Niagara Region Advice
 

Hi,

I'm trying to plan an overnighter near Niagara Falls for the last week of June or first week of July.

It'll be my wife and I and we plan on biking around, seeing sights, and just enjoying the day. She's an inexperienced biker and truth be told, she's reallly not into it. I'm hoping to change that.

Anyways, would someone familiar with the area recommend biking from Buffalo over to Grand Isle and over to the Falls via Rainbow Bridge or would you recommend maybe starting around Buffalo or Fort Erie and biking up to Fort George on the Canadian side?

We plan on parking the car somewhere and staying the night somewhere, but not necessarily at the same place. I don't where we're parking just yet but we'll probably stay in Canada.

*Also the goal is to try to stick exclusively to bike trails.

I remember the ride up the Canadian side from Fort Erie to Niagara Falls to be pleasant, but it has been about 40 years since I last did it on a bike. I don't know if they've added a trail or not.

The ride via Grand Isle I also did but I don't remember that being nice. Once you were in Niagara Falls, NY, it was pretty ugly. Remember Love Canal?

Great, thank you.

I was a little too young to remember Love Canal, but I just read about it - absolutely atrocious.

I would check out the Niagara Frontier Bicycle Club site. There is one ride that starts in Buffalo and goes over the Peace Bridge to Fort Erie and on to Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada. Here is the link and you can click to view the map cues:
https://nfbc.com/Rides/Details/339
You can use that as a reference. The ride passes the Rainbow Bridge that can take you over to the American side.

I am a Niagara Falls, NY native and have to warn that Niagara Falls has many very unsafe areas outside of the actual Niagara Falls Parks. So, I wouldn't wander through the city without knowing what you are up against. There is a bike path from the Falls that follows the upper river to the Grand Island Bridge. I have used that path safely, but haven't gone over the bridge. I then go off path through that section of the city all the way to North Tonawanda, where a bike path exists that can take you in a couple different directions, such as East Amherst or the Buffalo Harbor front.

Another option could be to take the path away from the Falls along the gorge, onto the closed section of the Robert Moses Pkwy that goes all the way to the Devils Hole and ends near Niagara University. You could then wind your way to Lewiston and take the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge to Canada. I would definitely contact the bicycle club for more answers. If your wife likes wine, there are beautiful rides throughout Niagara County along the wine trails. I know Canada has some too, but I like to steer towards the local talents! Don't forget your passports to enter into Canada.

Here is another bicycle club for contact. I didn't see how to access map cues. Might be just me though.
BWBC Home

We drove to Canada to see the falls a few years ago. It was a 4th of July weekend.
Most of the area's visitors are from the US; so that weekend it was pretty empty
then. Restaurants, hotels, etc. We checked hotel rates and closest to the fall was
more expensive. We stayed at a chain hotel a few miles away; St. Catherine I think
was the name of the town. That saved us US$75; we were driving so it was ok.

You may want to check out staying around Niagara On The Lake. We didn't have
bikes; but it was a nice place to drive and walk around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN_R...6zPoymgKaIoDLA

There are many nice places to stay in Niagara-On-The-Lake (in Canada), and a beautiful multi-use path from there south along the river, on the Canadian side. My wife & I did it on a tandem years ago. If I remember correctly the M.U.P. goes all the way to the Falls.

Thanks, everyone, for your responses. I ended up booking a hotel for a couple nights in Niagara-on-Lake to use as a take-off point for day rides and a clean bed and shower when returning. Though, I'd like to do something more ambitious like a one-way destination trip or a massive loop, common sense prevailed. I have to keep this trip easy and enjoyable for her.

I'd like to hear how your trip went, when you get back. I'm thinking of completing the Greater Niagara Circle Route or at least the Ft. Erie to NOTL segment later this summer.

Cycling the Niagara Peninsula.

https://vimeo.com/117364978

https://www.niagararegion.ca/governm...tiatives/gncr/

I posted a ride summary on the Eastern Canada regional page, for anyone considering a ride along the Niagara River on the Canadian side of the border.

http://www.bikeforums.net/eastern-ca...l#post18053523