Travels in Southern Ontario
We'll be driving to Waterloo Region today to visit our daughter. We drive west across the Holland Marsh (drained in the 1930s, now flat land with black soil, famous for fruit and vegetable farming), the Oak Ridges Moraine, and the
Niagara Escarpment. We completely by-pass Orangeville, and go south and west across the headwaters of the Credit River, then through Guelph (the Speed and Eramosa Rivers). We cut briefly through Cambridge (the Speed and Grand Rivers).
It's close to 2 hours, each way (the freeway would usually cut some time off--400 south to either 407 or 401, then west) but we like to do a little sight-seeing.
The scenery is not really spectacular in the way of the Rocky Mountains, but there are some really impressive and varied land forms--hills, valleys, variations in the river beds--much of it still covered with a gorgeous forest. The farms, hamlets and towns add human interest. The forest here is much more varied than in my native Alberta, and of course it is at its best in the fall. There is a kind of obsession around here with the red maple (the national flag, and all that), but that is only one of many species that put on their finery.
We basically drive along the north of both King township and Caledon. These are amazing areas, quite close to Toronto, where rural folk, some of them with real money, are trying to preserve things roughly as they are, and keep the subdivisions out. There are stories that land owners will buy from their neighbours, at subdivision prices, to keep the land as farm and forest.
The old highway goes right through the main street of a village called Erin. (The website says in order not to sound like a tourist, say "Ear-in"). It's not really a great well-preserved 19th century Main Street, like maybe in Brockville, but it has a lot of charm. It has obviously begun to appeal to Toronto day-trippers, but it doesn't yet have that heavy "tourists-only" feel. Traffic does get heavy, and I feel sorry for the locals doing their shopping.
Erin is on one fork of the Credit River, which now flows down through big, often congested Mississauga to Lake Ontario. In the 19th century, Erin became a mill town before there was much of anything further south--and the mills on the headwaters of the Credit River stopped the Atlantic salmon from running there. There is now a huge arterial road further south called Erin Mills.
Update: When my in-laws were in town, and wanted to visit our daughter, we stopped in Erin for a change instead of just driving on through. We ate at the Rob Roy Inn, and strolled the main street a bit. The Rob Roy is a nicely renovated old house, and the menu was basically pleasant pub fare.
For one of our trips, I decided to see if I could by-pass Erin. I ended up on Forks of the Credit road, and we went right through Belfountain. Not a short cut at all--the speed limit is very low, on winding, hilly roads--but spectacularly beautiful. This small area is in fact a bit like the Rocky Mountain parks in Alberta. The road criss-crosses both the Credit River and an old railway track. There are some businesses that definitely do cater to the Toronto trade.
Here is a picture from the web. (Holy smokes! I've managed to load the actual picture! It comes from a site with pictures from many places, including China, but this one says it is from Belfountain).
Here is a site with more fall colours in Southern Ontario. Fall is my favourite time of the year. I have tried to find some poetry that reflects that, but so far I can only find things that suggest summer is much better.
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