Bike Path Leading into Toronto?

NY Rides said:

While driving into Toronto this past week, I noticed a very cool looking bike/recreation path
along Lake Ontario.

Can anybody tell me more about this? Does it go all the way into the city?

--
Low-Impact Rides In The LI/NY Area www.geocities.com/NYRides

You haven't said which direction you were driving in from, so I'm not exactly sure what you saw. The
Ontario waterfront trail is said to be 275 km long. I'm only familiar with a 40 km section that goes
from Port Credit in Mississauga (West of Toronto) out to the eastern beaches in Toronto's east end.
I often ride this 80 km round trip for fun. The ride takes me through bike paths, signed routes
through quiet residential streets, bike lanes etc. It's a nice ride, but very busy on the weekends,
so I can't get a real good workout (gotta go kind of slow.) It's a very nice leisure ride however.

More details including cycling map here: city.toronto.on.cagreatcycling.htmOpen ↗

"NY Rides" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

While driving into Toronto this past week, I noticed a very cool looking bike/recreation path
along Lake Ontario.

Can anybody tell me more about this? Does it go all the way into the city?

Niagara Region is criss-crossed with cycling loops, and has a path parallel to the Niagara Parkway
(along the Niagara River between Niagara-in-the-Lake and Fort Erie).

cycleniagara.comcycleniagara.comOpen ↗

The "Waterfront Trail" is a work-in-progress with many parts using roads near the waterfront.

waterfronttrail.orgtrail.htmlOpen ↗

Toronto itself has several major paths through parks, as well as designated onstreet routes, as
well as some great riding on smaller / less travelled roads out of the city.

toronto.cacyclingmap 2003.htmOpen ↗

Lots of rails-to-trails projects

webhome.idirect.com~brownOpen ↗

Search this newsgroup or ont.bicycle for previous discussions of routes. A general search may
find articles and web pages.

I've found that MapQuest and Yahoo Maps seem to jump from showing more area than I need with less
detail, to the opposite. Streets & Trips has allowed me to print off some useful maps for my
exploratory rides (e.g., along the Canal Road to Bradford). I mark my routes on the map
afterwards, and write up a brief travelogue.

Toronto is a big city. I usually end up riding in traffic at least part of the way to a
destination. But you can park at the start of a multi-use path and ride all day long with very
little road time.

You can also take your bike on TTC (Bus, Streetcar, Subway) except at rush hour. I haven't
attempted the subway - I believe there are elevators at many stations (REL cyclists would just
ride down the ten flights of stairs :-)).

And there's GO Transit, with commuter trains and buses. Weird schedules and rules, but a good way
to avoid cycling through the city to ride out of town. For example, one could board east of
Toronto and dismebark west of Toronto, and save 4 hours of traffic and pollution.

hth

"NY Rides" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

While driving into Toronto this past week, I noticed a very cool looking bike/recreation path
along Lake Ontario.

Can anybody tell me more about this? Does it go all the way into the city?

Yes .... the trail goes all along the north shore of Lake Ontario in fact. It goes from Niagara
Falls to beyond Trenton Ontario. Give a search on the Waterfront Trail.

waterfronttrail.orgtrail.htmlOpen ↗ will get you all the information you need.
Nice ride and worth the trip.

Have a good one.

"NY Rides" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

While driving into Toronto this past week, I noticed a very cool looking bike/recreation path
along Lake Ontario.

Can anybody tell me more about this? Does it go all the way into the city?

As others have mentioned its part of the Lake Ontario waterfront trail which stretches between
Niagara Falls and Kingston. (there are gaps in segments, and some of it is a signed on road route)
waterfronttrail.orgwaterfronttrail.orgOpen ↗

The Toronto segment is also known as the Martin Goodman trail. The city of Toronto has a cycling map
toronto.cacyclingOpen ↗ which will include this trail and others in the city. The trail
starts in Etobicoke a bit west of the Humber Bay bike bridge (which is something you can prominently
see if driving into the city on the Gardiner) - further west Lakeshore Road itself is part of the
waterfront trail - the paved separate path continues about as far as Spadina. The path stops through
the downtown core, and Queens Quay is the on road route to connect from the western part of the path
to the eastern part. At Jarvis the path picks up again and continues eastward through the city.

After they tore down the Gardiner stump in the east end, they added a paved path on the north side
of Lakeshore Road (and a new bike bridge over the Don) so you can now travel in a more direct way on
the path (the old path which still exists goes through the portlands and is more scenic but less
direct) to the Beach(es) neighbourhood, as far as the RJ Harris filtration plant (a neat Art deco
building to see) By riding on Kingston Road for about 10-15 km, you can then hook up with the
waterfront trail again at the Scarborough/Pickering edge and continue eastward.

Be careful riding on the new Lakeshore path if you heading east - which puts you on the left side of
the road. They have bicycle signals at the intersections. However the bike light is green at the
path at Lakeshore/Carlaw for instance at the same time the car light is green and allows for left
turns. There are no signs that cars should watch for cyclists coming up to travel straight from
behind them. Although there is signage westbound for vehicles turning right to watch for cyclists,
the left turn with cyclists on the left side going straight seems more dangerous.

Tanya