Durham Region Ontario

Less than an hour’s drive from Toronto, the scenic rural routes of Durham Region Ontario are great for a weekend road trip! North Durham is a predominantly rural area, home to the thriving agricultural community and the beautiful Oak Ridges Moraine. Here, you can explore an abundance of farms, artisan and farmers markets and charming orchards and wineries

Whether you’re planning a day-trip family adventure or a weekend escape, there is much to explore in Durham Region year-round. Hop in the car and explore Durham Region’s scenic rural routes with these six must-visit stops. And if you don’t have a car, consider taking a ride on a historic 1920s trolley for a unique tour of the region!

Explore the Scenic Rural Routes of Durham Region with These 6 Stops

Tindall Farm – Uxbridge Ontario

Tindall Farm & Market is an Uxbridge Ontario family owned and operated produce farm for over 50 years. Every year, Ryan and Karyn Tindall grow 100,000 cauliflower plants, 250,000 lbs of cabbage and broccoli, and a variety of squash and pumpkins – impressive! Their farm, which is part of Durham Region’s Leaksdale Loop, grows strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, kale, zucchini and lettuce. Leaksdale Loop, a community with historic sites, country stores and growers, is north of Uxbridge, south of Udora and east of Zephyr at Concession Roads 6 and 7

Open from Strawberry picking season until Christmas, the bakery also prepares cookies and squares, pies, and host a Christmas market with local vendors. Saying that it’s a joy to feed people as she does her family and maintains affordable prices for customers, Karyn Tindall keeps the farm going during the winter months with unique offerings. She teaches canning classes, teaching folks how to freeze produce and make sauce, salsa, jam. She also hosts events for girls’ night – make sure to bring friends and wine!

Tindall Farm, 13669 Regional Rd 1, Uxbridge ON Tindallfarmmarket.com

Sunflower Farm – Beaverton, Durham Region, ON

Farm owner Ursula Kressibuch.er didn’t let COVID-19 stop her for opening the stunning Sunflower Farm in Beaverton, Ontario, despite the challenges she faced during the pandemic. Today, she welcomes thousands of visitors across Ontario across Canada and beyond.

What’s so unique about The Sunflower Farm? The sunflowers’ trail is in the shape of a sunflower so if you have an aerial drone, you can see the actual shape of a sunflower – Canada’s first!

The farm has 20 acres of gorgeous sunflowers in different varieties too, and is located in the Backroads of Brock where artists showcase their work and honeybees draw from sugar maples. The sunflower blooms last only two weeks so get out there now to see them. After bloom season is over, the sunflowers are harvested for bird seed. The farm hosts floral workshops, live events, and sunset gatherings in the fields. Take pics with the two antique trucks and on the giant swing. And don’t forget to stop by to meet the goats and baby Feta!

The Sunflower Farm, 24430 Sideroad 17, Beaverton ON Thesunflowerfarm.ca

Lavender Blu – Seagrave, Durham Region, ON

Though lavender blooming season is over now, you can still catch a glimpse of the lavender at Lavender Blu in Seagrave, in the beautiful scenery of the Sideroads of Scugog.

Lavender-Blu is a small family business comprised of a hobby farm, a lavender garden and a lavender artisan studio and offers sunset yoga classes. Lavender Blu isn’t your typical lavender field; it’s a small garden with a focus is on ecological gardening and trying to protect the natural environment with native species while cultivating calm. Owner Mila Haynos shares the space with the wildlife living symbiotically with other creatures. The self-guided educational garden tour with 12 little marked stops where visitors can discover more about the area and connect to nature. In the gardens live a family of skunks, woodchucks, owls, foxes. They grow the lavender organically without any fertilizers or even an irrigation system relying on rain and Mother Nature to help things grow as they are supposed to. They also have an apple and sea buckthorn orchard, raspberries, black currants, red currants, Saskatoon berries, hazelnut and witch hazel. Lavender season runs at the end of June through July and early August.

Lavender Blu, 2375 Bank Road, Seagrave, ON Lavender-blu.com

Willowtree Farm – Port Perry, Durham Region, ON

Willowtree Farm in Port Perry is a family-run business and passionate about farming and educating people about the food on their tables. Their mission is to share our family’s passion for sustainable farming and fresh food. They grow strawberries, raspberries, cauliflower, asparagus, peppers, squash, corn and more. They raise animals including cattle humanely in pasture and without the use of growth hormones, antibiotics and GMO feed.

Willowtree Farm, on the Sideroads of Scugog hosts events, farm tours, has pick-your-own strawberries. For families, the Playground & Animal Experience are free to visit and open year-round during their store hours. Make sure to check out their café/bakery and market – the maple coffee and Nutella salted fudge are heavenly!

Willowtree Farm, 975 Regional Road 21, Port Perry, Ontario Willowtreefarm.ca

Archibald Orchards & Estate Winery – Bowmanville, Durham Region Ontario

Archibald Orchards & Estate Winery is a 4th generation family farm located in the foothills of the Oak Ridges Moraine on Durham Region’s A Country Path rural route which covers the areas of Bowmanville, Enniskillen, Haydon, Hampton and Tyrone. A Country Path boasts a less-travelled, quieter way of life with rural farming, cider and wine and more.

Archibald’s has over 10,000 dwarf trees with 14 varieties like Ontario’s own McIntosh, Honey Crisp and Ambrosia. Fall is busy season with pick-your-own apples, fresh pressed cider, hot apple pies and dumplings. When Fred Archibald was a child, his grandfather, parents and siblings got together one Easter weekend and planted their first apple trees. In the 1980s, Fred and his wife Sandy took on the after Fred’s father passed away, he and his wife Sandy took on the family business. They pivoted into making apple cider, pies and dumplings after experienced damaged apples from summer hailstorms, and later, wine. Their most popular best-selling cider is the dry Hard Cider and it’s delicious!

Archibald Orchards & Estate Winery, 6275 Liberty Street North, Bowmanville ON archibaldswinery.com

Tyrone Mills

Also along the Country Path rural route in Durham Region, Tyrone Mills is one of Canada’s oldest water-powered mills. Built in 1846, Tyrone was founded by first-settler John Gray who emigrated from Tyrone County, Ireland. The millstone and woodworking machines are driven by connected belts, pulleys and line shafting with a minimum of modern concessions. In the past, the mill produced milk, flour and beer, exporting to the United States and the U.K. By the 1870s and as the economy changed, Tyrone became a feed mill.

Owner Rob Shafer bought the mill 30 years ago and put a sawmill in. While still producing flour, the mill also manufactures lumber, specializing in soft cedar, pine, hemlock, Douglas, Fern. The mill continues to preserve its traditional roots through continual use of its water power.

As a tourist attraction today, the Shafer’s have added an old Quebec style bread oven offering wood-fired pizza on weekends, butter tarts, honey, maple syrup, apple cider and delicious doughnuts!

Tyrone Mills, 2656 Conc. Rd. 7, Bowmanville, ON Tyronemill.net