The Kissing Bridge Trailway

Like most people here in Toronto, Ontario I am a transplant. Meaning that I was born somewhere else and was drawn to the city. In my case it was because I was accepted into a Master’s program at the University of Toronto back in 2017. I had finished up my undergraduate studies at the Ohio State University and was stoked to receive my acceptance letter in early 2017. Ever since I have stayed here in Canada and am absolutely thrilled and grateful for the opportunity to live in this beautiful country.

Once I got my affairs in order, I moved up to Ontario as soon as my classes were done at OSU. The reason being that I wanted to get settled into life here well before my classes started at UofT. That was a brilliant move on my part because it afforded me the opportunity to explore Ontario the summer of 2017.

One of the first things I looked into doing was getting out of the city on my bike. I’m not used to being around so many people, and I desperately needed some fresh air and space. Looking around at the trails outside the city I found the Kissing Bridge Trailway. This trailway is awesome. It runs along a former railway land that stretches about 124 kilometers between Guelph and Goderich. Goderich is the cutest little city that is right on Lake Huron. My estimation is that it would take maybe 6.5 hour to ride the entire thing one way. Unfortunately, I did not do that and went up to Goderich for a day and did a little joyriding on the KBT. BUT it’s now on my bucket list of things to do, kinda like hiking the Appalachian Trail in the States. Especially biking the trail in the autumn when the fall colors are in their peak.

The trail was established in 1998 when the County of Wellington and the Regional Municipality of Waterloo jointly leased the land from the Province of Ontario. Also, if you take a two-kilometer detour, you can see the West Montrose Kissing Bridge, the last covered bridge in Ontario.

Biking this trail was exactly what I needed after moving to Toronto. The path was gravel with decently easy grades, I took my old trusty road bike and had no issues. Sometimes the trail is almost under a canopy of trees, which was lovely relief from the sun, but other times you ‘re biking along cornfields and lower undergrowth. I recommend bringing along a bit more water than you’d expect. But there are places to stop and get a snack like the Bela Crema Bakery.

I am so glad I checked it out and would absolutely recommend it to anyone either looking to get out of the city or just try something new.