Reply to Amtrak to Buffala/visit Niagara Falls

We're planning a thru ride on the Erie Canal Bike Route. Planning to park in Albany and take the train to Buffalo. Upon mid day arrival we're planning to bike to Niagara Falls and back. Map Quest shows a 21 mile 1 way route. Has anyone rode this stretch? Looks like part of the route might he on a bike route. How bike friendly or this a good idea? Also is amtrak travel a pain in butt or what. We'd need to bring a pedal wrench that I'd need to send back home or carry along the route unless there's a bike shop near the train station or trail. Thanks

Very bike friendly. Buffalo to Niagara Falls (NY side) is all bike path except for the whole of Grand Island. The two bridges over and onto the island are big bridges but have separated sidewalks. Once over the first bridge you will take Grand Island Blvd. (Rt. 324) north which parallels I-190. Been a long time for me on that road but I recall it having pretty wide shoulders.

If you bring your passports, I can recommend an even better ride. Cross over the Peace Bridge at Buffalo to Ft. Erie, Ontario and after riding a small section of road heading north in Ft. Erie, you're on the Niagara River Recreational Trail all the way to Niagara Falls. It's a beautiful ride!

You could even incorporate both and just do all of it in one big circle route. If I was planning this I would start at Buffalo (Peace Bridge) over to Ft. Erie, Ft. Erie to Niagara Falls, ONT, cross back into the US (Rainbow Bridge) to Niagara Falls, NY, then take bike paths back to Grand Island and into Buffalo. But that's just me. :) Both sides are about the same mileage.

If you turn Bicycling on in Google Maps, you will see the trails on both sides of the border. Either way is a nice ride.

I'm not familiar with bike shops. You'll have to see if Amtrak has Roll On/Roll Off bike service so you don't have to box your bike, the undoing of pedals and twisting of handlebars is not fun to put back together.

Good luck.

John

John,
Thanks for all of the info. I've started looking/figuring out some of the routes but good to know what I'm thinking is mostly correct.

John,
We've actually had a change of plans and have decided to take the train from Albany to Niagara Falls. The station isn't too far from the state park. Maybe 20 min. We'll have passports so thinking we/ll cross the Rainbow Bridge and back then head toward Buffalo via the routes you mentioned. Time is a factor as we'll also need to get at least to Tonawanda or Lockport in order to get to a campground for the night. Not sure about the mileage but I'm thinking 25 miles from the falls to Buffalo depending on which route we take. Also there's a PO about 5 blocks from the train station so we could send the pedal wrench home after use. Anything else could be done with normal bike tools that I always carry.

If you have any other info please feel free to forward. Greatly appreciated. I'm a great info source for the Allegheny Passage/C&O but the Erie Canal ride will be new to me.Tanks again.

Sounds like a great trip, Rick! Erie Canal is a fantastic ride. Love the GAP/C&O...I’m hoping my trip there this year goes through as planned but we’ll see. I do recognize your name/town from that trails forums.

One more thing you can check out that might affect your trip: the US-Canada bridge wait times. You’ll want to see if there are any major delays. There’s a few sites online. 99% of the time it’s no big deal but sometimes big holiday weekends and global political events effect border crossings. But it’s usually no big deal. Pre 9/11, you could go on the pedestrian sidewalks but now they want you on the roads as if you’re car traffic which is still strange to me. Passport requirements seemed to have reduced traffic a bit though (it must be wide open now I’m guessing).

Since were talking Niagara Falls, one of my favorite rides ever is the Greater Niagara Circle Route. 87 miles, all in Ontario. Start at Niagara Falls, and go north to Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL), west to Port Weller, then turn south towards Welland along the Welland Canal and continue south to Port Colborne, then east to Fort Erie, then north to Niagara Falls. I did it over two days to soak it all in. The falls, the gorge, forts, monuments, the Welland Canal, the town of NOTL, lakes Erie and Ontario, wineries (beautiful!), farms, and old estate houses along the Niagara River. Stunning. All of it is paved and all of it is on trail except the part between NOTL and Port Weller and a small section coming out of Niagara Falls. Obviously that’s one for another day! :)

Oh....Lake Effect Ice Cream in Lockport, NY right at the locks is a must stop.

Well darn. Just did a tentative Amtrak ticket search and according to their website you can't check boxed bikes at Albany, Buffalo, nor Niagara Falls. They only have a page to check small pets. Amtrak is a pain in the butt and there are only a few shuttle services and most only haul up to 4 people/bikes or they want to guide the trip themselves. At least that's what I'm seeing. Darn.

Good grief you can’t even check a boxed bike on that train? Geez. I though at least you’d have that. We’re pretty fortunate that roll on/roll off service is at both ends of Pittsburgh and Washington DC. And you can still do boxed bikes if those sell out. I’m guessing in the vacuum left behind of no train connection bike services that some shuttle services simply have to exist between Buffalo and Albany.

You could try contacting Parks and Trails New York (PTNY). They have responded to me about questions about the trail in the past. They run the annual Cycle the Erie Canal trip and also manage the trail.

There has to be a shuttle out there somewhere! :-)

@Rick from Grafton
Enjoyed reading your messages with John. FTR, I wholeheartedly agree with John about the Fort Erie -> Niagara Falls tour. Regardless of what is happening with the train situation (PTNY is a good source as might be the NYS Erie Canal Corporation - Canalway Trail) for more information or direction. What I wanted to share was the thought that you were thinking of going to NFalls and then to Buffalo and then to Lockport. That is a lot of backtracking. Start in Buffalo - go north to NFalls and then east to Lockport. No need to come back to Bflo from NFalls. I'm local to Buffalo so if you need any help give me a shout.
PS - Nothing wrong with starting in Bflo and taking the trail up to Tonawanda and then over Grand Island to the Falls and then to Lockport to stay in NY and use the Canalway Trail -- but as John mentioned, the CDN side is a beautiful ride. He might have more experience with the bridge traffic, but I'd shirt past cars and get to the front of a line - but that's the renegade in me!

Thanks guys. This route is all new to me. I've ridden the Allegheny Passage probably a dozen times including several Passage/C&O thru rides. Greenbrier River in Wva, Jackson River, and a bunch of other routes. I believe in research so less goes wrong. Thanks for al your help. Hopefully the country will be back on track by the time we leave in Sept.

I've riden from ft Erie to Pt Colborne to Welland but "lost" the trail there. Where can I find a trail map?

Lovetobike...try this downloadable map: https://www.niagararegion.ca/government/initiatives/gncr/PDF/gncr-map-web.pdf

and this also: http://www.niagaracyclingtourism.com/bike-routes/greater-niagara-circle-route/

Looks like near Welland the canal splits...there is an "old" canal and a new modern canal that the Great Lakes freighters now take. The main GNCR route runs along the old canal in Welland but its not that long. I do recall some of the signage being poor in Welland as the trail zig zags through town. I found this odd because the entire trail was well marked otherwise. As you will recall, there is not a lot of shade on the Welland Canal part of the trail so to those who haven't done it yet, bring the sunscreen! ;-)

John

Thanks John! I'm going to give it another try when I can get in the country ?????????

WNYBubba - Oh wow, that’s so funny when you said “but I'd shirt past cars and get to the front of a line - but that's the renegade in me!” One time on the Rainbow bridge coming back to NY, the cars were like 10 deep fanned out in the customs lines but had backed up to the point where the cars we’re still stuck in the two lane part of the bridge. I just snaked through that pinch point and had my pick of the shortest line. : -) Kinda felt guilty cutting but.....ah, not really! No one said anything probably because they don’t want to attract the attention of Customs agents.

I still think it’s silly you have to go through as a car now because pre 9/11 you went on the sidewalk and through the pedestrian custom line. I don’t think Bicycle traffic is going to overwhelm the customs agents!

Rick from Grafton - Did you ever get your bike box/Amtrak situation sorted out? Curious to see because if I ever do the Erie Canal again, I would need to figure out a way back.

@John from Pittsburgh -- we'll see how the renegade in me works out next week. I start my tour Saturday and totally plan on somewhat renegade camping across state. Mostly it's just me, but prompted as a way to deal in the COVID world I'll be touring in.

Actually... from anyone on the forum: any experience in bivouac camping on the trail? I've spotted a few rural parking access areas that should work and am thinking I'll be good at several of the Locks -- even ones that are not specific identified as camping allowed. At this point the Canal is not open, but I don't believe that should pose an issue. Other than that, if there's a patch of ground or clump of trees to crash by, I'm good.

Anyone with any experience to share?

WNYBubba - the only camping I’ve personally done were the sites set up by PTNY during the Cycle the Erie Canal event (ie. school grounds) so I don’t know about campsites. But with that said, I did find these sites that might open up some potential areas for you:

http://www.canals.ny.gov/trails/camping.html

https://forums.adventurecycling.org/index.php?topic=15632.0 (a forum talking about it)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.reddit.com/r/bicycletouring/comments/44dd0s/erie_canal_stealth_camping/ (Reddit discussion)

Also, I don’t know if your into Podcasts, but please check out The Pedalshift Project. He just wrapped up a three part series on his 2015 trip on the Erie Canal from the archives. He talks about camping at the locks. Mosquitos are an issue he had at some of the swampier parts of the Canal. Very informative! And the host is originally from the Rochester area. :-)

Best wishes on your journey!

John