Burlington Waterfront Trail - Where are the most scenic spots?

It's less scenic than you think, but if you want to go:

- The Burlington side had free parking up until recently because of the MASSIVE influx of visitors / illegal parkers / destruction of everything near the parking lots (which are huge already). Most people park off of Lakeshore Road as there is no substantial parking in Burlington proper (less than 100 spots I'd say?). There are many lots across a few KM but I would say up until 6 PM any day of the week it will be ram packed and over packed on Sunday. They have multiple full time dedicated parking authority staff members on foot & in cars to hand out infractions / tell people to move. If you're on Google Maps, look for "Beachway Park" and be prepared to fight for a spot.

- The Hamilton side (over the lift bridge) is still currently free, and people park either at the first parking lot after the lift bridge on Eastport or at Jimmy Lomax Park. You could also park on a side street along Beach Blvd and walk across to the path.

The pathway runs all the way from Burlington to Stoney Creek along the water front and is busy with foot traffic, cyclists, rollerbladers, skateboarders, dogs, kids, etc etc. The most scenic I would say is on the Hamilton side towards the end near Confederation Beach Park (where you can also park, but I believe it's pay parking and the parking lot is truly massive - like Canada's Wonderland type thing).

Last thing - the whole trail is more of a pathway and less of a scenic trail. If you want a nice scenic walk in Hamilton I might suggest either the Red Hill Valley Trail which runs from the Hamilton Beach all the way to Albion Falls or the Hamilton Escarpment Rail Trail which runs from the North end of Hamilton over to Albion Falls. I've biked the entire length a few times, and it's quite nice but you'd be in for a long walk... You could start at the beach, go along the Red Hill Valley Trail, passed Albion Falls, up into the Hamilton Escarpment Rail Trail, follow that North until you want to head East, then pick a road and head back down to the beach via streets / sidewalks.

@xjesterxx

Thanks for the suggestions. I was looking to check out these specific spots as shown in the pictures it looks like you can take a walk by the water there. Would you know where this is?

hightech wrote: ↑ @xjesterxx

Thanks for the suggestions. I was looking to check out these specific spots as shown in the pictures it looks like you can take a walk by the water there. Would you know where this is?

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Yep. That’s in downtown Burlington - there is a reasonable size park alongside a path by the water with a small beach. That is a pier with a lighthouse that has a bunch of fun colors at night.

There is a restaurant called Spencer’s in Burlington- to the east of that is a parking lot (pay). It’s busy but possible to get a spot most of the time.

Spencer park and all the beach trail to the east port bridge.
Not really scenic, but full of people that had no other place to go.

hightech wrote: ↑ I was looking to take a walk on the Burlington Waterfront Trail as it looks pretty scenic according to the pictures posted here: https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_R ... tario.html

I wanted to know what are the more scenic parts of the trail that I should walk on and where should I park?

Thanks

You don't need to choose since the whole walk from the pier in downtown Burlington to the lift bridge for Burlington Bay and back is easily done by most adults. You can park in the big parking garage downtown, if you don't want to drive around looking for a street spot.

Like many pleasant parks in Ontario, it has been overcrowded by people wanting to get out of the house during COVID. Same for the Royal Botanical Gardens trails.

The downtown area has many restaurants and ice cream places etc. so as these re-open you will have ample choices to get refreshments after your walk.

You could also head west on North Shore Boulevard and visit LaSalle park with its trails and marina. Good place for a picnic.