St. Catharines is the largest city in the Ontario’s Niagara region. It’s known as the “Garden City” due to its 1,000 acres of parks, gardens, and trails. The surrounding area is known for its orchards and vineyards. There are two ‘sections’ for running in St. Catharines: the downtown area, which is 5 km inland from Lake Ontario, and the waterfront, stretching from Port Dalhousie to Port Weller.
In central St. Catharines, there’s some nice running along the Merritt Trail and the Twelve Creek Trails. Just south, there’s fairly easy trail running in the area around Brock University, using the Bruce Trail to connect to Glenridge Quarry and Lake Moodie. Trail runners will enjoy Short Hills Provincial Park and Ball’s Falls. Some of the best places to run in St. Catharines are in the area around Lake Ontario. A highlight is the several km of Waterfront Trail along the lake and the Harbour Walkway Trail in the Port Dalhousie area. Just east of there, in the Weller Port area, there’s another section of the Waterfront Trail, a paved multi-use path along the Welland Canal, and the George Nicholson Memorial Trail out to McIntyre Bay. We’ve also included three routes in Niagara-on-the-Lake, which is 15 km east of St. Catharines.
