Fun Axe Throwing Games Near the World Famous Falls

Review of Mazewood Axe Throwing, Niagara Falls, Canada

We had a lot of fun at Mazewood, despite it being nothing special on paper. It is simply a small indoor range of two dual-target lanes tacked on to an entertainment centre (also including haunted houses and laser tag) a few miles out of Niagara Falls. However, it didn’t feel like the axe throwing was just an afterthought and some care has gone into making it a good experience.

It helped that the owner/axe coach was a friendly, encouraging guy who talked us through a variety of games with plenty of enthusiasm. Giving us complimentary bottles of cold water on a hot day was also a big plus point (it’s often the little things that count).

He was also up to the coaching task. He talked us through basic throwing technique, but stressed that everyone may throw differently. An ethos I’m very much in favour of. We were throwing pretty well on the day, but he did give us a few helpful pointers too, and I could imagine beginners would do well with his help.

There was a choice of two axes, both pretty standard hatchets, but quite serviceable. I appreciated the choice and found one suited me better (although my throwing partner preferred the other one).

The targets were a basic painted target on planks. The wood was ok, but one target had seen better days, with a deep gouge between the middle and adjacent plank. It was pretty splintered and probably should have been changed.

As there were two of us, we played head to head on a board each on the one lane. We switched regularly, at the axe coach’s instruction, which helped even out the disadvantage of the board with more wear. (We definitely scored better on the other board).

Our axe coach led us through a series of games based on the single target, eg first to hit all the lines, all the spaces, et al. He scored for us and moved us on from one game to the next for the session. I guess on other occasions that could have been a bit irritating, but it was done with plenty of enthusiastic praise, and it was fine for us. Given it was such a small venue, it would have been a bit awkward if he’d just stood there and watched us. The scoring was displayed on a large tv mounted on the wall, which helped us to keep track and added a competitive element to the fun.

Our axe coach kept things moving well from one game to the next and we were surprised that the hour flew by so quickly. All in all, we had a fun time. Mazewood is about 3 miles from the main Niagara Falls centre, at the end of Lundy’s Lane, with nothing much else there except for the other activities. That may put some people off, but we found it an easy/straight bus ride of about 35mins (about 10mins in a car) and were glad we made the effort to travel there.

Disclaimer: “The Axe Inspector” receives no payment or benefit of any kind from either TheAxeThrower.com or from the venue, for this review. The review is the subjective opinion of one person (albeit as objective as possible) and we encourage throwers to try out the venue to make their own mind up.