Hidden Canada: 2025 Edition Where to next? (Part two)

Kenora and Lake of the Woods,
Ontario

By Catherine Dawson March

Consider Lake of the Woods in Northern Ontario an enormous “hidden gem.” The 112 kilometre-long inland lake has 14,522 islands with more than 40,000 km of shoreline (not including all the islands) that borders Ontario, Manitoba and Minnesota.

Honestly, it’s hard to miss. But most Southern Ontarians have no idea this idyllic expanse of islands, boreal forest and Canadian Shield exists. The name Lake of the Woods is believed to be a mispronunciation of its Ojibway name Pikwedina Sagainan, or the “inland lake of the sand hills.”

Today it’s renowned for a freewheeling boating culture and enviable walleye fishing. Yet Manitobans and Americans mostly have it to themselves. Time to take this gem back, Ontario!

Start in the gateway town of Kenora, population 15,000 or so, which hugs LOTW’s northern shores. Businesses here, including the grocery store and hospital, often have a dock for customers. Though Kenora has a long history of industry – fur trade, logging, mining and railroad, today it’s the best jumping off point to explore the lake.

One of the best ways is to hire a fishing guide at Lake of the Woods Marina, even if you’re not really into fishing. Our guide, Mike Davis, showed up with a sweet ride: a 19-foot-long, 115 horsepower speed boat. He took us to his favourite spots – some so far from the busy waterways near town that only pelicans floated by. When Davis killed the engine, solitude enveloped us.

“If we don’t get a bite in five minutes, we move,” he said. I thought he was joking. He wasn’t. Three minutes after I dropped my line (Davis handled the live bait ickiness) he talked me through reeling in a 17-inch walleye. When the fish come that fast, fishing is actually fun. Locals also know where the best billionaire homes are, so on your way back into town enjoy the shameless looky-loo tour.

Road trippers pushing across the country should break up the drive in Kenora, too. Pull in for a night, if only to explore the scenic bays and islands closer to town on board a local institution: the M.S. Kenora. On busier days, you might not be able to hear the guide’s commentary or even find a seat but the two-storey tour boat but it does have a liquor licence and snacks to complement the views.

Kenora is home to Husky the Muskie, a 12-metre tall statue first erected in 1967 and later rebuilt in 1995 to bring awareness to water pollution prevention in Ontario's lakes.Catherine Dawson March/The Globe and Mail

The Lake of the Woods Brewing Company in Kenora serves up locally made craft beers and ciders in a historic firehall.Catherine Dawson March/The Globe and Mail

Soak up the local kitsch by taking a selfie with the 12-metre tall Husky the Muskie statue and enjoy the town’s excellent local cafes. (In June, follow the smell of roasting coffee onto the lake to find the Nautical Coffee pontoon boat.) On the waterfront, Boathouse Lakeside Grill probably wins best patio overlooking busy Rat Portage Bay. (Kenora used to be called Rat Portage when it was a Hudson Bay outpost – the name is another mispronounced Ojibway word that meant country of the muskrats.) Visitors should eventually walk away from the water to get a table at Lake of the Woods Brewing Company, a lively taproom built in a historic firehall. The vibe is friendly with excellent, locally made craft beers and ciders and there’s walleye on the menu, amongst the usual pub grub.

If the weather is fine, escape to Kenora’s Coney Island via pontoon shuttle from the harbourfront for a beach day. Because getting out onto that enormous freshwater expanse is what turns a small town visit into an extraordinary experience.

If you go

How to get there

Kenora is an exit off the Trans-Canada Highway, some two days drive from Toronto, or 2.5 hours from Winnipeg. Southern Ontarians can also fly to Winnipeg, rent a car and drive east into Ontario.

Where to stay

Short visit? Book the bayside Clarion Lakeside Inn (ask for a water view). Rental splurge? Consider the luxurious, remote 10-room Grace Anne II Lodge, a 90-minute speedboat ride from town. Private chef and outdoor activities included. Prices available upon request.

What to bring

Pack a bathing suit, an Ontario fishing licence and get out onto the water.

The writer was a guest of Tourism Ontario and Kenora. Neither approved or reviewed the story before publication.

Campbell River,
British Columbia

By Marsha Lederman

Sometimes you have to venture very far from home to have a light bulb moment about it. Such was the case for Amanda Mailman, a lifelong resident of Campbell River, B.C., who was travelling in the Galápagos Islands when she had a revelation. “All of these international tourists are excited to see these seals,” she recalls. “I’m like, I sit in my front yard and look at these all day long.”

An idea was born.

During my few days in and near Campbell River (where I stayed at the hotel Mailman built after her epiphany) I saw seals, sea lions, bears, whales. Salmon jumping from the water. Eagles circling above.

Campbell River is on the east coast of Vancouver Island. On the 50th parallel (as a local monument announces), the city is a sort of gateway to the north island, and famously home to the island’s northernmost traffic light.

Hardly overrun with tourists (yet), Campbell River is an ideal base for wildlife viewing and other outdoor adventures. It is world famous for its salmon fishing, I’m told. You can also kayak, bike and hike, including at nearby Strathcona Provincial Park. There are sandy beaches for exploring. You can even snorkel with the salmon, especially in peak season, late summer.

When I learned that the Great Bear Rainforest is reachable on a day trip by boat, I booked our tickets for what turned out to be a fruitful wildlife-seeing mission with Homalco Wildlife & Cultural Tours. Once we landed, we saw several grizzly bears sauntering down the river, hunting for salmon. We also saw all kinds of marine life from the boat, stopping to admire humpback whales – bobbing close enough that I could hear spurts from the blowhole.

At the end of the long day, we returned to our hotel. Naturally Pacific Resort opened last year – an upscale hotel on a golf course, with an indoor pool opening to the elements; an outdoor hot tub; first-class spa and a restaurant that uses produce grown on the property.

Not that most people would travel here for a swish hotel, but it’s a nice place to land after a busy day exploring all that nature. And it could be a local-tourism game-changer.

The resort, which is on a golf course, also has a pool, a first-class spa and restaurant on site.Michael Vanarey/Naturally Pacific Resort

Previously a logging hub, this part of British Columbia experienced severe economic losses when the industry dried up. But other gains have resulted.

As we kayaked through the tranquil channels of the Campbell River estuary, my guide, Leah Hill, told me how, when she was growing up there, log booms on the river blocked out the sunlight, making the waters inhospitable for fish, seals and other wildlife. Salmon were literally jumping out of the water as she explained this. “When you let Mother Nature do her thing, she will care for us.”

For something a little less wild but still sporty, the Velocity driving range next to the hotel was a huge hit with my teenager. We both became a little obsessed with TopTracer, an immersive golf game where you hit balls into the driving range as cameras track your shots, allowing you to see the results on screens.

There are urban experiences here too. I enjoyed the Campbell River Art Gallery (and its gift shop). Afterward, I visited Freyja Croissant Bakery & Coffee Shop for house-made pastries so good, they alone could entice me back to Campbell River. Not that I need a peaches & cream cruffin for that. But days of whale-watching, bear-spotting, kayaking, hiking, experience-showering and flailing at the driving range can sure work up an appetite.

If you go

How to get there

From Horseshoe Bay, take a B.C. Ferry to Nanaimo and drive north. Pacific Coastal Airlines flies to Campbell River. Air Canada and WestJet fly to the Comox Valley Airport.

Where to stay

The 100-room Naturally Pacific Resort, a short drive from the oceanfront, features hospitality offerings that rival any big-city property.

What to bring

Bathing suit, watersports and hiking gear, golf clubs. Rainwear and sunscreen (welcome to B.C.).

The writer was the guest of Destination British Columbia and Naturally Pacific Resort. They did not review or approve this article.

St. Peter's Bay,
Prince Edward Island

By Dakshana Bascaramurty

Sitting on a picnic bench at Rick’s Fish & Chips on Prince Edward Island, I held my first lobster roll of the season in one hand and, with the other, scratched a blackfly bite on my neck. The itchy sensation was soon replaced with numbing coolness as my friend Jenny pressed her canned drink against my skin.

Tears sprang to my eyes. It was a simple act of tenderness that reminded me how nice it was to be on the Island with the undivided attention of a friend, both of us child-free for three days.

For me and so many other Canadians, PEI has always been a family destination. But that weekend in late June (just before the start of high tourist season) I was discovering a different way to experience the Island.

St. Peter’s Bay, on the northern coast of PEI, has a sleepy, rural charm and was the perfect setting for an unhurried, grown-up escape. We shared the road with farm vehicles, put the day’s first footprints into the sand at a tucked-away beach and one morning had a strange, reckless breakfast of hotel coffee and half a dozen oysters served by the world’s cheesiest – and most charming – shucker at Julio’s Oyster Express.

Biking down a small dirt path called Lighthouse Road will bring visitors along a scenic route to St. Peter's Harbour Lighthouse and its surrounding beaches.Tourism PEI

For most visitors to this area, the biggest draw is Greenwich Beach, part of Prince Edward Island National Park, with its floating boardwalk and sloping sand dunes. But on the other side of the bay from Greenwich – and down a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it dirt path called Lighthouse Road – is St. Peter's Harbour Lighthouse. It’s on a dune-lined beach beloved by locals where the sand is littered with oyster and mussel shells and sun-bleached driftwood. If you go early enough in the morning, you can feel like you’re the first visitor to discover it.

There’s a lot you can see by car on PEI, but even more that can be taken in by bike. At high season on the busiest segments of the Confederation Trail, cyclist traffic is heavy enough that you’ll have to ride single file. But there were long stretches of our 24-kilometre round-trip from St. Peter’s Bay to Morell where Jenny and I rode side-by-side without encountering another soul. We coasted through grassy fields, patches of forest and along the boulder-lined bay, hardly breaking a sweat – because we’d wisely rented e-bikes from Confederation Trail Bike Rental Adventures.

Not that tranquility was hard to find in St. Peter’s Bay but it felt necessary to seek out the epicentre of it at Mysa, the Island’s first Nordic spa.

Late one afternoon, half a dozen spa-goers leaned back on Adirondack chairs, sunbathing with their noses poked into paperbacks. Others suppressed shrieks as they turned buckets of frigid water on each other’s heads.

Jenny and I traded whispered gossip in the barrel sauna. We nestled into the comfy floor loungers in the sunny relaxation room with our books. I looked up from mine and for a few meditative minutes watched the wind ruffle the tall grasses in front of the glistening bay, where hundreds of black buoys bobbed on top of the water like giant peppercorns, holding up ropes on which mussels were farmed.

The mussels reminded me we should probably head back to our cottage to shower and change before dinner and I said as much to Jenny. But she didn’t respond. Book splayed open on her chest, Jenny was enjoying the first guilt-free nap she’d had in years.

If you go

How to get there

St. Peter’s Bay is a 40-minute drive from the Charlottetown Airport and 45-minute drive from the Wood Islands ferry terminal.

Where to stay

Mysa Nordic Spa & Resort has a few guest cottages on site and rooms start at $349 a night plus spa passes. Rodd Crowbush Golf & Beach Resort in nearby Morell has rooms starting at $179 a night.

What to bring

A good friend, a good book and a swimsuit.

The writer was a guest of Tourism Prince Edward Island. It did not review or approve the story before publication.

St. George Street,
New Brunswick

By Barbara Balfour

In a family-owned deli in the heart of Moncton’s St. George Street, I bite into a coffee-chocolate bacon grilled cheese, the smoky sweetness mingling with the gooey white cheddar dripping down my face.

The decor here at Notre Dame de Parkton is pure Acadian nostalgia – religious artifacts, kitschy icons and a sense of irreverent homage that feels completely at home in Moncton’s artistic core.

This is no ordinary sandwich shop. It’s a much-loved institution that reflects Moncton’s shifting identity, built by a family who traces their lineage to the area’s original Acadian settlers. The family also owns the Laundromat Espresso Bar just a few doors down.

Visitors to St. George Street discover downtown Moncton’s cultural pulse, and these independent businesses keep its energy raw and real. Decades of evolution, decline and now resurgence have shaped the avenue into the eclectic neighbourhood it is today.

Once a natural midway between residential neighbourhoods and the railway, St. George Street was a vital thoroughfare for working-class Acadians in the 1950s. It thrived with movie theatres, drugstores and grocery shops, buzzing with life.

By the 1960s, suburban expansion, shopping malls and car culture pulled people away. As businesses shuttered, the area struggled with a reputation for being rundown and unsafe.

More recently, a slow, steady revival has been underway. Artists and entrepreneurs now see potential where others saw decay, creating spaces that breathe new life into the street.

The Laundromat Espresso bar, for example, draws an eclectic crowd, from Moroccan newcomers sipping late-night tea to eastern Europeans thrilled to find their hometown’s pilsner in the beer fridge. The late-night bar remains a haven for the city’s diverse, creative counterculture.

The stained-glass windows in Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Cathedral were crafted by French master glassmaker Auguste Labouret.

Perhaps St. George Street’s most striking landmark is Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption, the cathedral that’s towered over the city since 1939. Today it is an active church with limited service hours and a digitally interactive museum operated by secular non-profit organization, MR21.

It uses immersive storytelling to show visitors the life and vision of Archbishop Melanson, who was one of the builders of the cathedral and led the province’s entire Acadian community.

Massive digital panels animate its breathtaking stained-glass windows, crafted by French master glassmaker Auguste Labouret. He chose to depict only women, a rare tribute in ecclesiastical art and a nod to the cathedral’s dedication to Mary, the patron saint of the Acadian people.

A short walk along the street, step into Epoch Chemistry, a coffee shop with a focus on eco-conscious roasting. Visitors who sign up for the $40 tastings take a deep dive into brewing methods and exotic coffee flavour profiles.

Epoch Chemistry is a coffee shop with a focus on eco-conscious roasting that offers coffee tastings.

Mine kicked off with a bright, citrusy cold coffee lemonade, then moved into the velvety smoothness of a flat white. Just when I thought I hit peak indulgence, an espresso-based Old Fashioned mocktail reset my palate before the grand finale: a scoop of locally made ice cream, crowned with expertly pulled espresso and a sprinkle of cacao nibs.

By the time you step back onto the street, still buzzing from caffeine, homemade treats and conversation with friendly locals, it’s clear St. George Street is anything but static. Like the historic landmarks that anchor it, this neighbourhood is constantly reinventing itself, blending past and present in ways that keep you wondering what it will do next.

If you go

How to get there

St. George Street is part of the downtown core, located parallel to Main Street and on the No. 51 city bus route.

Where to stay

The new Hyatt Place Moncton is a 10-minute walk from St. George Street. It features a well-equipped gym, pool, and a hot buffet breakfast is included. Rooms from $180 a night.

What to bring

An appetite for hidden gems and the willingness to be surprised by what you find.

The writer travelled as a guest of Tourism New Brunswick. It did not review or approve the story before publication.

Compiled and edited by Catherine Dawson March