Trans Canada Trail
Trans Canada Trail
Kona
Scenic Caves
Trans Canada Trail
What is the Trans Canada Trail?
 
The Trans Canada Trail is a 21,500-kilometre recreational trail winding its way through every province and territory, from the Atlantic to Pacific to Arctic Oceans. When completed, it will be the world's longest recreational trail, linking close to 1000 communities and over 33 million Canadians.

 
Ontario section of Trans Canada Trail
 
In southern Ontario 60 percent of the trail has been built along abandoned rail lines donated to provincial governments by CP and CN rail. The trail is a multi-use trail and depending on the section of trail it may be used by hikers, bicyclists, cross country skiers, all terrain vehicles and snowmobilers.
 
The total length of the Ontario Trans Canada Trail section will be 4,000 km.
 
Trail challenges for completion include municipal and land owner issues and complicated trail building along rugged terrain in remote areas of the province.

 
The Route
 
The Trans Canada Trail enters Ontario in the east at Ottawa and takes the traveler southwest into farmlands and small-town Eastern Ontario. At Carleton Place there’s a sharp kink towards Smith Falls on the Rideau Canal. Through the Rideau Lakes area, the Trail heads for Harrowsmith and there it changes course.
 
Northward it proceeds to Sharbot Lake and then southwest to Campbellford and Lindsay. The Trail wanders through the countryside to Uxbridge and then south to the Lake Ontario waterfront, west through Ajax, Pickering and into Toronto.
 
The route west from Toronto hugs the shoreline to Hamilton and reaches to the first of two Trans Canada Trail Y-junctions in Ontario. To Niagara-On-The-Lake the Trail cuts across to Lake Erie and the south coast of the Niagara Peninsula. At Port Colborne it crosses the Welland Canal to Fort Erie and on to Niagara Falls. Further southwest, the Trans Canada Trail pushes onward to Brantford, a centre of Native culture and history. Brantford is the other Ontario Y-junction. To St.Thomas and Windsor the Trail crosses lush land with picturesque scenery. A detour from here leads to Point Pelee National Park, the southern-most point in Canada and a paradise for birdwatchers. Windsor is the endpoint of this stretch.
 
From Brantford, the Trans Canada Trail also heads north following the Grand River to Paris and Cambridge and on to the twin cities of Kitchener and Waterloo. It then connects to rural St.Jacob’s, Elmira, Guelph and up to Elora. The northward drive carries the Trans Canada Trail towards Barrie on Lake Simcoe, then via Midland to Orillia. Turning north it enters the Muskoka region – through Gravenhurst, Bracebridge and Huntsville. It then continues to head north to North Bay and then west to Sudbury, Sault St. Marie and Thunder Bay. Finally, the journey finds its way to Kenora and exits Ontario to Manitoba.
 
 

Learn how you can Help and Contribute

  • Put your name on the trail
  • Put your message on the trail
  • The Honour Panel
  • Kilometre club
  • Membership Packages
 
Guidebooks, maps, information and other useful items can be found at the official Trans Canada Trail website.
 

Visit the official Trans Canada Trail website: www.tctrail.ca