1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die (121 page)

W
HERE
: 30 miles/48 km north of the Arctic Circle, and 360 air miles/580 km northeast of Yellowknife, capital of the Northwest Territories. Tel 867-873-2595;
www.bathurstinletlodge.com
.
C
OST
: US$4,376/C$4,900 per person per week, double occupancy, all inclusive with air transfer from/to Yellowknife.
W
HEN
: late June–July.

Canoes, Wolves, and the Great North Woods

Ontario

The cry of a loon across a misty lake, a wolf’s howl at sunset, paddling through a string of lakes to reach a remote log lodge—these experiences of the Canadian frontier are found today at Algonquin Provincial Park,
a sanctuary of nature just three hours but worlds away from Toronto or Ottawa. Algonquin, one of Canada’s largest provincial parks—stretching across 3,000 square miles of wilderness forest and lakeland—is traversed by just one road. The Algonquin backcountry is paradise for paddlers and is one of Canada’s top canoeing destinations. The canoe is about the only means of exploring Algonquin’s watery wonderland, where more than 2,500 lakes and more than 1,240 miles of designated canoe routes converge. With lake pouring into lake, experienced paddlers can plan a leisurely multiday trip through the heart of Algonquin, or, with a few short portages, complete a loop circuit through the wilds.

When a wolf pack comes within range of the park’s southern corridor, rangers offer evening “public wolf howls,” one of the highlights of a late summer trip to the park. With up to 2,000 people in attendance in an outdoor amphitheater, park naturalists howl to the wolf pack and the audience awaits a response from the pack. There’s nothing more spine-tingling than hearing the cries of wolves echoing across the lakes and lonely hills under a black, star-filled sky.

At the backcountry’s edge, nestled in deep forest, is Arowhon Pines, a historic lodge resort at the edge of Little Joe Lake. The Kates family established Arowhon Pines in the 1940s, when they built the original six-sided log-and-stone lodge right on the lake’s edge, and have been running it ever since.

With a massive three-story stone fireplace at its center, the lodge serves as the dining room, famous across Ontario for its fresh ingredients expertly prepared, friendly and excellent service, and extraordinary sunset views. Log cabins are scattered around the lakefront, decorated with pine furniture and rustic Canadiana. The most romantic are the one-bedroom cabins with stone fireplaces, but it’s also fun to share one of the larger cabins (with three, four, eight, and up to a dozen bedrooms, all with private bathrooms) with travelers who may come from as far away as Argentina or Australia.

Nearly 3,500 moose make the boreal forests of Algonquin Provincial Park their home.

W
HERE
: 167 miles/270 km north of Toronto.
A
LGONQUIN
P
ROVINCIAL
P
ARK
: Tel 705-633-5572;
www.algonquinpark.on.ca
.
P
UBLIC
W
OLF
H
OWL
: Tel 705-633-5572.
When:
Thurs in Aug and early Sept, when an accessible pack of wolves is located, and when weather permits.
A
ROWHON
P
INES
: Huntsville. Tel 416-438-4393 (winter), 705-633-5661 (summer);
www.arowhonpines.ca
.
Cost:
from US$178/C$200 per person per day, all inclusive.
When:
late May–mid-Oct.
B
EST TIMES
: spring for trout fishing; May–June for moose viewing; July–Aug for long days and warm temperatures; Sept for foliage.

Festival Towns on the Grand River

Ontario

In the midst of rolling Ontario farmland, the Grand and Irvine rivers converge at the charming village of Elora. Their combined waters drop as a roaring falls into the Elora Gorge, a narrow limestone chasm with rock walls over
70 feet high. The gorge was sacred to the indigenous Iroquois Indians, who believed the shadowy depths provided an abode for spirits. In the 1830s, the cave-riddled gorge reminded early European settlers of the famed Ellora caves in India, and the name—slightly misspelled—stuck. Today, it’s mostly high spirits that fill Elora Gorge Park, as hikers explore trails along the cliff edge, and kayakers and canoeists run river rapids below. Follow the locals who know the best way to see the gorge, and rent inner tubes from park concessionaires at the base of the falls to run the Grand River white water. It’s a laughing, splashing affair, offering a duck’s-eye view of the 2-mile-long gorge, its shoreside wildlife, and mysterious caves.

The countryside around the Elora Gorge is some of the most enchanting in Ontario. The village of Elora was established in the 1830s when a Scottish pioneer harnessed the Grand River falls for a mill, and a sturdy market town grew up along the riverbanks to serve the needs of local farmers. Elora’s beautiful village center is remarkably intact—even the original 1870 grist mill (now Elora Mill Country Inn, with a falls-side pub, well-known dining room, and charmingly historic rooms) is still standing. Handsome mid-19th-century brick and stone buildings that now house galleries, fine restaurants, and inns fill out the town. Elora bustles during July’s three-week Elora festival, one of Canada’s most heralded summer music events.

Just 2 miles upriver from Elora, the town of Fergus was also settled by Scottish immigrants. Beginning in the 1830s, these Gaelic newcomers quarried local limestone to build handsome homes and commercial buildings in old country style. A century and a half later, over 250 of Fergus’s original stone structures from the 1850s and earlier are still in use, lending a handsomely uniform ambiance to the small town, a magnet for artists and urban refugees.

There’s no doubting the town’s authentic Scottish roots in August, when the Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games opens with a skirl of bagpipes. In addition to highland dancing and piping competitions, the games also feature the World’s Scottish Athletic Championship, in which brawny, tartan-clad athletes from around the world flex their muscle in traditional “heavy events” such as caber and hammer tossing. During the festival lots of traditional fiddle, harp, and accordion music
fills the town’s pubs and halls and—in a case of reality TV meeting traditional highland musicianship—the Celtic Idol is chosen from a lineup of amateur performers.

W
HERE
: 62 miles/100 km west of Toronto.
Visitor info:
Tel 519-846-2563;
www.elora.info
.
E
LORA
G
ORGE
P
ARK
: Tel 519-846-9742;
www.grandriver.ca
.
When:
late Apr–mid-Oct.
E
LORA
M
ILL
C
OUNTRY
I
NN
: Tel 519-846-9118;
www.eloramill.com
.
Cost:
from US$116/C$130.
W
HERE TO STAY
: Breadalbane Inn, Fergus, tel 888-842-2825 or 519-843-4470;
www.breadalbaneinn.com
.
Cost:
from US$80/C$90 (off-peak), from US$102/C$115 (peak).
B
EST TIMES
: 3 weeks in July for the Elora Festival (
www.elorafestival.com
); mid-Aug for Fergus Scottish Festival (
www.fergusscottishfestival.com
).

Where the Great Spirit Dwells in Lake Huron

Ontario

According to legend, the Great Spirit Gitchi Manitou of the Odawa people inhabited a vast, lake-filled island along the northern shore of Lake Huron, where deep hardwood forests cloak rocky uplands and fingers
of water curl far inland. A mystical presence still fills today’s Manitoulin Island—whether it’s the quiet reverence of the island’s many First Nations communities, the New Age sensibilities of the island’s young artists and back-to-the-earth freethinkers, or the simple contentment of vacationing families who return to the island’s many lakefront resorts year after year.

The largest freshwater island in the world, 100-mile-long Manitoulin seems more water than land. The island contains almost 100 lakes of its own—the largest is over 30 miles long—and some have islands themselves. Needless to say, fishing, boating, and water sports (including the local hobby of cardboard boat racing) are the magnets for many visitors. Sailing is especially popular between Manitoulin and the mainland, where more than 2,000 islands rise above the waters of the North Channel.

However, to truly experience the spirit of Manitoulin, explore quiet island backroads by bicycle. Choose a network of smaller roads and rural lanes connecting villages and resorts in the island’s bucolic center, where farmlands and forests fill the gaps between inland lakes.

At the base of Manitowaning Bay is idyllic Manitowaning Lodge Golf and Tennis Resort, the island’s most comfortable place to stay. On 11 waterfront acres, the lodge’s rooms and cottages offer just the right combination of old-fashioned charm and modern luxury. With no phones or TVs in the rooms, the mandate is to get outdoors and play, enjoying the lodge’s easy array of recreation: fishing, cycling, hiking, tennis, plus a public 18-hole golf course. The central lodge building, dominated by a huge stone fireplace, offers the island’s best dining, with innovative dishes based on Manitoulin lamb, beef, locally sourced produce, and fresh fish.

W
HERE
: 330 miles/531 km northwest of Toronto.
Visitor info:
Tel 705-368-3021;
www.manitoulintourism.com
.
M
ANITOWANING
L
ODGE
: Tel 705-859-3136;
www.manitowaninglodge.com
.
Cost:
from US$240/C$270.
When:
mid-June–Sept.
B
EST TIME
: 1st weekend in Aug for the Wikwemikong Cultural Festival, eastern Canada’s oldest First Nations Powwow.

Lakeside Luxe in the North Woods

McKellar, Ontario

Aglamorous, European-style resort with haute cuisine is not what you’d expect to find deep in the north woods of Ontario. The Inn at Manitou, however, is all about defying expectations. The inn has been dedicated
to overachievement in both sports and fine food since 1974, when the owners decided that wonderful dining was completely compatible with recreation and fitness. This philosophy has proved very popular with longtime guests, who return here year after year for restful and indulgent summer holidays.

The heart of the resort remains its kitchen. It recruits talented chefs from Europe’s capitals, importing to the wilds of Canada a deeply ingrained sense of culinary finesse and sophistication that extends to every detail in the dining room. While other Canadian back-country resorts emphasize their woodsy nonchalance, the Inn at Manitou is pure luxe.

The most recent temptation at the inn is the Ridge at Manitou Golf Club, the new Tom McBroom–designed 7,027-yard course adjacent to the resort. While the course is private, the inn has an exclusive relationship with the golf club and offers nonmember access. If you’re not quite ready for a championship course, consider a few lessons at the Manitou Golf Academy, the inn’s 10-acre golf learning center. Serving tennis lovers has always been one of the resort’s primary objectives, with 13 courts, eight tennis pros, and a selection of private clinics to help improve your game. After your exertions, the Spa at Manitou is there to pamper you with every imaginable treatment, whether your workout was an intense volley on the courts or a nap beside the pool.