Road map Stratford and Middlesex city surrounding area (Ontario, Canada)

Middlesex County      

Many consider Middlesex County the prettiest part of Ontario  and the perfect place for a Sunday drive through the countryside: a  pleasant mix of rolling, verdant farmland, picturesque towns with  Victorian steeples, and popular beaches along the vast shore of Lake  Huron. (In southwestern Ontario there are 584 beaches with some 257 km  of beach front-more than half of this length is on Lake Huron.) Next to  the Niagara Peninsula, Middlesex County draws the most tourists in  Ontario, mainly for its spectacular beaches and the world-renowned  Stratford Festival, but for its butterflies, baseball, and elegant stone  architecture, too.      

Beachville [E8]      

Beachville has Canada's largest open-faced limestone quarries  and is the site of the first recorded baseball game, played on June 4,  1838. The Beachville Museum has two huge barns packed with thousands of  treasures including locally found mastodon bones and a one-man threshing  machine.      

Grand Bend [B1-B2]      

Grand Bend is a famous resort town where Main Street leads  directly to the bustling beach. For a somewhat quieter stretch of sand,  take the River Road, south of the boat launch. Hikers and cyclists will  enjoy the Rotary Nature Trail, which links to Pinery Provincial Park and  an additional 10 km of trails and beaches. Nearby, the Lambton Heritage  Museum is an antique lover's delight, with old wood stoves, pressed  glass and china, and "Currier and Ives" lithographs. Grand Bend  Motorplex features drag racing and hot-rod races every summer weekend.      

Ingersoll [E8] It was near Ingersoll, around 1840, that the  first cheese factory in Canada was built. In 1866, The Big Cheese, a  mammoth round weighing 3,311 kg, measuring 1 m high and 2 m across, was  manufactured to promote the cheese industry in Oxford County. The  Ingersoll Cheese Factory Museum site has early cheese-making equipment,  farm machinery, and a blacksmith shop.      

Port Franks [C1] The Ausable River flows into Lake Huron at  this hamlet, creating sand flats for fun beachcombing. Among the  forested sand dunes, reportedly the highest on Lake Huron, can be found  the rare Karner blue butterfly. The Karner Blue Sanctuary has several  walking trails. Other nature and hiking areas include the Thedford  Conservation Area, the Forested Dunes Nature Reserve, and the Savannah  Hiking Trail.       

St. Mary's [C6] This scenic little town on the Thames River  has one of the biggest collections of historic stone buildings in  Ontario. Its fine limestone steeples and well-known limestone stone  quarries earned St. Mary's the nickname "Stone Town." The Canadian  Baseball Hall of Fame features artifacts and memorabilia highlighting  baseball's Canadian roots. The St. Mary's Museum houses an archival  collection of photographs, local newspapers, maps, and genealogical  files. Swimming in St. Mary's Quarry-a deep freshwater-filled old  limestone quarry-is a great summer experience.      

Stratford [B7] Legend has it that this tranquil rural town,  located in the heart of southwestern Ontario, was named by a homesick  English settler. The meandering Avon River winds through hectares of  groomed parkland where picnicking, paddle boating, canoeing, and feeding  the resident white swans are popular. This is home of the Stratford  Festival of Canada, the internationally renowned North American  classical repertory theater, which annually attracts over 580,000  theatergoers. The tree-lined streets, vibrant Victorian downtown core,  art galleries, and numerous restaurants add to Stratford's charm.      

ATTRACTIONS      

BEACHVILLE      

Beachville Museum      

GRAND BEND      

Grand Bend Beach Lambton Heritage Museum Huron County Playhouse Pinery Provincial Park Grand Bend Motorplex      

INGERSOLL      

Cheese Factory Museum Ingersoll Community      

Museum Pathway of the Giants Sports Hall of Fame Miss Canada IV Speedboat      

PORT FRANKS      

Port Franks Dune Forest Complex Sand Hills Golf Course      

ST. MARY'S      

St. Mary's Museum Canadian Baseball      

Hall of Fame St. Mary's Quarry      

Wildwood Conservation Area      

STRATFORD      

Stratford-Perth Museum Stratford Festival Costume Warehouse Brickman's Botanical Gardens Gallery Stratford