Come ride with me as I explore scenic cycling routes, charming towns, patios, wineries, breweries, unique places to stay, and hidden gems—near home and around the world.
We did this ride on Sunday, July 26, 2026.
Perfect for: Couples • Friends • Solo Riders • E-bikes • 1/2 or Full Day Trip
📍 Ride at a Glance
📍 Start Location: Terryberry Library, West 5th St. and Mohawk Road
🅿️ Parking: Free at the library
📏 Distance: Loop – 24 km
⏱ Ride Time: 43 minutes there, 32 minutes on the way back.
⛰️ Elevation Gain: 32 m on the way there, and 134 m on the way back (up the escarpement!)
⭐ Difficulty: Easy with an e-bike as you can hit turbo on the way back up! • you have the escarpment so if riding any other bike, you will find the ride up the escarpment rail trail challenging.
🚲 Suitable For: E-bike – since you are going up and down the escarpment, but suitable for most bikes. Most of the route is paved, with the exception of the rail trail going down the escarpment (gravel, packed dirt). I took my road bike down once, but don’t recommend it.
🛣️ Surface: Rail trail • Paved Trail • Road
📅 Best Time to Ride: Anytime, but you might want to avoid rush hour!
🚻 Washrooms: Yes – at the Terryberry library if you park there, and then along the way. You could stop at McMaster Hospital, Sean & Ed’s Brewery, Dundas Drive-in Park.
💧 Water Available: Bring your own! but you can refill it at Chedoke Golf Course, Shawn & Ed’s, McMaster Hospital, and there are stores/gas stations along the way that you can purchase.
❤️ Why I Chose This Ride
I love Shawn & Ed’s Brewery. I think that is where it started, and I was like….what is the best route down to Dundas from the West Mountain, and then I started mapping the loop out.
You get to cycle along the top of the escarpment, down the escarpment, and can explore some neighbourhoods through Dundas.
If you enjoy a ride and beer and pizza, and great views, then you will enjoy this ride.
We had tickets for the Duelling Piano show at Shawn & Ed’s Brewery, but otherwise there are some other breweries on the loop that you can stop at as well (Fairweather and Grain & Grit on Ewen Road) – I will share a Hamilton Brewery Bike trip with you another time!
🗺️ The Ride
This loop is almost all on paths. Hamilton is doing an amazing job of making our city bike-friendly! I love it!
Cycling along the top of the escarpment on Scenic Drive is always so beautiful. You are on the road here, but the cars generally drive slowly and there are usually quite a few cyclists, walkers and joggers, so I always feel safe. I never get tired of looking out over the city – what a gorgeous view!
I have cycled and walked down the Rail Trail 100++ times. I LOVE cycling down! It reminds me of being a kid on my bike, putting my legs out and just coasting down the hill. (Haha — I still do this sometimes! 😊) You do have to watch for people, dogs and kids because this is a well-travelled route. I always love seeing how many people are out enjoying this beautiful escarpment trail.
When you get to the bottom, you are at Chedoke Golf Course, near the bottom of the stairs that come down from Upper Paradise. Note: there is a water fountain here at the bottom of the stairs, which is handy for filling up your water bottle.
Take the golf course driveway down – enjoy the smooth ride! — and turn left when you reach the bottom. At the end of the road you will see the start of the Hamilton–Brantford Rail Trail.
There are several roads to cross along this section. Cars should stop for cyclists, but definitely be careful. You will cycle through the Fortinos parking lot, and when you reach Ewen Road, cross the road to get back onto the trail.
OR… if you turn left onto Ewen Road, there are two nice breweries with patios just down the street! 🍺
– Grain & Grit Beer Co.
– Fairweather Brewing Company
For this ride, we continued toward Dundas and stopped at Shawn & Ed Brewing Co. on Hatt Street. I Googled the cycling directions because there are several different ways to get there from the Rail Trail.
On the way home, we took Hatt Street east and followed the bike route onto Baldwin Street/Baldwin Court, where you pick up a beautiful, wide paved multi-use path that runs alongside Cootes Drive.
The path takes you along side McMaster University and McMaster Children’s Hospital on one side and the Ronald McDonald on the other. Continue straight through the lights onto Leland Street, which brings you right back to the Hamilton–Brantford Rail Trail (turn left on trail).
From there, we headed back toward Chedoke golf course and then back up the escarpment the same way we came. And yes… going up is definitely a little different than that fun coast down! 😂🚲but with our e-bikes we just hit turbo and go up quite easily!
☕ Favourite Stops Along the Way
🍽️ Lunch / 🍺 Brewery
That was our one stop – Shawn & Ed’s. They have great wood oven pizzas. They are all really good, but I think the Studebaker is one of my favs. Check out the menu. And their beer is really great. Ed Madronich (the Ed in Shawn & Ed Brewing Co., is also the owner of Flat Rock Cellars in Jordan Niagara. So they also serve some nice wine, if beer is not your thing!
🛍️ Shops Worth Visiting
We had a main purpose today – go to Shawn and Ed’s to celebrate my husband’s birthday, Duelling Piano show, beer and pizza!! so we didn’t do any shopping today.
If you have more time, Dundas Main Street has fabulous shops!! Enjoy browsing! Also so many great restaurants on Main Street – Bangkok Spoon is one of my favs!! We also enjoy the Collins and they have a great patio!
📍 Highlights
- Scenic lookouts – looking out over the escarpment!
- Downtown Dundas – very quaint with great coffee shops, restaurants and shopping boutique stores.
💡 Helpful Tips
If you have any questions, please reach out to me! I’ve been cycling around Hamilton for 40 years, so I might know a thing or two. LOL! 🚲😊
But I’m always discovering new routes and hidden gems too, so if you have a favourite Hamilton-area ride or somewhere you think I should explore, I’d love to hear about it!
📸 Photo Gallery
🚴 The ride – I realized I didn’t take many photos while we cycled. I think I was just so excited to get to the show! lol.
🌅 Entertainment
The Duelling Pianos was a great show!! They have it here more often. I have tried to get tickets before and they sell out very quickly, but that was for an evening show. This is the first time I have seen they had it on a Sunday afternoon. We had a full house!!
🍺 Brewery
We reserved premier seats for just a bit more money (chairs with backs). Otherwise you would get a picnic table or a hightop with no back.
🌸 Food
🗺️ Route Map
⭐ My Ratings
🌄 Scenery ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🚴 Ride Quality ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🍽️ Food ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🍺 Breweries ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- Shawn and Ed’s is always a fun time!
❤️ Overall Experience ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
❤️ Sonya Says…
We met up with our four boys and their girlfriends for the Duelling Pianos show at Shawn & Ed Brewing to celebrate Bart’s birthday. What a fun afternoon!
The guys were so entertaining, and at one point they sang Happy Birthday to “Barty Boy.” 😂 I laughed because I definitely did NOT write “Barty Boy” on the request paper — he just happened to call him that. The funny part is, Barty Boy is what I call Bart all the time! How did he know?!
They played for three hours straight without even taking a break. Not even for a pee or a drink! (They obviously weren’t drinking beer. 😂) I loved how they added so much humour to the show without doing a lot of talking — it was mostly music and singing, which made for a really fun show.
If you ever get a chance to see Duelling Pianos, I definitely recommend it!
Shawn & Ed also hosts all kinds of other events. I’ve been to their comedy nights, which are always fun, as well as fundraiser events with live music.
Always a fun time — and we really enjoy this bike loop! 🚲🍺🎹
I always say….when I cycle, I like to have a prize along the way – Shawn and Ed’s was the prize on this day!!
💬 Have You Ridden This Route?
I’d love to hear about your experience!
- 🚴 Would you ride it again?
- ☕ Did you stop at any coffee shops?
- 🍺 Any breweries I should visit next?
- any other cool things we should do, stop and see….next time?
Leave a comment below!
🏷️ Tags
Ontario
Hamilton
Rail Trail
Brewery
E-bike Friendly
Cycling with That's So Sonya 
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