Ditch the Guide https://ditchtheguide.com/ Ditch the Guide is a set of short guides to Ontario towns the guidebooks skip, for people who are already driving past on the highway. en-CA Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Cobalt: the silver boom that shaped Canadian mining, and the town that never grew back https://ditchtheguide.com/cobalt/ https://ditchtheguide.com/cobalt/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Cobalt is a short detour off Highway 11: silver-rush headframes, a mining museum and a self-guided trail. What fills an hour or a day. Cochrane: the polar bears everyone knows, and the man behind the coffee cup https://ditchtheguide.com/cochrane/ https://ditchtheguide.com/cochrane/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Driving Highway 11 through Cochrane? Polar bears, the Tim Horton Museum, a working train station and a downtown lunch stop, all within a few minutes. Gananoque: what to do before the boat, or instead of it https://ditchtheguide.com/gananoque/ https://ditchtheguide.com/gananoque/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 I spent two days in Gananoque. Here's what fills an hour before your Thousand Islands boat, and what fills a whole day if you stay. Port Colborne: the last lock before the lake https://ditchtheguide.com/port-colborne/ https://ditchtheguide.com/port-colborne/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Lake Erie end of the Welland Canal: Lock 8 ship watching, a free marine museum, West Street lunch and Nickel Beach, for an hour or a day. Thunder Bay: a church that serves coffee, and five more things worth the detour https://ditchtheguide.com/thunder-bay/ https://ditchtheguide.com/thunder-bay/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Passing through Thunder Bay on Highway 11/17? A coffeehouse in a church, Trowbridge Falls, Fort William Historical Park and more, a short detour away.