Explore Sudbury by Bike

When visiting the city of Greater Sudbury, bring your bike to tour the city and its great attractions and biking opportunities.

By Rachelle Niemala Rachelle Niemela is Chair of Bike Sudbury, a grassroots volunteer group with a mission to build a strong cycling culture in Greater Sudbury

April 12, 2023

Accommodations

Greater Sudbury is a proud recipient of a provincial Bicycle Friendly Community award and is quickly becoming a very bikeable #BikeCity. With several bike friendly places to stay, you can bring your bike to Sudbury to explore the great bicycle-friendly restaurants and attractions. These accommodations offer a covered and secure bike storage area; local cycling information; a basic bicycle repair toolset and tire pump; and healthy, local food and beverage options if served on site.

Downtown Bicycle Parking

In the spring, the City of Greater Sudbury installs many bike stands, racks, and bike corrals in the downtown Entertainment District. Park your bike safely, and visit the many popular restaurants and outdoor patios that offer the different flavours of our multicultural community. From traditional pubs to Mexican, Indian, Italian, and Chinese/Japanese food, there’s sushi, buffet, vegan, wings, pubs, small diners, quaint coffee shops, and much more to explore downtown. Grab takeout and go a few blocks to sit at a picnic table in Memorial Park for an al fresco meal right in the middle of the city!

You can also walk the self-guided tour of the many murals downtown that were painted as part of our yearly Up Here Festival. Park your bike, do the walk, and then have a snack or meal downtown! https://uphere.com/murals

Festivals

UpHere Festival | Credit: UpHere Festival

Coming for a festival in Sudbury? It’s often a quick bike ride from your accommodation to the festival grounds, so take your bike, save on the hassle of parking, and enjoy the ride! Cinefest International Film Festival, Jazz Sudbury, Northern Lights Festival Boréal, Up Here Festival, and many more are held in local venues in the downtown area.

Buses and Bikes

If you’re heading to some of our local festivals in our communities like Valley East Days, Rayside-Balfour Days, or just want to tour some great communities, take the bus with your bike! All of the City of Greater GOVA transit buses are outfitted with racks that hold two bikes, and more bikes can be brought onto the bus at the discretion of the driver based on capacity.

Museums, Beaches, Parks, and other Attractions

The Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes

Sudbury offers many great attractions you can easily get to by bike. Visit quiet Northern historical communities, many public beaches and parks, and choice destinations that include breweries and distilleries. You’ll see farmland, boreal forests, rocky outcrops, and many, many lakes and rivers. Sudbury is the City of Lakes, home to 330 lakes within its boundaries! Bike the Junction Creek Trail for a great route that winds through the city.

In the downtown/south-end Sudbury area, you can visit Place des Arts, the Art Gallery of Sudbury, the Sudbury Market, Science North, Bell Park, the Grotto of our Lady of Lourdes, Big Nickel/Dynamic Earth, and the Flour Mill Museum. There are also many 25 km or less rides to destinations like Moonlight Beach, Rotary Park and its lookout over the provincial significant Ponderosa Wetlands, the iconic Super Stack in Copper Cliff, the beautiful Lake Laurentian Conservation Area, the Copper Cliff Museum, and more.

Paris St. bike path

If you’re into longer rides, there’s some great Northern scenery and attractions to explore in communities like the Northern Ontario Railway Museum and Heritage Centre in Capreol, Anderson Farm in Lively, Kalmo Beach in Valley East, and Fielding Park in Walden.

Day Self-Guided Bike Rides

Lake Laurentian Conservation Area Credit: Bike Sudbury

ant to tour the great communities that are all part of Greater Sudbury? Use the Ride with GPS mobile app and load some great ride options. The Bike Sudbury’s Ride with GPS rides were designed by CANBIKE certified advanced riders and feature a combination of on-road and trail sections on each ride. There’s something for everyone – shorter family-friendly rides of up to 15 km, medium length rides of up to 25 km, and longer more challenging rides of up to 100+ kms. You can also bike on portions of the Trans Canada Trail, and the Lake Huron North Channel provincial cycling route.

For a real challenge, try the iconic Tour de Sudbury bike ride around Ramsey Lake that includes on-road riding, trails, and some challenging hills!

Mountain and Fat Biking

Sudbury has a vibrant mountain/fat biking community, with some of the best trails in the province located in the Greater Sudbury area. Bike on the single-track trails in all seasons at Lake Laurentian trails (free). Or visit beautiful Kivi Park (membership or daily entry fee), where you can rent a fat bike from one of our local bike shops. Or try your hand at the awesome Walden Trails Park (membership or donation box at the trail head with suggested $5-$10 donation) home of previous Canada and Ontario Cup mountain biking competitions. Use your fat bikes on these trails in the winter!

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About Rachelle Niemala

Rachelle Niemela is Chair of Bike Sudbury, a grassroots volunteer group with a mission to build a strong cycling culture in Greater Sudbury through fun and accessible cycling activities, and to be a voice for safe cycling for people of all ages and abilities throughout Greater Sudbury. Rachelle is retired and is passionate about riding her bike, gardening, the environment, and friends and family.