Brantford History Bike Loop

40 km round trip—3 hours by bike 

Start: Bell Homestead

Start with lunch or afternoon tea at the Bell Homestead, where Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. The tour passes by historic Salt Springs Church and the Mohawk Chapel. Take a short side trip to the Woodland Cultural Centre, housed in a former residential school and learn about Indigenous history and culture.

The tour is mainly on country roads and off-road multi-use trails. It
includes 2 sections on busy highways, totalling about 4 km.

Link to Interactive Map of Brantford History Bike Loop

Park your car at the Bell Homestead (1), where Alexander Graham Bell lived with his parents when he first emigrated to Canada.  Here he invented the telephone in 1874.  Two years later, he made the world’s first “long distance” phone call to Paris, Ontario.  Take a guided tour of the homestead. Start or finish your bike tour with a lunch or afternoon tea at the Exchange Café.  Try their famous Apple Dapple cake and scones, or other baked goods and ice cream.

Turn L onto Tutela Heights Road (paved road) as you exit the Homestead and ride to Cockshutt Rd.  Turn R onto Cockshutt Rd (use caution as it is a busy road) and ride for 400 m to Hwy 18.  Turn L and ride along Hwy 18, crossing the Grand River.  This is a busy road—walk your bike on the sidewalk crossing the bridge.  Turn R onto Salt Springs Church Road (unpaved road).  You will pass Salt Springs Church (2) in about 1 km.  This Methodist church was founded in 1830 by William Ryerson (brother to Egerton Ryerson, a controversial colonial administrator, for whom Metropolitan University in Toronto was previously named). The church served local settlers and was a mission to the local Indigenous population.  The current building was built in 1860.  Behind the church is a graveyard where many settlers are buried, including William Ryerson.

Continue on Salt Springs Church Rd and turn L onto Maclellan Rd (unpaved road).  Continue to Highway 54, a very busy highway.  Take care crossing the highway and continue on Campbell Rd to Old Onondaga Rd (unpaved road) and turn R.  In 1.6 km, take the L hand fork onto Brant School Rd (paved country road).  This scenic road follows the course of Fairchild Creek, which is a tributary of the Grand River, crossing it several times.  Cross Colborne St E (busy highway) at the traffic lights and turn L.  Turn R at the next intersection onto Papple Rd.  In 400 m, the road crosses the Cainsville/Hamilton to Brantford Rail Trail (off-road multi-use trail).  Turn L onto the trail. (Another time, if you turn R, take the Hamilton to Brantford Rail Trail to Hamilton, following the old Hamilton Brantford Railway route down the escarpment, a spectacular 28 km ride, which connects to the Waterfront Trail. Park a get-away car in Hamilton unless you want to ride uphill all the way up the escarpment!)

Continue onto the end of Beach Rd. Keep L and immediately head back onto the Cainsville/Hamilton to Brantford Rail Trail. Continue to Mohawk Rd and turn L. The trail resumes on the R immediately after crossing the bridge over the river. This is now the the Tom Longboat/Hamilton to Brantford Rail Trail (named after Tom Longboat, who was the first Indigenous person to win the Boston Marathon, in 1907).  Continue on the trail to the Royal Chapel of the Mohawks (3).  The chapel, built in 1785, was the first Anglican church in Upper Canada.  It is now the oldest surviving church in Ontario.  The church was built by the British Crown and given to Six Nations in recognition of their services fighting for the British during the American Revolution.  Joseph Brant, or Thayendanegea, a chief of the Mohawks (one of The Six Nations of Haudenosonee), is buried here.  The chapel, which is a National Historic Monument, is managed by Six Nations of the Grand River. 

From here you can return to the Dike Trail/Hamilton to Brantford Rail Trail and turn R. If you have time, it is recommended to take a side trip to the Woodland Cultural Centre (4). From the Chapel of the Mohawks, turn L onto Mohawk St. The Cultural Centre is on the R in 700 m.  Housed in the former Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School, it is now a centre for Indigenous language, culture, art and history.  The centre is open to the public and offers tours and special exhibitions. When you leave the centre, turn L onto Mohawk St and immediately turn R onto 8th Avenue. At the end of the street, turn L onto Sanderson St. At the corner of Sanderson St and Fifth Ave, turn R onto a community trail, which leads you back to the Dike Trail/Hamilton to Brantford Rail Trail.

Continue south on the Dike Trail to River Rd (paved road with multi-use trail) and turn R.  Continue along River Road.  After 800 m, take the trail to the L which is the SC Johnson/Dike Trail. 

Continue to the City of Brantford’s Earl Haig Family Fun Park (5) (day use fee) on the R.  If you have kids, spend some time at the park. Then turn L to cross the Plywood Patch Bridge (6). Admire the community art project painted on the panels of the bridge and enjoy the views of the Grand River below. 

After crossing the bridge, turn L onto the Fordview Trail, which runs for 1.6 km, passing under Veterans Memorial Highway.  This trail runs into the Gilkison Trail.  Turn L and follow the trail along the river to Mt Pleasant Rd (paved road).  Turn L and continue 600 m back to Tutela Heights Road (paved road).  Ride up the hill for 900 m back to the Bell Homestead (1).  

This ride is on the Haldimand Tract, which stretches 6 miles on either side of the Grand River from source to mouth, which was granted to the Six Nations for fighting for the British during the American Revolutionary War.