The Cambridge to Paris Rail Trail was one I had been curious about during my research of rail trails in Western Ontario and I wasn’t disappointed. I started in the beautiful river town of Paris, the home to the famous Paris to Ancaster Gravel Race. I cycle up to Cambridge and return to a great beer and lunch in Paris. #cyclinglife #railtrail #parisontario
Trail website: https://www.grandriver.ca/en/outdoor-recreation/Cambridge-to-Paris-Rail-Trail.aspx#gsc.tab=0
Trail which I don’t think is very long and it’s going to connect me eventually and I’m going to get onto the um the rail trail to head up to Cambridge I’m looking forward to it um being staying in London for the last couple of weeks there’s not a lot of rail Trails there there’s the awesome things Valley Parkway which I’ve done a video on last year and um I also took a trip up you’ll see on the end screen of that video of the St Mary’s the statford in Per County so I’ve had to do a little bit of traveling in London CU there’s not a lot of uh rail Trails right there but I thought I would take this one on um good reviews on it so let’s hop on the bike and see what it looks like so this should be the start of it off Curtis Avenue well there is a lookout back there but I about the Stop and it’s to grown you couldn’t see anything we’re quite high up here on the uh up on the trail nice shade cover today is not super warm for June it’s uh going to be up around 20 maybe low 20s be a very nice day for cycling all see quite a few cyclists already it’s a good sign oh hi there beautiful take a look at a defunct Bridge the Murray Bridge you can see it that shot we just did there hey there hi there is um River really nice cycling up on this Ridge you can hear the water running behind us really pretty so far well we’re under 10 km in and a lot of nice Forest you can see a lot of tree cover it’s nice and cool especially nice this time of year wow it’s really pretty in [Applause] here morning there you go are you oh why not got a good deal on toilet paper got to do it [Music] might be the end of the road to the Cambridge portion well F Bar of my go-to snacks on M my rides but I’m looking forward to getting back to Paris and finding a nice cafe maybe on Main Street take a look around before I head back to London got my cycling playlist on little yazo from the 8S baby bring back memor my cycling playlist information very diverse ranging from yazu to Jesse Cook Rush from alltime favorit stream theater sh ke uran got out little varing biosolid you know what that means woo nasty wait for it wait for it oh pretty cool this is a big house at one time love finding Little Treasures like that off the trail good to see they’re looking after the turtle eggs they do that my home Trail in KT Trail in Kingston too so a few weeks back in Kingston on the camp Trail as I mentioned they’re quite good at trying to identify turtle eggs and put cages over them but I posted a picture of this really nice big snapping turtle on the side of the trail more than likely laying its eggs there and I posted it to this um Trail group that I belong to and someone came back and said like don’t post pictures of where they are on that trail cuz people will poach the eggs and I just couldn’t believe it so what’s the world coming to so I love rail trails I’ve heard some people say they don’t love rail Trails CU they’re kind of boring or whatever but I mean yeah there’s a lot of repetition in terms of scenery but most of ours come on have some diversity and it’s just so nice and quiet have to worry about cars so I diverted off the trail out Willow Street and I’m going to just wanted to get a good look at the uh they have some Falls here nice Bridge here too then I’ll work my way to downtown what a beautiful setup I just love it nicely done Grand River Flows 290 km to Lake Erie its Watershed is the largest in Southern Ontario so was recommended me to try this restaurant Ste Waters see if I can get a table met a couple uh over at the um the dam there and they were just talking about how beautiful it is they really enjoyed here and they cycle in to uh have lunch [Music] very cool [Music] how’s the beer tasting a it’s amazing this is a great lakes logger I would highly recommend it well I landed at the Paris Pub in downtown Paris got me some fish chips I’ve been hankering for for a while nice beer talking to another fellow cyclist here who’s Road cyclist who’s come in from near Hamilton for the day abely beautiful day I don’t often do this meal uh that often but I’m pretty well done the ride today talking about the uh some of what the FC Johnson Trail I was thinking of doing which isn’t super long but just say it’s not worth it doing it’s not very great so when I was researching Paris a couple of things came up it’s on like the top 10 or near the top of every list you see for uh great small towns in Western Ontario and uh it’s also the home to the Paris to Ancaster uh Ontario gravel race which is fairly famous certainly in these parts you get quite a few competitors and um I can see why it’s now but every video I’ve seen of that race is typically uh a Mudfest because it takes place in April I think it’s fairly rough so [Music] that was a really really nice day in the bike I really enjoyed that trail I wish it would been a little bit longer you’re going to get maybe 40K on it depending where you go when you’re doing out and back but it’s really really pretty lots of uh tree cover on it has a lot of sort of cliffs to the the one side as you go and then it slopes down to the the Grand River which is really nice um surface was pretty good for the most part other than a little bit of mud so really really enjoyed that I was definitely recommend if you can come here the other part I really like as I mentioned is trying to explore these small towns and Paris there noow disappointment really really nice you know all this fairly historic and all the bridges and the the views of the Grand River and the dam were really really pretty so not disappointed at all I really enjoyed that
2 Comments
It’s always a great ride when you get a nice cold beer!
Even though I have quibbles with the way the trails get lost in Brantford, I do recommend doing the Paris to Hamilton stretch. Ironically, the best part is the TH&B Trail into Ham.
Getting through Brantford: The first time I did it was probably the easiest and best (I've done it over twenty times over a ten year span) and into Brantford from a number of directions, twice from Port Dover, an incredible trail, and the most intuitive way to do is is on the south side of the Grand. Have a map or a navigation system.
The downside to ending up or starting from Port Dover is the lack of transit options, whereas Brantford, Cambridge and especially Hamilton have GO bus (Ham also trains) options so that you don't have to retrace your route.
Cambridge to Paris is as good as it gets in Southern Ontario for trails, I thought I was in heaven first time doing it.