Kingston Off The Beaten Path

North of Kingston, Ontario lies the Township of South Frontenac. Perhaps best known for Frontenac Provincial Park, one of the only wilderness campgrounds in Southern Ontario, it is wonderful area of trails, lakes and scenery. Whether your interests lie in exploring the wilderness of the park on foot or canoe, searching for that unique antique or artwork or just relaxing on a backcountry lake that area offers something for anyone who enjoys the outdoors.

Ontario used to have local cheese factories making wonderful cheddar's in located in almost every small town. Like so many things over the years companies have been bought out and others have merged. However, if you have a car and want a special side trip head north of Kingston to the small town of Wilton and experience cheddar the way it used to be made.

If you wish to find the Wilton Cheese Factory, drive along the Hwy 401 West of Kingston to the Yarker Road/Cty Rd 6 Exit at Odessa. When you exit Hwty 401 proceed north. After a few Miles/Kilometers you will come to a T intersection with a flashing Light. Turn right following the signs into the village of Wilton. The cheese factory is on your left hand side.

If you go, be sure to ask if the curds are fresh, if they are don't leave without a bag!

When they moved the Capital of Canada from Kingston (yes it was the first) to Ottawa where it was safe from American invasion (some things never change) they needed a way to get supplies to the middle of the wilderness. Enter the Rideau Canal, which is still a working canal with locks and quaint towns along the path from Lake Ontario at Kingston to Downtown Ottawa near the Parliment Buildings. At the Kingston end of the Rideau Canal stands Fort Henry, plan your visit from May to September when University and College students from across Canada make up the Fort Henry Guard. Wednesday nights offer the world famous Sunset Ceremony. complete with canons and 1800's uniforms.

In Kingston you see these huge, parliament building like architectures. There are more than one of these. This indicates that Kingston was once the capital city of Canada.

The huge building you see on the image beside is the City hall of Kingston. There are many rooms and conference halls inside. Most of them are in very nice shape and equipped with hydro electricity, telephone, security alarm systems and high speed Internet connection, not to mention central air conditioning.
The folks working inside have all the necessary tools and comfort they need.

If you have a car, you should really travel outside of Kingston a little bit to visit the locks. These are a few minutes north of Kingston (out Montreal St). Built at nearly the same time as the creation of Canada as a country, the locks are still in use. Tourists will regularly travel between Kingston and Ottawa using the Rideau canal lock system.

The locks are a great place to sit and relax. You can watch the locks be operated manually so that small boats can travel through them. You can do a little bit of walking or hiking but you'll probably want to bring your own lunch or snacks.

Lake on the Mountain
This is situated high above Lake Ontario's Bay of Quinte. For years geographers and scientists have tried to determine how the lake gets its source of fresh water as there is no readily apparent one. Mokawks believed that the lake was a home for spirits and early settlers thought that the lake was bottomless.
Directions: Take highways 401 and 49 to Picton (south of Belleville), then take the Loyalist Parkway or Highway 33 east. From Kingston take the Loyalist Parkway or Highway 33 west to Adolphustown and the ferry to Glenora. Continue east and follow park signs