Dear Mike, Let me clean all that up. As I said, the most interesting routes are along the escarpment and the Grand River. From Rochester, the easiest starting route is probably 20 (which starts at the border as 420, as far as I can tell). this turns into 53 around Hamilton. There is a bit of a mess around Hamilton, but if you want to swing around, you could go into Bantford and take 24 north or brave the mess and take 8 into Cambridge/Kitchener. You could then essentially take 24 all the way to Collingwood with no trouble. It is a nice road, with lots of jags. A wider route (up highway 6) would give you a chance to see Elora and Fergus, which are very nice towns. Many of these northern Southern Ontario towns were very rich at the turn of the century, before the great environ mental collapse from overcutting trees and various other factors killed them. They were preserved in stone until the 1960's when gas got cheap. Anyway, if you go up 6, you should eventually drift over the 24. At the small town of Maple Valley you should go northeast on 62, so that you can see Devil's Glen (not as spectacular as the name suggests, quiet, pretty, and the Pretty River Valley). 24 will then take you into Collingwood, and a right turn on 92 will take you to Wasaga Beach.
If you want to go the fast route until near the end, take the QEW, the 401, and the 400 until you get to the Nobleton or Bondhead turnoffs, and go north on Highway 27, turning left at the Angus Road (90) and heading up to Wasaga Beach on the small 10 road. It is almost as fast as the 400, and much prettier.
Special supplement: The 4 best restaurants in the area: Chez Michel, Craigleith; C.C.'s on Main Street in Thornbury (these first two are in small towns which are a left turn when you hit Collingwood (more or less straight ahead is the water), the Georgian Renaissance in Collingwood, and the Purple Hills Bistro in Creemore (on 24 as you come north). The last one is pretty pricey, the others are reasonable.
Lastly, if you want a nice hike, there is a road that leads west (and east) from 24 slightly south of a village called Nottawa (the last village before you hit Collingwood going north), number 33. If you take 33 a mile west of 24, it starts going through a valley, and a small river flows along the left. At some point there will be small signs to the Bruce Trail, and usually a small line or clump of parked cars. There is a long lovely trail up the hillside, winding through old orchards, dense woods, the occasional lake, and so on. The trail is marked with directional slashes and signs. This is the trail that goes all along the Escarpment. You can have a very nice 3-4 hour hike here.
Enjoy!
yours, Peter T.