Ride out into the wilderness in your own city! There are vibrant bike paths and scenic routes in every corner of Toronto. A huge benefit of riding by ebike is the ability to travel further & faster, exploring regions & terrains that may have seemed out of your reach or too challenging in the past. Zygg’s subscription ebikes for personal riding have a robust battery range for going long distances; several levels of pedal-assist for extra support / propulsion; a comfortable “step-through” design; a rear rack to hold your panniers; and integrated lights for those early morning or dusk cycling conditions.
The City of Toronto has compiled maps, route-features and trail etiquette.
We have highlighted a few for inspiration:
One of the longest trails in the westend of the city is The Humber River Park Trail. You can start your relatively flat, 13km (one way) ride at Étienne Brûlé Park (near to The Old Mill, TTC Subway Station) and then follow the Humber River Recreational Trail down to Lake Ontario. Étienne Brûlé Park is named after the first French explorer to venture beyond the St. Lawrence River into Upper Canada (Ontario). The area was once a major trade route for the Indigenous Peoples of the region.
Known for its scenic beauty and abundant wildlife, the shores of The Humber are home to cardinal, hawks, cormorants, Blue Heron, deer, coyote, foxes, rabbits & groundhogs. The lush setting includes cliffs, meadows & ponds filled with native plants, flowers & fish. There is also the photogenic Humber Bay Arch Bridge & historic Old Mill Bridge, and unusual underpasses with colourful graffiti. Check out the beloved #lovebots!
Yash Nico’s ride-along video, posted in 2020, gives you a terrific glimpse into Cycling The Humber.
If you want an even longer ride, (and why not, if you are touring via ebike?) you can add another 20km deep into the city’s north along The Upper Humber Trail.
Or, trek even further by taking The Martin Goodman Waterfront Trail over to Woodbine Beach for a swim. Popular with cyclists, inline skaters, joggers & walkers, this 23 km section starts at The Humber Bay Arch Bridge and connects the city’s lakeshore past High Park, Sunnyside Beach, Ontario Place, Harbourfront Centre, Cherry Beach, The Leslie Spit, and Ashbridge’s Bay. In total, The Martin Goodman Trail is an impressive 56km long, ending at The Rouge River in Toronto’s east end.
Wow, you’ve made it to The Rouge!
Rouge National Urban Park is Canada's first and only national urban park. Comprising over 79 square km of green space from Lake Ontario in the south to The Oak Ridges Moraine in the north, it is the largest protected urban area in North America. It is home to amazing biodiversity, with some of the last active farms in the Greater Toronto Area, Carolinian ecosystems, Toronto’s only campground, one of the region’s largest marshes, a beach at Lake Ontario, fabulous hiking and cycling opportunities, and human history dating back over 10,000 years, including some of Canada's oldest known Indigenous sites. Spend the day, or a few days!
A note of caution: if you picnic or camp in The Rouge, make sure to keep all garbage and food-stuffs packed, sealed and protected, as black bears have been spotted in the area. Park’s Canada has a guide on what to do if you encounter a black bear or coyote in the park.
One of the lesser known wilderness areas for you to discover by e-bike is The Meadow Way. The Meadow Way is an ambitious, evolving plan, aimed at transforming a hydro corridor in Scarborough into a verdant, 16km stretch of urban greenspace & meadowlands (filled with butterflies, birds & wild flowers) that will become one of Canada’s largest linear urban parks. Already in full-swing, cyclists & pedestrians may travel from the core of downtown Toronto to The Rouge National Park without ever leaving nature.
Toronto Star Urban Affairs columnist and U of T lecturer Shawn Micallef drafted an ode to The Meadoway’s significance, entitled “Corridor of Connectivity”, as part of a Park People’s 10th Anniversary feature. Park People is an non-profit organisation dedicated to the development and preservation of sustainable parks in urban centres across Canada. It is a beautiful, informative read.
These are simply a few of our favourite, summertime ecycling routes. Now it’s your turn to get out and tackle the trails, Toronto! #gobybike #bikeTO #parkpeople #urbanwild