Beamsville, Ontario to Scott’s Family Campground, Niagara Falls Ontario 35.6 miles

I needed to stay in Canada for another day to see Petr, my friend from Hamilton. So I didn’t have far to go today and I could spend a little time seeing things along the way.

I decided to stop at a place called Balls Falls. There are a lot of waterfalls along the Niagara Escarpment. But I was finding out I was here at the wrong time of year to see them. In the summer, the streams don’t have much water and many of the falls are dry or a trickle.

Balls Falls had a lot of trails so I took a hike and had a picnic lunch.

I made it into St. Catherines for dessert at Beechwood Donuts a vegan donut shop. I know, I was skeptical too, vegan donuts? Really? But they were the bomb.

I went to a park to enjoy my donuts.

I think this squirrel is on to Beechwood Donuts.

On the was out of St. Catherines I came by an on ramp to the Queen Elizabeth Way, a major highway in Ontario. It was the first intercity divided highway in North America when it opened in in 1937 and was the longest stretch of consistent illumination in the world.

Soon I turned onto the Welland Canal trail. The Welland Canal raises ships 326 feet so they can transit from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie and not have to go over Niagara Falls. It provides a very important commercial Shipping connection to all the ports of the Great Lakes that are upstream from Lake Ontario.

When you hear the word campground, what do you think of? A picnic table and fire ring in the woods with tents and RVs? Well Scott’s Campground where I had reserved a campsite had all that but also offered a “gentleman’s club” across the street. It actually was a very nice campground and I met a French Canadian couple that were on a bike tour and camped nearby.