Looking to slow things down, get grounded, and reconnect with nature in a more meaningful way? This four-day, three-night itinerary invites you to do just that - to set out on a road trip that’s less about the destination and more about the connection. 

Follow this itinerary to slow down, move gently, and learn from the land beneath your feet.

4-Day, 3-Night Nature Immersion
4 Days | Total Distance: 394 km

Start Here: Tweed

Tweed is a quiet starting point for a journey that's all about intentional travel. Begin your day early enough to ensure you arrive at your campsite while there's still enough daylight to set up camp. If you don't get to everything today, don't stress, it will all still be there on your way back at the end of your trip. 

  • The centrepiece for your stop in Tweed is a visit to Enright Cattle Co., a small farm where sustainable farming practices nourish both land and livestock. Visit their farm to learn more about how rotational grazing is helping restore biodiversity.
  • Make sure you pick up a few steaks to cook over an open fire at your campsite tonight. 
  • Browse the on-site shop for beef, leather goods produced from hides from their cattle, and sustainable home products.
  • While in the Tweed area, make a detour to Potter Settlement Winery to pick up a bottle of their award-winning wines, sustainably grown right here in Ontario’s Highlands. 
Tweed
Hastings County
From Toronto: 220km • 2 hr 30 min From Ottawa: 190km • 2 hr 20 min

Tweed is home to North America's Smallest Jailhouse, with just 3 cells to hold the local criminals.  While it eventually closed to lack of crime in the area, today it is home to the local Visitor Information Centre.  You can still visit though and play criminal for the day, taking pictures behind the bars.

Sustainable Tip:

When visiting farms or nature-based businesses, ask questions, understanding how things are grown, raised, or crafted deepens your connection to the land.

Next Stop: Stirling

Your next farm visit takes you to an unexpected place, The Ontario Water Buffalo Company, where this gentle, intelligent herd is raised with care and respect.

  • Have you ever seen a water buffalo? The Ontario Water Buffalo Company’s buffalo are grass fed, and hormone and antibiotic-free! Plus, they are cute, especially the babies.
  • After peeking at the animals in the fields, shop the Ontario Water Buffalo Co.’s Buff Stuff Store for small-batch cheeses, yogurt, gelato, and even handcrafted horn mugs.
  • Remember to grab some water buffalo steaks from here to cook over an open fire at your campsite. If this is the first time you will be trying water buffalo, you are in for a treat! 
  • Ask about the farm’s commitment to using every part of the animal — a model of full-circle sustainability.
Stirling
Hastings County
From Toronto: 185km • 2 hr 10 min From Ottawa: 225km • 2 hr 45 min

The agricultural history is rich in Stirling.  To pay homage to this history, visit Farmtown Park, the home of the Hastings County Museum of Agricultural Heritage.  This museum celebrates the culture of rural Ontario and the importance of agriculture and the farmers who provide us with safe, local food.

Time Spent Here: Plan on one-to-two hours, depending on how long you linger (and snack).

End Your Day: Land'escapes

Land’escapes is a 7,000-acre protected wilderness retreat offering low-impact campsites surrounded by pristine lakes, forests, and trails. Designed for nature lovers, this eco-conscious escape encourages you to unplug, slow down, and truly connect with the land. It’s the perfect base for mindful adventure or peaceful solitude. Settle in for two nights of reconnection with the land here.

  • Get oriented and on your way to your campsite, either by hiking or by water travel. 
  • Set up your backcountry site and let the forest sounds soothe you.
  • Cook your meal over an open fire  - this is the perfect time to break out the steaks from Ontario Water Buffalo Co. or Enright Cattle Co. (and maybe that bottle of wine, too).
  • Wander nearby trails, stargaze, or simply sit still beside the lake. 
Sustainable Tip:

Always follow Leave No Trace principles when backcountry camping — take only memories, leave only footprints.

Spend the Day: Land'escapes

You've got a full day and night here to unplug and sink deeper into the land.

  • Hike a longer loop trail and notice the landscape’s shifting textures and scents.
  • Swim, paddle, journal, read — whatever calls you back to yourself.
  • As the sun sets, share stories by the fire and let the silence do some of the talking.

Time Spent Here: All day - there's no rush.

Start Here: Land'escapes

Ease into your morning with a hot drink at the campsite and one last walk through this peaceful place. When you're ready, it’s time to hit the road again.

Next Stop: Bancroft

Known as the Mineral Capital of Canada, Bancroft invites you to dig deep and connect with the geology that’s shaped this region for millennia. 

  • Visit the Princess Sodalite Mine Rock Shop to browse and dig for your own sparkling specimens.
  • Try your hand at rockhounding at the Beryl Pit or Rose Quartz Mine — BYO rock picks and chisels.
  • Stop in for a coffee and a bite to eat from The Muse Gallery & Café. The artwork on the walls will reflect the rocky landscapes of the region, and you will also find minerals, crystals and more here.
  • Visit the Bancroft Mineral Museum to explore the region’s mineral heritage and what makes it the Mineral Capital of Canada.
  • Feeling peckish? The aptly named The Granite offers an upscale, but relaxed atmosphere, and every dish will be worth the stop. Try their The Best Burger meal, topped with puled pork, pickled cabbage, cheddar and sriracha mayo.
  • Stop to pick up a six-pack from Bancroft Brewing Co. before you head out (this will come in handy later). 

Bancroft
Hastings County
From Toronto: 245km • 2 hr 50 min From Ottawa: 220km • 2 hr 35 min

Bancroft, the Mineral Capital of Canada, is a rockhounders' dream. Must stop locations for all rock-lovers includes the Bancroft Mineral Museum and the Princess Sodalite Mine. Or take a trip down The Miner's Loop and walk in the shoes of miners long ago.

Time Spent Here: A half-day or more — give yourself time to explore.

Next Stop: Wilberforce

If you have the time and curiosity to go one step deeper, take a guided eco-tour of Greenmantle Farm and Mineral Tours, in nearby Wilberforce.  

• Walk among rare, undisturbed mineral deposits like fluorrichterite, apatite, hornblende, and tremolite.
• Learn how this land has remained preserved for generations and how the geological past continues to shape the present.

Wilberforce
Haliburton County
From Toronto: 245km • 2 hr 55 min From Ottawa: 265km • 3 hr 10 min

At Greenmantle Farm, experience land that has not been touched since the ice age.  Book a guided tour to see rare minerals on undisturbed land.  While there, purchase some of their local maple syrup from Esson Creek Farm, and find out how minerals in the soil create the best tasting maple syrup.

Time Spent Here: Plan on at least an hour, maybe more at Greenmantle Farm.

End Your Day: Deacon Escarpment

Deacon Escarpment offers off-grid, eco-friendly cabins and glamping experiences nestled in the forested highlands near Golden Lake, where comfort meets wilderness and every stay is designed to tread lightly on the land.

  • Check into your cabin or pod, breathe in the forest, and take in the views over the Ottawa Valley.
  • Enjoy the solitude or reflect on the day with a cold drink from Bancroft Brewing Co., picked up in Bancroft.
Sustainable Tip:

Deacon Escarpment was built to blend into nature — let it inspire your own light footprint.

Start Here: Deacon Escarpment

Spend a quiet morning walking one of the 30 km of private trails or enjoying a slow coffee on the deck. Then, it’s time to hit the road again — with your senses wide open.

Note that Deacon Escarpment has a two-night minimum booking but only one night is part of this itinerary. 

Next Stop: Renfrew

Your next experience invites you into a deeper conversation with the land through an Indigenous lens.

  • Walk with Christine Luckasavitch of Waaseyaa Cultural Tours and learn how traditional medicine, stories, and plant knowledge offer healing.
  • If you are craving movement with a challenge, make the drive to Calabogie to hike Manitou Mountain with Tim Yearington, exploring sacred shamanic sites and spirit formations.
  • Dine at Manitou Bistro in Renfrew for Indigenous fusion cuisine and visit their trading post.
Renfrew
Ottawa Valley
From Toronto: 370km • 4 hr 35 min From Ottawa: 95km • 1 hr 10 min

Renfrew has long been known as the birthplace of the NHL.  Stop of the Birthplace NHA/NHL Museum and see hockey memorabilia, early photos, and newspaper articles telling Renfrew's NHL story, which begins with the mother of all hockey trophies, the Stanley Cup.

Time Spent Here: Expect to spend three or four for a guided walk and lunch.

Next Stop: Arnprior

Your last stop is one of reverence. In Arnprior, Gillies Grove is home to towering old-growth white pines - some over 200 years old. This is the ideal spot to feel small beneath towering trees and the earth's antiquity.

  • Walk slowly, place your hand on the bark, and feel the age and strength of these giants.
  • Let the stillness settle around you.
Arnprior
Ottawa Valley
From Toronto: 400km • 4 hr 35 min From Ottawa: 65km • 52 min

Historically known as a lumbertown due to its towering white pines, you can explore a small piece of this history in the old growth forest at Gillies Grove, including a 47-metre behemoth that was officially recognized as Ontario's Tallest Tree.

Sustainable Tip:

Practice mindful hiking and stay on marked paths — this forest has stood the test of time, and we can help it stand a little longer.

You came to listen, to breathe and to walk gently, and in doing so, you answered a call — not from your phone, but from the wild places that remember who we are. 

May the stories of the land travel with you, long after the road ends.

Indigenous
Sustainable
Summer
Road Trips