Day trips
Day trips from Midland: up the bay, across the shore, down the highway
From Midland the day trips run in three directions: up the bay to Penetanguishene and the parks, west along the shore to Wasaga and the escarpment, and south down Highway 400 to Orillia and Barrie. Every distance is computed; every neighbour keeps its name.
The trips, direction by direction
Midland is a town in Simcoe County, on the south shore of Georgian Bay where Midland Bay opens into Severn Sound, at the southern edge of the 30,000 Islands. Its municipal office stands at 575 Dominion Avenue, its working harbour and Town Dock on the waterfront below King Street, and its ground is organised by two waters: Georgian Bay to the north and Little Lake inland. The town is the service and harbour centre of the southern Georgian Bay shore. This guide prints no population figure: the settled count in the town's file (identity-A) had not landed at writing time, and a provisional number is never dressed as a settled fact here. The timezone is Eastern (America/Toronto, EST UTC-5, EDT UTC-4 in summer).
The distances in this guide are computed, not estimated: the origin is the municipal-office point, 575 Dominion Avenue (44.749338, -79.889292, the town's settled identity record); each destination is taken at its published central point; the straight-line distance is the great-circle (haversine) distance between the two points, the road estimate multiplies that distance by 1.35, and the driving time divides it by a 62 km/h average, rounded to five minutes. These are honest planning orders of magnitude for choosing an outing -- the day's route itself is read on the road, on Ontario 511, and with the operator.
The forms of the outing
Up the bay: Penetanguishene
Penetanguishene is Midland's sister harbour town and its nearest full day out: Discovery Harbour's reconstructed naval and military past and its King's Wharf Theatre on the accounts reached, its own main street and its sheltered Penetanguishene Bay shore. It is a separate town with its own surfaces -- a destination, not a suburb, in either direction.
Across the peninsula: Awenda Provincial Park
Awenda in brief: Ontario Parks' 2,900-hectare park in Tiny Township -- 6 km of Georgian Bay shoreline, four beaches plus a pet beach, 30-plus km of trails, an ancient dune system and Kettle's Lake; day-use vehicle permits booked with Ontario Parks. Computed: the park is 13 km straight-line (computed), about 18 km by road and 15 minutes' estimated driving from the municipal office.
Out on the water: Georgian Bay Islands National Park
Georgian Bay Islands in brief: Parks Canada's national park of 63 islands in the 30,000 Islands -- Beausoleil Island reached by the Parks Canada DayTripper boat from Honey Harbour (Georgian Bay Township), about a 15-minute crossing on visitor accounts; trails, campsites and cabins booked with Parks Canada. Computed to the Honey Harbour dock: 14 km straight-line (computed), about 19 km by road and 20 minutes' estimated driving from the municipal office; the crossing itself is the park's boat, booked with Parks Canada.
West and south: Wasaga, Collingwood, Orillia, Barrie
West along the shore, Wasaga Beach (31 km straight-line (computed), about 41 km by road and 40 minutes' estimated driving) is the world's longest freshwater beach town's day out, in its own municipality. Collingwood (38 km straight-line (computed), about 51 km by road and 50 minutes' estimated driving) and Blue Mountain (43 km straight-line (computed), about 58 km by road and 55 minutes' estimated driving) carry the escarpment: harbour town, ski hill and the region's biggest resort day. South on Highway 400, Orillia (40 km straight-line (computed), about 54 km by road and 55 minutes' estimated driving) is the lakeside city between Couchiching and Simcoe, and Barrie (43 km straight-line (computed), about 58 km by road and 55 minutes' estimated driving) is the region's city -- GO trains, the hospital corridor and the onward run to Toronto. Each is visited at home, on its own surfaces.
The notes that travel with every trip
the airport note, printed once, plainly: Midland's airport is Midland/Huronia Airport (CYEE), 20 Ed Connelly Drive -- seated in the Township of Tiny, south-west of town, and owned through the Huronia Airport Commission by Midland, Penetanguishene and Tiny Township together. It is a registered, public aerodrome with a 3,996-foot asphalt runway serving business, recreational, maintenance, medivac, search-and-rescue and charter flying, with a flight school on the field -- and NO scheduled passenger flights on any surface reached. The scheduled-service airport for Midland is Toronto Pearson (YYZ). This guide's airports page gives CYEE its full, honest treatment; nothing here invents an airline for it. the port note, printed once, plainly: Midland Town Dock is a real cruise port of call -- Pearl Seas Cruises' Pearl Mist calls here on its Great Lakes & Georgian Bay itineraries, with Sainte-Marie among the Hurons named as the call's excursion on the operator's own page -- and the Town Dock is also the home dock of the Georgian Spirit's local sightseeing, lunch, dinner and sunset cruises in season. This guide's cruises page settles lines, seasons and shore excursions from operator surfaces only.
Home the same night, the return discipline
Three rules: confirm the master activity the day before (a park permit, a boat's sailing grid, a theatre's bill); travel with the season's light -- in October, darkness comes early on Highway 93 and the Tiny Township concessions alike; and read Ontario 511 on the morning of the trip. Attribution is by seat, never by closeness: Penetanguishene, the town up the bay to the north-west; Tay, the township east across the Wye River; Tiny, the township that wraps the shore to the west and north; Georgian Bay Township, the island-dotted township that holds Honey Harbour; Springwater, the township to the south; and Oro-Medonte, the township toward Barrie, are separate municipalities, with their own places, named as destinations when they appear, never absorbed. Two of Midland's best-known visits sit across the town line and this guide says so every time: the Highway 12 East heritage corridor (Sainte-Marie among the Hurons and the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre, on place records seated in Tay Township, with Midland postal addresses) and Midland/Huronia Airport (CYEE), seated in Tiny Township and owned by Midland, Penetanguishene and Tiny together. Awenda Provincial Park is a provincial park in Tiny, and Georgian Bay Islands is a national park reached by boat from Honey Harbour in Georgian Bay Township: destinations reached from Midland, never Midland content.
Common questions
What is the best day trip from Midland?
The signature trip is Penetanguishene and Discovery Harbour up the bay -- the nearest, and a whole second harbour town. The wild days are Awenda's beaches and trails and Beausoleil Island by the DayTripper boat; the biggest are Blue Mountain and Barrie.
Is Awenda part of Midland?
No: Awenda is a provincial park in Tiny Township, reached from Midland by road. It is a destination, never Midland content -- and its permits and rules live with Ontario Parks.
How are the distances on this page calculated?
From the municipal-office point (575 Dominion Avenue, 44.749338, -79.889292) to each destination's published central point: great-circle (haversine) distance computed in the generator, road estimate at 1.35 times that distance, driving time at a 62 km/h average rounded to five minutes. Planning orders of magnitude -- the day's route is read on the road and Ontario 511.
More to explore in Midland
The header images on this page are illustrations drawn for Dayfari, not photographs. No verified photograph of the Midland places named here (licence and subject checked) could be attested for this version, so those places are illustrated or described in text only, rather than borrowed from another town.
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