Cycling.
Fort Erie anchors the eastern end of the Greater Niagara Circle Route, a roughly 140-kilometre signed loop linking Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake, St. Catharines, Welland, and Port Colborne.
Two of the route's named segments originate in Fort Erie: the Friendship Trail rail-trail and the Niagara River Recreation Trail.
The brief.
The Friendship Trail runs around 25 kilometres west from Fort Erie through Ridgeway to Port Colborne along the former Buffalo & Lake Huron Railway corridor — paved or hard-packed surface, flat, family-friendly, no significant grade, part of the Trans Canada Trail / Great Trail. The Niagara River Recreation Trail runs north from Old Fort Erie along the Niagara Parkway, mostly paved and signed, paralleling the river toward Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Both trails are managed across Fort Erie by the Niagara Region (Friendship Trail) and the Niagara Parks Commission (River Recreation Trail). May through October is the working cycling season; the trails are quiet on shoulder-season weekdays and busier through July and August.
Road cycling along Niagara Boulevard and into the rural concession-road grid west of Crystal Beach offers low-traffic alternatives.
3. places.
- 01
Friendship Trail (Fort Erie–Ridgeway–Port Colborne)
Around 25 km rail-trail; paved/hard-packed; flat; signed; family-friendly.
- 02
Niagara River Recreation Trail (Fort Erie–Niagara-on-the-Lake)
Paved riverside trail along the Niagara Parkway; family-friendly; NPC-managed.
- 03
Greater Niagara Circle Route
Roughly 140 km signed loop combining Friendship Trail, Welland Canals Parkway, Waterfront Trail, and Niagara River Recreation Trail.
Today's read.
Cold but firm — winter-ready conditions · light winds · clean air.