Some 30 million people a year visit Niagara Falls every year. The falls themselves are of course spectacular, but the surrounding area is wonderful too, from parks to pastoral farm roads passing by wineries, and the pretty town of Niagara-on-the-Lake with its annual summer Shaw theater festival. Our guide to running in Niagara Falls includes the greater Niagara region, including Niagara-on-the-Lake, St. Catharines, and the New York side of the falls.
Niagara Falls has some great opportunities for running, owing to an excellent infrastructure of multi-use paths that showcase some of the area’s most scenic highlights. Enjoy our scenic running tours of the falls on both the Canada and the U.S. sides. There’s also wonderful running along the Niagara River Recreation Trail to Queenston Park and then for up to 20 km to the shores of Lake Ontario! For a long, flat run along a canal, hop on any section of the Welland Canals Parkway trail. We’ve also put together a 10k running tour of the pretty town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, and some recommendations for nearby “Garden City” of St Catharines. See also our routes on the New York side and in the Buffalo area.
A couple of important notes about the area: You can run across the Rainbow Bridge — but remember to bring your passport! Also, winters in the area can be cold and snowy. Except in the most visited sections, trails are not typically maintained…so bring your Yak-Traks!.