Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe is one of the fastest-growing urban areas in North America, exposing prime agricultural land and green space to urban sprawl. The Greenbelt Foundation’s goal is to protect more than 8,000 square miles of farmland and natural habitat, stretching from Niagara to Northumberland. Established in 2005, it contributes toward the local food economy, in addition to preserving cultural heritage and supporting tourism.
The Greenbelt is home to numerous agricultural jewels, including the Holland Marsh and the Niagara Tender Fruit and Grape area, plus businesses that offer a diversity of food and drink, including 90-plus members of Ontario Craft Brewers, 30- plus craft cideries, and award-winning wineries and distillers. It also boasts a host of local farmers’ markets and Feast On-recognized restaurants—establishments that support Ontario’s food chain.
Navigating the region might be daunting, but the Ontario Beverage Network has compiled an online map that highlights more than 480 points of interest. Distilled (pardon the pun) into nine self-guided craft beer, cider, distiller and culinary itineraries, these routes help curious travellers explore the Greenbelt’s many delicious experiences in generous bite-sized chunks.
Ale Trails
Available for download at brewerydiscoveryroutes.ca, the Brewery Discovery Routes focuses on the province’s craft brewers. Dedicated to making beers in myriad styles, these small, independent brewers make delicious, high-quality beers using fresh, all-natural local ingredients, including hops, barley, fruits and spices.
Choose the Windsor Essex Barrels Bottles & Brews itinerary to learn about Canada’s Prohibition history and explore the birthplace of Canadian whisky. You can “hop” thru Ontario’s Southwest to visit the province’s only brewery farm and craft breweries that use locally grown honey, strawberries and hops. Visit award-winning stops on the Bootleggers’ Run Trail (also known as the Saints & Sinners route) in south Georgian Bay.
Discover the fruits grown from Peterborough & the Kawarthas’ centuries-old farmlands along Brews, Bites and Barns. Try lakeside ciders, farm breweries, local markets and artisanal cheeses in Hastings, Prince Edward County, dark sky reserves in FrontenacLennox & Addington that are highlighted in Eastern Ontario’s Artisan Food and Beverage Region itinerary. Check out the local flavours and craft beers on the Backroom Deals and Muddy Wheels Trail that extends from downtown Ottawa into the united counties of Prescott-Russell.
Within the Greenbelt, Taps, Tastes & Trails in Guelph will take you to Canada’s oldest independently-owned microbrewery, Wellington Brewery, and Canada’s thirdoldest farmers market in Cambridge. Meanwhile, the True Brew Path takes explorers through the Bruce Trail, a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, its many waterfalls, and stops at some of Ontario’s oldest, award-winning craft breweries along the Niagara Escarpment.
Then there’s the Rural Routes & Dirty Boots, where you might encounter tasty farm-fresh foods and innovative craft beers or ciders, plus sweet treats like cider doughnuts, beer butter tarts and more.
In contrast to the GTA, this route through York Durham Headwaters ventures into the rural landscape of Ontario’s protected Greenbelt, with its lush trail systems, glistening rivers and lakes, historic towns and villages, resorts and attractions. Explore the region’s brewing tradition by booking a tour. Meet a brewer or grower before tasting the delicious results of their labours.
Start the day in Bowmanville, visiting Archibald Orchards & Estate Winery and touring the fourth-generation family farm’s 115-hectare property. During the fall, their apple market features fresh-picked varieties not found at many city grocers, fresh-pressed cider, as well as fresh-baked apple pies, crisps and dumplings on the weekend.
Archibald’s Orchards & Estate Winery is a year-round fruit winery and shop.
During the fall, their apple market features fresh-picked varieties not found at many city grocers.
Archibald’s Orchards & Estate Winery offers different fresh-picked varieties of apples.
Those who enjoy imbibing will find the large selection of apple wines delightful. From crowd-friendly apple-raspberry or oak-aged Ida Red apple wines, to hard ciders spiked with ginger, currant or raspberry, the true stars are co-owner and winemaker Fred Archibald’s stunning and rich sweet wines.
Winemaker/growers Fred and Sandy Archibald run Bowmanville’s Archibald Orchards & Estate Winery
Archibald Estate Winery’s multiple award-winning Spiced Winter Apple Wine hits the perfect balance between acidity and fruity sweetness.
The Canadian Maple Wine is made from Ontario maple syrup and McIntosh apples, resulting in a sweet but delicate after-dinner wine with excellent length. The multiple award-winning Spiced Winter Apple Wine hits that perfect balance between acidity and fruity sweetness. The amber elixir is delightful and lingers on the palate—perfect with cheese or as is.
Swing by Port Perry Lakefront Farmers’ Market to see what’s fresh and available before walking over to enjoy lunch at Old Flame Brewery. The flagship location of the award-winning brewery is housed in the historic Ontario Carriage Works building. Sign up for a tour of the facility to learn how the brand’s iconic Red, a delicious lager that many love for its soft malt sweetness and mild bitterness from the hops, or the Raven, an intense black lager that finishes clean, are made. Pick up a mixed pack—from light to dark—of their crisp, clean lagers.
The flagship location of the award-winning brewery is housed in the historic Ontario Carriage Works building.
Founder Jack Doak is shown here, giving a tour of the space (picture from pre-COVID times)
Try a flight of Old Flame’s flavourful brews, from their iconic Red lager to seasonal offerings, such as the Mango Tango double IPA or Cold Brü coffee stout.
If time and weather permits, take a short wellness break by hiking one of Glen Major Forest’s many trails. Active or light-adventure seekers might want to consider the moderately-difficult Oak Ridges Trail that spans the Oak Ridges Moraine, a physiographic feature left behind by receding glaciers thousands of years ago.
Hankering for an afternoon snack? Visit the Second Wedge Brewery to nibble from a cheese and charcuterie board while enjoying a flight of their draught sessional ales in a charming beer garden. The popular downtown Uxbridge watering hole also has an airy tasting room that’s filled with local art (which hosted live music during pre-pandemic times) and a bottle shop where you can pick up their full-flavoured ales in cans, bottles or growlers. There’s a range of options for every palate, from the light-bodied and low-alcohol Elgin Blonde ale to the deep and rich Rain Maker porter that’s full of chocolate and espresso flavours.
Uxbridge’s Second Wedge Brewing Co. has a cozy wheelchair-accessible beer garden that’s designed with edible landscaping by Foggy River Farm and filled with custom picnic tables from Jeff Baker Woodworks.
There’s a range of options for every palate.
For dinner, consider the Urban Pantry, a casual contemporary Canadian farm-to-table Feast On-recognized restaurant in Uxbridge that serves a seasonally-changing menu that features locally-sourced ingredients (i.e. from Kawartha Dairy) and sustainable Ocean Wise seafood. Try the duck salad that serves Stouffville’s King Cole duck as confit, with Pretty Good Farm greens, along with other roasted local vegetables tossed in a sherry vinaigrette.
For farm-to-table Feast On-recognized dinner options, Uxbridge’s Urban Pantry has a menu of international flavours, including duck skin and feta-crema topped street corn, tempura cauliflower served with charred leek yoghurt and spicy maple syrup, plus a lavender tea-smoked duck breast and sunflower shoot salad topped with a crispy duck scotch egg.
Try their bison burger, which uses Uxbridge’s Thunder Ridge bison and is served with herbed mushrooms, maple sherry onions, smoked Gouda and roasted garlic grainy mustard aioli on a brioche bun. Pick up some house-made brownies and cookies from the restaurant’s sweet shop for the trip home a full day of exploring.
Local riffs of familiar flavours might include specials like Bison Pho that tops rice noodles in a lemongrass-ginger broth with slices of bison striploin.
Archibald’s Orchards & Estate Winery
6275 Liberty St. N., Bowmanville, ON
Port Perry Farmers’ Market (closed on Sunday)
121 Queen St., Port Perry, ON
Old Flame Brewery
135 Perry St, Port Perry, ON
Glen Major Forest
Walker Woods West (Conc. 6. / Allbright Rd.) or 2998 Concession Rd 7, Goodwood, ON
The Second Wedge Brewery
14 Victoria St, Uxbridge, ON
Urban Pantry
4 Toronto St. N,. Uxbridge, ON
