The Niagara Escarpment is the long cliff-and-slope landform that arcs from the Niagara River up to the tip of the Bruce Peninsula, and Thorold sits right on its brow, hundreds of feet above Lake Ontario. It is the very reason the Welland Canal needs its dramatic staircase of locks here, since ships must climb the escarpment to move between the Great Lakes. In 1990 UNESCO recognized the escarpment as a World Biosphere Reserve, one of only a handful in Canada.
Around Thorold the escarpment shapes a landscape of woodlands, waterfalls and elevated lookouts, and it carries the renowned Bruce Trail along its length. Visitors come for hiking, cycling and scenic views, though because the feature spans a vast corridor rather than a single site, experiences and access points vary from one conservation area or trailhead to the next.
