Leaving Renfrew, you head southeast on the Burnstown Rd.; when you get to Burnstown, go southwest down the Calabogie Rd., to Calabogie. If you’re feeling lucky, see if you can steal a kiss from one of the staff at Polly’s L’il Shanty, a stop on the 2013 Mad Bastard Scooter Rally.
After your stunning smooch or your smarting slap, head down the twisty, woodsy Lanark Rd. to the twisty, woodsy S. Lavant Rd., to the twisty, woodsy Lavant Mills Rd., to the tight, twisty Ardoch Rd.. Sensing a pattern here? Follow the Buckshot Lake Rd. back up to Rt 41, then continue northwards. Stop off in the ghost town of Khartum if you feel like being creeped out.
Then head towards Clontarf, on Rt 64, the old Opeongo Rd. This is one of the old network of colonization roads from when Ontario was trying to develop the backwoods; like many other communities in this region, farming conditions and other factors hindered the settlement’s growth, and there’s little to see here today.
At the end of 64, turn left on the Foymount Rd.; then, after you pass through Madawaska Valley, turn right on the Wilno South Rd.. Make sure you stop for some eats at the Wilno Tavern. The town is Canada’s first Polish settlement.
From Wilno, head northwest to Barry’s Bay. The town’s Żurakowski Park honours Janusz Żurakowski, a Polish WWII hero who went on to test pilot the Avro Arrow; he was a longtime resident of the town. Head down the Combermere Rd. to Combermere, then head down the Palmer Rd., along the Madawaska River and Montreal River, to Latchford Bridge. There’s a hydroelectric installation here, and the town claims to be the “Best Little Town by a Dam Site.”
Soon you’ll be in Quadeville, home to one of Al Capone’s Canadian hideouts. This area wasn’t always so sleepy! You’ll turn right at the Quadeville Rd., then follow that until it meets the Foymount Rd. Turn right, and when you get to Eganville leave by the Fourth Chute Rd. That leads you to Douglas, where you’ll take the Kennelly Rd. and Stone Rd. to 132, just outside Renfrew.
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