Between Barrie and Orillia

Aha!  So you thought that Barrie and Orillia were close by.  Think again!  It’s about 50 kilometres from Barrie to Orillia.

As an ignorant southern Ontarian I always grew up associating the two, sort of Barrie is to Orillia what Hamilton is to Burlington.   Well, it’s a mistake that I made countless times – thinking that once you hit Barrie, you’ll hit Orillia about 10 minutes later.  Well no, you won’t.  It takes a while, especially if you think past the distance between the town boundaries and actually are driving from Barrie town centre to Orillia town centre.

There are a few towns in between Barrie and Orillia but I haven’t profiled them because this section of Highway 11 is more like a real highway - it has four lanes, it has exits, and it completely by passes the areas small towns in the name of faster travelling.  So I’m sorry, Crown Hill, Guthrie, Oro, and Forest Home, I haven’t visited and considering that this is the last stretch of real highway on Highway 11, I’m unlikely to stop anytime soon. 

Additionally, many of the towns are a bit of a detour off the highway, sometimes all the way to the shores of Lake Simcoe.  If it was in northern Ontario I’d probably take the detour, but up north towns are few and far between.  They’re a luxury.  In southern Ontario and especially in cottage country towns are a dime a dozen.  So I’m sorry Shanty Bay, Oro Station, and Hawkestone, I haven’t visited either.

So now that you know there is some space between Barrie and Orillia, you may continue your journey to either of those two cities.

 

 

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