The best traffic-free bike rides around Pickering

This trailhead is located in the small community of Altona and provides access to the northern and southern sections of the Rouge National Park Trail. From here, you can head east a few steps along Uxbridge-Pickering Townline Road to connect with the trail north toward Glasgow or head south to Black Walnut Day Use Area.

Black Walnut Day Use Area is a hub for access to several trails in Rouge National Urban Park. There is ample free parking, washrooms, water refill stations, picnic areas, and trail information, making it a convenient place to start and end your journey. From here, you can explore trails through restored wetlands, forests, and the park’s historic agricultural landscape.

Waterfront Park is a large lakeside greenspace, and is part of Ajax’s six-kilometre waterfront corridor, with open lawns, beaches, wetlands, and picturesque shoreline views. The park is connected by a paved multi-use section of the Waterfront Trail that passes through natural and maintained areas, making it popular for walking, cycling, jogging, birdwatching, and lakeside recreation, and is one of Ajax’s main outdoor gathering places.

Veterans’ Point Gardens is a beautiful memorial park along the waterfront that honours Canadian veterans through monuments, commemorative features, and interpretive plaques, all set within well-manicured gardens overlooking Lake Ontario. There are open lawns, flower beds and benches with expansive views across the shoreline.

Paradise Beach is a small lakeside spot with beautiful views across Lake Ontario, a sandy shoreline, and easy access to the Waterfront Trail. The beach has a quieter feel than some larger waterfront parks, with picnic areas and space for walking, cycling, and fishing along the lakeshore. It’s an ideal place for a break or lunch, with several benches to relax and stay a while.

Waterfront Trail follows the shoreline of Lake Ontario, and is part of the larger 900-kilometre Great Lakes Waterfront Trail, connecting waterfront parks, beaches, wetlands, and scenic viewpoints across the city. This paved, flat section follows a quiet stretch of shoreline, passing marshy areas, with plenty of panoramic lake views, and waterfront greenspace with a more relaxed, less developed feel than the busier central waterfront.

Rotary Frenchman's Bay West Park is a waterfront greenspace that has undergone renovations from 2018 to 2023. This project added new parking and additions to the waterfront trails. The park also has newly installed walkways, pathway lighting, and a kayak launch. The park has quite a few amenities, including a public bathroom, sandy beach, picnic area, fishing area, and two art installations. The art installations are titled “Water is Medicine,” created by the art collective Dbaajmowin, and “Our House” by Dorsey James.

Established in 1972, Lynde Shores Conservation Area offers a network of flat, easy trails that wind through marsh, meadow, and lakeshore forest. Boardwalks and wide paths take you through the mix of wetlands and wooded pockets that draw in waterfowl, deer, and plenty of songbirds creating a relaxed environment near the shore of Lake Ontario.