Introduction: Ontario Ghost Towns Worth the Drive
Ontario is famous for cottage country, Niagara Falls, and the Muskoka lakes. But tucked between the rock faces and forests of this sprawling province are over 200 ghost towns, silent settlements frozen in time where sawmills once roared, gold rushes flared, and silver fortunes were pulled from the earth. If you are looking for a road trip with a real atmosphere, these are the places Ontario does not put on its tourism posters.
Balaclava, Renfrew County
About four hours east of Toronto in Renfrew County, Balaclava has been vacant since the 1950s, with only crumbling structures left as evidence of its past. In its heyday, it was a flourishing lumber town whose sawmill produced up to one million board feet of lumber per week. The mill was also the site of Ontario's first-ever environmental lawsuit, when a neighbouring grist mill took the Richards family to court in 1911 for disposing sawdust into the river. The gristmill won the case.
Today, photographers and urban explorers make the pilgrimage to see what remains. The remaining buildings are in a fragile state, making it unsafe to get too close. More urgently, the largest remaining structure, the sawmill, is still privately owned, and because of ongoing trespassing concerns, it may soon be demolished. If Balaclava is on your list, go this summer.
Eldorado, Hastings County
The name says it all. Eldorado was founded during the first gold rush to hit Ontario in 1866. Word spread that fortunes could be found here, and hotels, bars, boarding houses, stores, and over 80 buildings were soon built. The boom was brief. The gold mines eventually proved worthless, causing the town to be abandoned.
A private owner has since reimagined Eldorado's historic gas station as a hotel, which means you can spend the night in what was once Ontario's first gold rush town. The surrounding countryside along Highway 62 makes for a gorgeous drive through Hastings County, especially heading into summer.
Silver Islet, Lake Superior
This one requires a longer haul, about an hour east of Thunder Bay, but few Ontario ghost towns are as dramatic. During its heyday in the 1880s, nearly 500 miners worked at Silver Islet. They toiled in shafts 375 metres below the surface of Lake Superior on a breakwall-enclosed island measuring less than half the size of a hockey rink. Mining operations ceased in 1883 for lack of fuel for the furnaces, and water filled the shafts.
Silver Islet maintains its preserved general store, one of the more intact structures you will find in any Ontario ghost town. The drive-in campground at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park makes an excellent base. And a guided sea kayak tours let you paddle over the flooded mine shafts in Lake Superior's clear depths.
Milberta, Northern Ontario
The first settlers arrived in Milberta in 1897. Life was hard. Settlers described their existence as seven months of snow, two months of summer, and three months of black flies and mosquitoes. Despite that, by the first decade of the 20th century, the village boasted a sawmill, two stores, a blacksmith shop, a hardware store, a butcher shop, a school, a hotel, and two churches.
Much of Milberta was razed by the Great Fire of 1922. A forest fire that raged over 18 townships, consuming 1,680 square kilometres of forest and farmland, claiming 43 lives and leaving thousands homeless. The town never truly recovered. The sole existing building is the Milberta United Church. It survived the fire, and remained in use until recently. Sadly, its future is uncertain. Pair this stop with a visit to the Little Claybelt Homesteaders Museum in New Liskeard for context on the region's settler history.
Swords, Parry Sound District
For those who want a ghost town within easier reach of Toronto, Swords sits in the Township of Seguin in Parry Sound, a few hours north. The community became a lumbering town after the development of a railway in the area in 1894. And in 1925, a family with the surname Sword attained the township and ran many of its businesses. One building, the Maple Lake Hotel, still stands today, though it has been a victim to break-ins and vandalism.
The old general store still sits adjacent to the railbed of the defunct Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway, now a multi-use recreational trail. The railway station and Maple Lake Hotel once stood just across the road. And the 1904 schoolhouse, now a community centre, gives you a rare ghost town that feels lived in rather than eerie.
A Note Before You Go
Ontario's ghost towns sit in a complicated space between history and private property. Many structures are on privately owned land. Respecting posted signs and admiring ruins from a safe distance is not just courteous. It is often the only thing keeping these places accessible to future visitors. Trespassing risks both safety and the possibility of these sites being permanently closed off.
Summer is an ideal time to visit. The roads are open, the light is long, and for a few hours you can stand somewhere that the rest of Ontario has forgotten.
Sources
Balaclava Ghost Town, Reader's Digest Canada
Ghost Towns of Northeastern Ontario, Northern Ontario Travel
Ghost Towns in Ontario, Curiocity
Silver Islet Canoe and Kayak Routes, Northern Ontario Travel
