She was so excited. It would be an epic bicycle ride – the longest ever for my four-year-old granddaughter. We’d start at the Fonthill Library, pedal downhill eastward to the Steve Bauer Trail, then south towards Welland. There’d be a picnic-style lunch stop at one of the benches along the trail near Merritt Road, and a final push slightly uphill on sidewalks (it’s legal if your wheels are less than 50 centimetres) to Woodstream Park.
Two hours later our three-kilometre ride was completed, and she couldn’t wait to tell her parents what she’d accomplished.
Independence, self-confidence, freedom and joy – your kids or grandkids will each have their own ranking for the fun benefits cycling provides them. As a parent and grandparent, time spent riding with our kids, distanced for a precious hour or two from their and our normal distractions, offers opportunities to listen more closely, watch them make decisions, and simply connect.
A ride around the block is one thing, but a new cycling destination can become an instant adventure and learning experience for kids, rejuvenating their interest and anticipation in refreshing ways. Niagara has a huge number of such safe off-road trails, each with their own special attractions for kids of various ages.
In Pelham, our Steve Bauer Trail system is a wonderful way to introduce kids to traffic-free riding, whether it’s the flat and easy paved section between Port Robinson Road and Quaker Road or the more challenging dirt and woodchip surfaced trail between Harold Black Park and Shoalts Drive.
The Gerry Berkhout Trail from Fenwick’s Centennial Park is fun as it twists through the forest just east of the new pickleball courts, then becomes smooth and level all the way to Welland. The nine-kilometre one-way distance can make it a challenge as kids decide how far to extend their ride and test themselves.
The Welland Canal Trail follows the western bank of the canal for most of its length from Port Colborne to Port Weller, and many of its sections can be quite interesting for kids. It’s completely paved and offers lots of refreshment and exploration stops.
The access and parking off Chippawa Street near Notre Dame College in Welland provides numerous ride options. Pedaling south takes one over the aqueduct where the Welland River passes under the canal to Main Street. From there cross the Main Street bridge on a wide sidewalk and head into the Merritt Island trail system, or continue south toward all the excitement of the Lincoln Street dive centre, canoe and kayak launch and rentals, and the Flatwater Centre.
Accessing the trail in Port Robinson allows young riders to head in either direction to explore as far as is comfortable, then return and take a short, free ferry ride across the canal for an ice cream or burger reward. (Runs May-Oct, check Town of Thorold website for ferry details.)
Niagara has a huge number of such safe off-road trails
Venturing a bit farther, Port Colborne is a great hub for interesting trails. Parking at H.H. Knoll Lakeview Park and riding east two blocks to the canal trail provides an educational and fun insight into a working port. Grain elevators dominate the view south, huge ships are being dismantled across the canal at Marine Recycling Corporation, tug boats and pilot boats come and go, and ships from around the world thread their way through the canal entrance under Bridge 21. Pizza, ice cream and beer (for the adults) abound.
Biking east across Bridge 21 leads you to the beginning of the 27- kilometre-long Friendship Trail, a paved, totally car-free route to Fort Erie which passes through the unique communities of Crystal Beach and Ridgeway. For young kids more comfortable with short rides, the Friendship Trail around Ridgeway is best on Saturday when the weekly downtown market assembles adjacent to the trail. There’s lots of homemade snack opportunities, fresh produce and crafts, and a free splash pad located right on the trail.
Parking in the north end of Port Colborne at Lock Eight Gateway Park opens up the trail toward Welland. There’s a skateboard park for entertainment, and heading toward Welland will take you along a twisty section of paved trail past a great mountain biking area for those with knobby tires. A little further along is the dock complex where Jungbunzlauer Canada Inc., a biotechnology company, offloads agricultural products from ships. When a ship is docked, the excited seagull and Canada geese chorus is deafening.
The far north end of the Welland Canal Trail in Port Weller offers two different adventures.
Park at Charles Ansell Park where Lakeshore Road meets Bunting Road, and pedal north on the trail directly into Malcolmson Eco Park with its Children’s Learning Centre and maze of trails leading to Sunset Beach. The hard-packed stone dust trails swoop and whoop around small ponds and marshes and are so much fun for kids, and adults who think they’re still kids, to pedal.
Walk your bikes on the sidewalk across the canal into East Port Weller, or park at Jones Beach, and ride the George Nicholson Memorial Trail out along a manmade spit to the lighthouse and canal’s Lake Ontario entrance for great views and up-close ship watching.
This list of Niagara trails just scratches the surface of those that kids might find interesting. The Niagara River Parkway from Chippawa to the brink of the Falls, via Dufferin Islands, is a better electricity generation lesson than any textbook could offer, and can be ridden completely off the trafficked roadway.
The short, flat, paved trail ride from Queenston Heights to Stanley Street in Niagara Falls, past the Centennial Lilac Garden, Floral Clock, over the steep penstocks of the Niagara Falls Power Generating Station, alongside the Butterfly Conservatory and Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens to the Niagara Glen, is an exciting sensory overload.
If the quiet of nature up close combined with a lesson on sourcing St Catharines’ drinking water appeals, park by the ball diamonds at Highway 20 and Holland Road in Allanburg and ride the isolated Bruce Trail gravel section along Lake Gibson to Beaverdams Road. You and the kids will cross the rushing intake for St Catharine’s drinking water on a scary but solid little bridge, then pedal past pairs of spectacular nesting swans just out of reach.
Having confidence and belief in oneself is essential to kids’ well-being.
A reliable new, or used bike that someone’s son or daughter has outgrown, and a new, good quality helmet seem like a bargain at a time when so many kid’s sports are becoming expensive. The fact that an interesting and challenging bike ride can offer children new experiences and inspire personal power and independence is an invaluable bonus. See you out there.
