5 Miles – 4 Islands – 3 Waterfalls – 2 Countries – 1 Epic Run
EPIC RUNs was born from our brand’s desire to create a video series of epic runs dedicated to runners at any level. Many beautiful run videos online are dedicated to veteran marathoners, ultra-marathoners, and faster runners. Those runs, while amazing, often have a level of difficulty unachievable by most runners. Mizuno’s EPIC RUN series is dedicated to inspiring runners of all abilities to get outside and explore the running world around them. We look forward to taking you on this journey with us as we explore some of the best roads, trails, state and national parks the United States has to offer.
We decided to visit Niagara Falls State Park for our first stop on the epic run tour. As the title suggests, we completed a five-mile run, that crossed four islands, allowed us to see two countries, and we believe that makes it one EPIC RUN.
Here’s what you need to know:
Directions: As you’re heading towards Niagara Falls State Park on Niagara Scenic Parkway, you’ll want to go around the round the roundabout at the end of Niagara Scenic Parkway and exit onto Riverway Road. It will be the second exit you can take once you’ve traveled through the roundabout.
Parking: There’s a “secret” FREE parking lot we started the run from. I’ve circled where it is on the map below.
Course Map:
Once you’ve parked and are ready to go, head west on Niagara River trail. This is a paved path, but if you prefer soft surface there’s a single track trail that runs alongside the paved path.
Approximately one mile into the run, you’ll need to follow the Niagara River Trail across Riverway Road and up and over the 1st Street Bridge. The simplest way to do this is by following the signs towards Goat Island.
Once you’ve crossed the 1st Street Bridge, you’ll enter Goat Island, the first of the four islands you’ll cover during the run. Take an immediate left as you enter the island and you’ll be on a nice bike path that will take you to Three Sisters Islands.
Three Sister Islands is a slight finger-out-and-back off Goat Island and has a nice viewing spot to see the backside of Horseshoe Falls. Once you’ve returned to Goat Island from Three Sister Islands, you’ll hang a left and continue towards Terrapin Point where you’ll have a great view of Horseshoe Falls.
Continuing on, you’ll arrive at Nikola Tesla Monument (one of many cool photo ops) where you’ll be met by a staircase that will guide you down to a viewing area of both the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. It’s in this area that you can really feel the power of the three falls combined. Remember more than 168,000 m3 (six million cubic feet) of water goes over the crest of the falls every minute! Unreal! This is also a great spot to see our neighbors to the north, yes, that’s Ontario, Canada right across from you.
As you resume the route you’ll now start to finish off your loop around Goat Island. In order to head back towards the parking lot you’ll want to take your first left onto Goat Island Road taking you through Green Island (yup, a bonus island!…one for every mile you covered). You’ll want to take a right as you exit Goat Island Road onto Niagara Falls River trail and head back to your car.
Get out there and have some fun! Keep in mind the falls give off a ton of mist so proceed cautiously going down the stairs to the viewing points of American and Bridal Veil Falls. If our team could do it, any runner can do it. We would like to thank Fleet Feet Buffalo staff members Joelle, Cat, and Mackenzie!! You all were ROCKSTAR tour guides!
Published: January 2019