Canada

Hamilton, Ontario

Includes routes in nearby Burlington & Brantford. See Also Our Other Guides in the Greater Toronto Area

Flickr: Vladislav Litvinov

Hamilton is a city of 500,000, part of the ‘Golden Horseshoe’ that includes the Greater Toronto area and 1/5 of Canada’s population. Historically Canada’s ‘Steel City’, Hamilton still has an industrial feel. Even so, there’s some very nice running in Hamilton, taking advantage of the city’s setting on the western shore of Lake Ontario, with the 200m high Niagara Escarpment dividing its upper and lower halves.

For lakeside running, there’s a lovely Waterfront Trail near downtown, and another one alongside Hamilton Beach and Burlington Beach. Another great place to run in Hamilton is along a series of multi-use paths along the Niagara Escarpment, which includes a series of stair paths — can you do all 1400 of them? The centrally located Hendrie Valley route is a lovely combination botanical garden, arboretum, and preserve. For a longer off-road run, the Hamilton-Bradford multi-use trail runs for 35 km through farmland west to Brantford. Trail runners will love our Falls and Stairs route, as well as a a section of the long-distance Bruce Trail.

Hamilton is a pretty compact city and is well served by a bus system. Runners should note that Hamilton’s winters can be cold and snowy, with temps consistently below freezing and some 100 cm of average snowfall.

See Our Other Greater Toronto Area Guides

Includes Toronto, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls

Toronto: City

Set on Lake Ontario, Toronto is North America's fourth largest city. It's a cosmopolitan, diverse place, with... more...

All Hamilton Routes
  • All Routes
  • Iconic Routes
  • Weather & Climate
  • Where To Stay
  • Stores & Group Runs
  • Events

Hamilton has warm, humid summers and cold, snowy winters. Summers are typical of southern Ontario, with high temps typically in the 27C (low 80s) range and warm nights (17C). Autumn weather is very pleasant. Winters are cold but not frigid. January high temperatures average around freezing, with lows of -9C (16F). The city averages 118 cm (47 inches) of annual snowfall. There’s more than a fair share of overcast, due to the Lake Ontario influence.

STORES

There are two great running shops in Hamilton. A branch of the Running Room chain, and Runner’s Den. Both have popular running groups and training programs.

GROUP RUNS

Running Room hosts group runs Wednesday 6:30 p.m. and Sunday 8:30 a.m.

Runner’s Den hosts group runs typically every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday runners meet at the store.

Other running groups

Hamilton Around the Bay. The oldest race in North America. https://bayrace.com/