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Ed's Sk8toronto Website
WATERFRONT TRAIL (AJAX)
OVERVIEW
It seems that every time I skate this trail the Town of Ajax has improved it! I will now say that this trail is a great place to skate –especially if you stay away from the bumpier and narrow western section. The most recent upgrades mean that the “bad” skating is now limited to the area around Rotary Park and around 1.3k toward the east from there. From that point eastward the trail is great!
The most remarkable thing about this particular trail is its proximity to Lake Ontario. The “Waterfront” trail is not usually as close to the water as it is in Ajax. Some sections of the trail are very curvy and this is great for skaters. For a waterfront trail, the route is rather hilly. Don’t let this scare you away. There is nothing scary and you can’t do much about the topography of the lake shore in any case.
There are great maps of this route available at the website for the Waterfront Trail. The main site for the Waterfront Trail is: http://www.waterfronttrail.org/ The maps that pertains to this route are: http://www.waterfronttrail.org/maps/wt-3_02.pdf and http://www.waterfronttrail.org/maps/wt-3_03.pdf
There is a pedestrian bridge across the mouth of Duffin's Creek which extends the path to the west. Between Rotary Park and the bridge, a short distance to the west, there is a short stretch of unpaved pathway. Any skater who is willing to put up with this short stretch of hard gravel will be able to explore the long bridge over the mouth of Duffin’s Creek and a decent stretch of asphalt pathway along the lakeshore, skirting around behind the Nuclear Generating Plant, crossing Brock Street and ending up at Frenchman’s Bay. Except for the portion close to the lake (and close to Duffin’s Creek) the path is markedly unremarkable
ACCESS
I usually park at Rotary Park near the mouth of Duffin’s Creek. To get there, take Lake Driveway West off of Westney Road. Westney Road has an interchange with 401. There are washrooms at Rotary Park.
THE ROUTE
There is a trail in Rotary Park going a short distance north along the side of Duffin’s Creek but the real fun is to the east where when the path hugs Lake Ontario and stays within view of the lake for the next 4k. To me, the proximity to the lake is what makes this trail special. For the most part, the shore of Lake Ontario in Ajax is not a beach, as in Toronto or Hamilton but rather bluffs like in Scarborough (but not as high).
The original section of pathway starts at Rotary Park and runs east. For a little over a kilometre the path is pretty rough and is tough to skate. From that point to Pickering Beach Road the path has been upgraded and is in super condition. The section east of Pickering Beach is only a few years old and is still in very good shape.
The “new” section picks up around Pickering Beach Road and stays very close to the lake until skirting a big marshy area and ending up at Ontoro Blvd and Lake Ridge Road. The path spills out briefly onto Lakeview Blvd (near Shoal Point Road) to get around a private lot and again at Shoal Point Rd and Carruther’s Creek. Neither place requires skaters to cross the road. From Pickering Beach Road to the north side of the marsh, adjacent to Ashbury Blvd the elevation is low (no bluffs). As the pathway departs from the marshy area it climbs a bit and then falls once more to Ontoro Blvd.
When I did this route in 2005 with Dave Ramsay, we skated the return route in a different way. Just before the Ajax Water Supply Plant there is a path north to Lake Driveway West. Many people would consider this quiet road to be a preferable route back to Rotary Park as it avoids some of the original (poorer quality) pathway.
Last Update: May 2010