Is Ontario's geography underrated?

[flar]

There are some very picturesque areas in Southern Ontario. Examples:
-Anywhere along the Niagara Escarpment, from Niagara to Tobermory
-the area in and around Paris to Cambridge has rolling hills, forests and many older homes with beautiful settings
-the Elora/Fergus area
-tobacco country has rolling hills and picturesque farms, especially toward the Lake Erie shore where there are lots of ravines and bluffs
-anywhere along the Lake Huron shore

I love driving the old Ontario highways. Old Highways 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8 are great drives though lots of cute little towns and old farmhouses

[Dengler Avenue]

K this might be a bit off topic, but has anyone noticed that 416 and 417 are the only 2 freeways whose medians are wide enough to fit a forest in between? I find that nice and mysterious at the same time.

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

401 from Napanee to Prescott goes through some rock cuts and abuts St. Lawrence River between Gananoque and Brockville, so it's not too bad.

The St.Lawrence river is visible in the winter but it is invisible in the summer. But yes, that section going through rock cuts around Gananoque is not bad. I find that the stretch between Brockville and Cornwall is the most boring. Flat and mostly wooded with the odd field here and there. (on Google Earth it appears to be 50% fields/50% forest but that was my impression anyways).

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by le calmar

The St.Lawrence river is visible in the winter but it is invisible in the summer. But yes, that section going through rock cuts around Gananoque is not bad. I find that the stretch between Brockville and the Quebec border is the most boring. Flat and mostly wooded with the odd field here and there.

Funny story:
Once I was driving a friend to Ottawa because he was there for internship for Spring and Summer 2018. As I was driving east on the 401, we encountered major slowdown before Highway 137 because the right lane was closed. Now we were next to some rock cuts in Thousand Islands Park. Since both of us knew a lot of people that are big fans of rock climbing, I was like, "Yo, get out of the car, do some rock climbing, then meet me 500 meters ahead in a bit."

Both of us got a good laugh.

Ps: As for St Lawrence River, from what I remember, it should still be possible to see through the gap between trees.

Also any comment about forests in the medians of 416 and of 417? Even Highway 7 between Carleton Place and Stittsville doesn't have that, either.

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

K this might be a bit off topic, but has anyone noticed that 416 and 417 are the only 2 freeways whose medians are wide enough to fit a forest in between? I find that nice and mysterious at the same time.

That's unusual in Ontario, but not so much in New England and Quebec from my experience.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by le calmar

That's unusual in Ontario, but not so much in New England and Quebec from my experience.

That's what I thought too, but yea, QC-A40 and QC-A20 (past Levis) have forests in the median too. It's the same with NB-2 between Fredericton and Moncton.

[Acajack]

A-50 in the Masson-Angers area also has a wide forested median.

[Dengler Avenue]

Speaking of Eastern Ontario - Ottawa Valley, has anyone else been to the park under the bridge between Hawkesbury (ON) and Grenville (QC)? I'd say, that's something too.

@Acajack: I've always found the view on the super-2 section of A50 more breath-taking than that on 417. If that super-2 were twinned, I'd use that as my route between Montreal and Ottawa - Gatineau much more often.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by le calmar

The St.Lawrence river is visible in the winter but it is invisible in the summer. .

If there are any glimpses of the St. Lawrence to be had on the 401 there they are split-second, fleeting glimpses. The area where the 401 actually runs very close to the river actually has a visual/sound barrier wall along it, so unless you're looking at a map you can't even tell there is a river on the other side of it.

I can't find the exact location on Google Streetview but there are also split-second views of Lake Ontario as you approach Toronto from the east in the Clarington area. Or is it Cobourg/Port Hope?

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Acajack

If there are any glimpses of the St. Lawrence to be had on the 401 there they are split-second, fleeting glimpses. The area where the 401 actually runs very close to the river actually has a visual/sound barrier wall along it, so unless you're looking at a map you can't even tell there is a river on the other side of it.

I can't find the exact location on Google Streetview but there are also split-second views of Lake Ontario as you approach Toronto from the east in the Clarington area. Or is it Cobourg/Port Hope?

(1) Yea I remember those barriers. Whenever I saw them, I thought I was already in Brockville.

(2) That may be Ajax near the nuclear power plant.

[CityTech]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

(1) Yea I remember those barriers. Whenever I saw them, I thought I was already in Brockville. t.

This is what it looks like on the other side of those barriers.

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.5286...7i13312!8i6656

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by CityTech

This is what it looks like on the other side of those barriers.

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.5286...7i13312!8i6656

So close yet so far...

I understand though. People actually live there, and nobody wanna hear big rigs' engine brake every so often.

[sonysnob]

Brockmere Cliff Drive was first built as part of Highway 2S, which later became the Thousands Islands Parkway.

If the 401 hadn't been realigned to the north on a new alignment, today's Brockmere Cliff Drive (the road to the south of the sound barrier) would have been the eastbound lanes of the 401, and the current eastbound lanes of the 401 would have carried westbound traffic.

[vid]

MB-1 has a wide forested median between McMunn and Falcon Beach (nearly a mile wide at one point), it's a really nice drive at night because there are no oncoming headlights.

[Dengler Avenue]

Personally though, Lake Superior really lives up to its name.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by sonysnob

It's funny that you say that actually. I had to drive to and from the Sarnia area yesterday from the GTA for work, and, although I have driven the 402 about a zillion times, I was thinking to myself how much I prefer driving through agricultural fields compared to miles of rock and jackpines.

My opinion is probably very much the minority, but I much prefer the 402 to say Hwy 400/69 north of the Severn River. Another highway I think I've driven a zillion times.

To each their own. I enjoy the rural fields views too, but on the 400-series highways it's not the same to me as enjoying them from 2-lane routes.


Lake Superior... I've driven along 17 between The Soo and Sudbury, and I love that route, but I've yet to travel around the greatest of the Great Lakes. It's a dream road trip at this point, that I hope to do in the near future. Based on what I've seen online there is little to challenge that experience versus most of the other roads in Ontario.

[Dengler Avenue]

I went to Pukaskwa Nation Park in late April in 2017 (free national park pass, remember?). Afterwards, I just found everywhere else in Ontario overrated.

[F. Lionel]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

Lake Superior... I've driven along 17 between The Soo and Sudbury, and I love that route, but I've yet to travel around the greatest of the Great Lakes. It's a dream road trip at this point, that I hope to do in the near future. Based on what I've seen online there is little to challenge that experience versus most of the other roads in Ontario.

I drive along Lake Superior every single day and I never grow tired of the sights. The stark, uncompromising beauty of it, the ever changing lake, the sheer immensity of it... There really is nothing else quite like it.

When you finally get to make the trip make sure you take extra time/days to explore some of the places off the beaten path like Sleeping Giant Provincial Park & Silver Islet; Ghost Towns like Jackfish; the Red Rock Marina; Middle Falls on the Pigeon River, Split Rock Lighthouse along Minnesota's North Shore; the Lake Superior Aquarium in Duluth... so many places to see and experience to let the lake tell it's story.

[Dengler Avenue]

My pictures from April 24(?), 2017:
https://imgur.com/A0dZjxP
https://imgur.com/nPpveIT
https://imgur.com/Y5PEtWq
https://imgur.com/noOLsrf
https://imgur.com/dF1fgVo
https://imgur.com/noD4XOO
https://imgur.com/jlcvkKk
https://imgur.com/VvJcUNG
https://imgur.com/cLH3Nk7
https://imgur.com/GX0Y5XE
https://imgur.com/jD51DpK
https://imgur.com/MUeYLBY
https://imgur.com/g0mnkBW
https://imgur.com/JoPItIc
https://imgur.com/JffhdAb
https://imgur.com/JyKf4Iu
https://imgur.com/6wVN6Ge
https://imgur.com/4orodwL
https://imgur.com/QtbTmfz
https://imgur.com/GQM2emE
https://imgur.com/mTIv8J9
https://imgur.com/XAMz1Sm

I was driving from Winnipeg to Ottawa. The first day I ended up spending the night at Marathon because I was too tired to keep driving. The next day, I checked out Pukaskwa. (If it weren't for that, I would have gone down the 11 between Nipigon and North Bay instead.) The new trails were still under construction at that time, so I ended up leaving the park 2 hours after going in (at 1 p.m.). LoL I didn't get to Ottawa until 2 a.m. the next day.

[sonysnob]

I drove around Lake Superior back in 2015 (I think). I've driven the Ontario side between Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie a number of times, but this was the first time I'd done the US side. I wasn't all that impressed with Highway 61 on the US side. I really liked Duluth, but Minnesota Highway 61 has none of the drama that Highway 17 does.