Two years ago, I rode the Hamilton to Brantford Rail Trail as part of a longer Kitchener to Hamilton ride. It was a very good trail with the former Sulphur Springs train station being the main draw. However, I was meaning to check some other rail trails in the Hamilton area such as the Escarpment and Chippewa. Having got a new gravel bike last month and a day off work yesterday, I finally got to check both trails off my bucket list.
Happy Canada Day, everybody!
Part one of my Barrie to Brampton ride covered Barrie to Tottenham including the Thornton Cookstown Trail. While there were some gaps such as from Beeton to Tottenham, it makes for a promising route. Let’s start Part 2 which covers the Caledon Trailway with this picture of the trail entrance.
One trail I wanted to do for a while was the Caledon Trailway. However, I noticed on Strava Joric did a one-way ride from Barrie to Brampton in June 2023 using that trail plus the Thornton-Cookstown Trail which prompted me to consider that ride as a follow up to the Kitchener to Hamilton ride in July 2023. Yesterday, I finally crossed that Barrie to Brampton ride off my bucket list! Part one of this series covers the Thornton Cookstown Trail and the second will focus on the Caledon Trailway.
One rail trail I wanted to do for a while is the Uxbridge to Lindsay Rail Trail. Back in 2020, I did a short portion of the Omemee Rail Trail from Peterborough to the Doube’s Trestle Bridge, though the trail continued all the way to Lindsay. Both are part of the Trans Canada Trail. Yesterday with the weather finally co-operating, I took GO Transit to Uxbridge to cross that trail off my bucket list.
Last June, I wrote about the need to connect various trails in southern Ontario. Since then, I have identified a fair number of developments which warrant a follow up. These include the Orangeville Brampton Railway trail conversion, the Simcoe County Trails Strategy, and the Humber Trail in Vaughan. Let’s go through these developments to see how they will address these trail gaps.
Next Thursday's Infrastructure and Environment Committee (IEC) meeting will feature two items that will affect cycling and micromobility. The first item is Phase 1 of the eglintonTOday Complete Street project from Bicknell Avenue to Mount Pleasant Road and the second is a Micromobility Strategy for Toronto. While it’s unfortunate the Avenue Road Study didn’t make the cut, let’s review what these two items have to offer and some suggestions on what to advocate for with your written submission or live deputation.
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| Existing conditions on Eglinton east of Winona during Sunday's Earth Day Ride |
While I was writing about Friday’s 115 kilometre ride from Kitchener to Hamilton, I realized going over the ride details would mean splitting it over three posts. Part 1 discussed the logistics of getting to Kitchener GO station and riding towards Downtown Cambridge. Part 2 will start from when I crossed the Grand River in Downtown Cambridge to get to Highway 24 and the Cambridge to Paris Rail Trail.
This summer, I had been meaning to use one my summer Fridays off at work to bike from Kitchener to Hamilton using the Cambridge to Paris and Hamilton to Brantford Rail Trails. Unfortunately, the past two attempts in June had to be called off either due to rain or poor air quality. Last Friday, I finally got to bring my bike on the 9:34 GO Train to Kitchener and bike 115 kilometres – including a 5 km stretch in Brantford which Strava missed – to Hamilton’s West Harbour station. Making it the longest one-day ride I have done yet!
Over the past few years, I have had the chance to ride several regional trails in southern Ontario; starting with the Greater Niagara Circle Route in 2016. I have since done the Oro Medonte Trail from Barrie to Orillia, the Georgian Trail from Collingwood to Meaford, the Brantford to Port Dover trail, the Elora Cataract, and part of the Omemee Rail Trail near Peterborough. However, a look at Google Maps show there are a lot more regional bike trails, along with some significant gaps. Let’s look at some of these regional trail gaps and how they can be filled.
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| Map of current bikeways per Google Maps |
The day before we biked around Peterborough, we rode along part of the Elora Cataract Trailway; a 45 kilometre trail from Elora to Forks of the Credit Provincial Park. We started in Belwood about halfway between and parked at Belwood Hall.
This past year has lead to several new cycling adventures north, south, and west of the Toronto area including Sudbury, the Georgian Trail, the Brantford to Port Dover trails, and the Elora Cataract. However, Helen and I hadn’t brought our bikes east yet which was what we did on a rainy Sunday morning when we headed to Peterborough.
For those who want to enjoy some cycling outside of Toronto, a lot of rail trails can be found across Ontario. Some of them can be accessed by GO Transit such as Oro Medonte, but many require getting to them by car for a day trip. During the Labour Day long weekend, Helen and I rented a car to bike the Georgian Trail from Collingwood to Meaford and the rail trails from Brantford to Port Dover.
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| West Toronto Railpath extension rendering (via City of Toronto) |
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| Barrie's old Allandale train station |
