Canada

Niagara Falls, Ontario

A Guide to the Best Places to run in Niagara Falls on the Ontario and New York sides. See Also St. Catharines and Buffalo

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!.

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See Also our Guides to Routes neaby areas in Ontario and the New York side

Buffalo, NY

Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie, Buffalo is New York State’s... more...

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

Niagara Falls has weather extremes. Warm summers, with average highs of 27C (low 80sF), and warm nights. Fall is gorgeous and mild. Winters are cold, with high temperatures near freezing and lows dipping into the teems (-8C). Snowfall is also abundant, averaging some when running in Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls is a hugely popular visitor destinations, so there is an abundance of accommodation options. Most people who travel there also have a car. For convenience if nothing else, proximity to the center of town will allow for easy access to some of our favorite running spots.

There are no dedicated running stores in Niagara Falls, but there are plenty nearby. There are outlet stores between Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake off Queen Elizabeth Way containing Salomon, Reebok, and New Balance outlets.

Best indy running stores in the area are Runners Edge and Running Room, both located in the St. Catharines area. Both offer group runs several times a week.

Group Runs:

Runners Edge event calendar.

Running Room has group runs Wed. 6:30 p.m., Sat. 10:00 a.m., Sun. 8:30 a.m.

Niagara Falls Marathon. October. Popular event.