Indulging the Senses

Author: Tracy McLaughlin

These are the ingredients that thrill the senses as your motorcycle cruises along the winding roads for the Grey County motorcycle waterfall tour.
Of course this is a lovely trip by car, but taking in the sights and sounds of this trip by motorcycle offers a heightened experience for all of the senses.
I ride this trip every year and the beauty of it is that it can be switched up along back roads so that the experience is different every time.
This tour boasts of seven waterfalls and some of the best motorcycle riding from Simcoe County through Grey-Bruce that Ontario has to offer. On the tour, you will weave in and around the Niagara Escarpment as you follow it to each unique waterfall.
There are no rules to visiting these seven waterfalls. By car, you can see them all in one day, but by motorcycle we suggest visiting a couple at a time, or making it a two-day adventure. That way you can enjoy all of the stops – including my three absolutely recommended spots as well as the winding back roads through lush green valleys, country roads that meander past row upon row of apple trees, and quaint little hamlets where people still smile and wave hello.
My brand new husband John McConkey (I’m still working on my name change) is riding a 1985 Harley Dyna Glide and I’m on a 1987 Harley sportster. John is my tour guide for this and all our trips as he is an experienced rider for the past 35 years and has ridden all over Canada and much of United States.
I should start by trying to dispel any images of us being the tough ‘biker types’ with long beards and largish bellies. I’m a journalist, I sing with the Sweet Adeline’s chorus group and I paint my nails pink; John is an electrician and likes to read and talk about politics. There has been a sort of riding revival in the past years and many retired, professional and all types in between have taken up a love of riding.
“Motorcycle riding offers a more visceral and personal experience mixed with a feeling of freedom and adventure,” says John. “You feel the sudden drop in the cool air as you follow a dip in the road; you smell the fresh mown hey; you feel the sway as you negotiate a winding road. It’s a more up close and personal way to travel.”
Since we are from Barrie we usually start the trip from Angus and this time we took County Road 9 west where the road meanders along the babbling Noisy River and leads to the village of Creemore. I always stop here at the Affairs Bakery on Mill Street to treat the taste buds to one of owner Norma Panzine’s butter tarts. (Oh yes, we experience the sense of ‘taste’ along this route too!)
McGowan Falls was our first waterfall stop. This falls near the town of Durham at the junction of County Rd. 4 and Highway 6 is more manmade but also ?the most swimmer-friendly and it would be easy to frolic away the hours in the low, wide, cascade carved through the limestone bluffs. There is a neat cave cut into the rock crevice at in the pool at the bottom of the falls. There is also a footbridge that leads across to a park and a beach area with rest rooms.
Back on County Rd. 4 we ride to Lower Valley Road and travel along a dirt road. Watch carefully: except for the only entrance markings of two yellow posts on the side of the road, Hogg’s Falls is a well-hidden secret.
Park your bike and follow the beaten path and the sound of rushing water. Here, tucked away in a thicket of woods, you will come upon a tiny oasis where the Boyne River tumbles over a seven-metre drop. It’s a beautiful shady serene spot filled with green and the sound of water.
Back on the road, we take County Rt. 13 through the lovely Beaver Valley, a wonderful scenic route that meanders along the Beaver River. The smells of lush green growth wafted to our nostrils as we rode through the enchanting scenery to Eugenia Falls. This vertical drop of 30-metres is one of the highest waterfalls in Ontario.
The waterfall is just a trickle each time I am there, but you can frolic in the shallow pools at the very top of the falls and the view peering down from the top is striking.
Eugenia is also my absolute recommended stop for lunch just a short walk to the Beaver River Grill where you can get great burgers and chicken club sandwiches as well as ice cream. It has a nice folksy feel to it whether you eat in our out on picnic tables and it’s not unusual to meet a group of fellow riders here. It’s also home of Ken, the pickle guy who makes his special WOW pickles and barbeque sauces that are now being shipped across the Province.
The next waterfalls on this route is Walter’s Falls but it is masked by a building and concrete parking lot and doesn’t have that ‘waterfalls feel’, however the ride along Rt. 13 is one of the prettiest riding routes of all with lots of dips and hills that crescendo to breathtaking views.
Now the sun is beginning to sit low in the sky and it’s time to find a place to stay
the night.
It’s only fitting to make a quick jaunt from here to Meaford and stay at my ‘absolute’ recommended Irish Mountain Bed and Breakfast where its own little waterfall tumbles down the side of Irish mountain with an utterly breathtaking panoramic view over Georgian Bay. This lovely spot on the 25th Side Road off Highway 26 is like an exotic little resort. There is a swimming pool and the rooms, including a cabin loft in the woods, each have hot tubs on private balconies with stunning views. Even the breakfasts here are exotic with a choice of wheat & honey waffles, eggs Benedict or gourmet omelets.
The delightful spot offers a choice with the ultimate in privacy where guests get a secret coded room key and can slip in and out in total privacy – or for the chatty types, host John Avery is always willing to share stories over a glass of wine, or take his guests out sailing with him on Georgian Bay.
Now comfortably settled in for the night, take a stroll from Irish Mountain to Ted’s Range Road Diner for something completely different. Owner Ted breaks all the rules with this rustic looking diner with unusual and tasty meals that include bear, buffalo, or even alligator. If you are riding mid-week it’s Jamm night at Ted’s on Wednesday’s and it’s a fun yeehaw kind of time. On weekends he has quieter musicians but best to make a reservation.
Now, after Breakfast and a swim in the pool at Irish Mountain, you can do a loop to visit three more waterfalls all just outside the city limits of Owen Sound– Inglis Falls in Owen Sound where the water cascades 18 metres to the Sydenham River; Jones Falls on the Pottawatomi River on the other side of the city; or the lovely horseshoe shaped Indian Falls on Indian Creek. All three of these waterfalls are big, thundering, cascading falls and absolutely stunning – although I’m told they turn into more of a trickle at certain times of the summer. All three have hiking trails through wooded shady forested areas and Indian Falls has a path to the bottom where you can play in the cool pools of water if you’re a water baby like me.
These last three falls are fairly close to each other so you can end your day at Indian Falls, or turn your day into another adventure and from here head back toward Barrie with a planned stop at Wasaga Beach. It’s about an hour ride from Owen Sound and the ride along highway 26 follows the beautiful blue Georgian Bay. Wasaga Beach is the longest freshwater beach in the world and is the perfect place to park your bike and lounge on the beach or enjoy the night life. You may just want to spend one more night away before heading home.

User Comments