canada require different things for their returning citizens, as opposed to visitors. Both the U.S, and Canada have laxer rules for U.S & Canadian citizens crossing between borders then for citizens from other countries. Also FYI, a passport is not always necessary to cross. To cross (between the NY/Ontario border anyway) you can use an enhanced driver's license/ID card, NEXUS card (I think just for bridge crossings?), permanent resident card, and I believe though I'm not positive a special ID card my be available to Native Americans/First People. It's probably best to check with both countries border crossing agency's website.

Also, for the Peace Bridge the toll is waived for cyclists/pedestrians, and as far as I can tell from the map provided on their website you do indeed skip the car line go to a designated cyclist/pedestrian area.

If you plan on crossing a lot, apply for a Nexus Pass. It's the high-speed lane for the US/CAN border crossings, and although the vetting process is fairly lengthy it will save you time in the long run if you do a significant amount of border hopping.

Huh? Why would that be a problem? Typically only fresh fruits or veggies are an issue due to insect and plant disease control. I can't even recall being asked about this going into Canada (only back into the US).

CBSA will, on request, give you a Form Y38 (Identification of Articles for Temporary Exportation). It's a small green card (it'll fit in your wallet) that identifies items as having been purchased in, or legally imported to, Canada. It's a good idea to have for any valuable items when leaving Canada - cameras, cell phones, ipods, etc. You only have to do it once - you keep the same card.

Link to CBSA: https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publicati...-eng.html#s2x2

Not at Queenston-Lewiston. I don't think there is any pedestrian crossing here, bicycles use regular vehicle lanes and line up in regular vehicle lineups.

I believe Peace and Rainbow both have sidewalks - Peace requires you walk your bike across the bridge. So they probably have separate processing.

Also note that border guards tend to view people crossing the border and not in a car with somewhat of suspicion.

As mentioned earlier, some states have an enhanced drivers license that can be used to cross into/back from Canada to the US. I have one (Washington State) and it's very handy when crossing on a bike. See if your state offers one. Nobody wants to drip sweat onto their passport!

The only time's I've used the Peace Bridge and the Queenston-Lewiston bridges is the the Can-Am ride put together by the NFBC (Niagara Frontier Bike Club). We stayed to the right hand side (through Duty free) on the Buffalo side of the Peace Beidge and then rode across using the side-walk. Since we were expected the customs folks were waiting for us. On the way back to the USA we used the side entrance to the Queenston-Lewston bridge. The fun part is that you have to cross ALL the lanes of traffic that are right behind the toll barries (all the traffic coming from the USA) and then cross the few lanes of traffic going to the USA. Thanfully each ride was on a Sunday and it wasn't too busy, but crossing something like 12 lanes of traffic is a bit intimidating. The cool part is that we got right hand lane to our own use. Amazing how one time a car got behind us and honked.... the lane was CLOSED to cars, but apparently reading was not a skill the driver excelled at. We were allowed to pull around the trucks in-line and got through customs fast. Without having this be scheduled, I am not certain I'd dare use the Queenston-Lewiston bidge.

I personally have not ridden accross the Niagara Falls bridge, but that has a well used side walk as there is a constant stream of pedestrians crossing the border there.

For a nice Centry ride - Start at the Peace Bridge. Cross into Canada. Follow the road along the river to the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge. Cross over the the USA side. Follow the local loads along the river again to Old Fort Niagara. Go along the lake to Wilson. Then ride back to Lewiston, go up the escarpment. Follow the Robert Moses (now one side of the road is a bike path). Pass along Niagara Falls. Ride along the river through the Tonawandas. Follow the River all the way on the bike path back to the Peace bridge. For those that want a Metric Century, once back in the USA cut out the ride to Old Fort Niagara and Wilson and instead head straight back to Niagara Falls and the Tonawandas.

Happy multi-country riding,
André