St. Jacobs and Elora, in one paragraph
St. Jacobs and Elora by black car is a ninety-minute, 120-kilometre country day — the 401 to Kitchener and the 85 through Waterloo to St. Jacobs (the Farmers' Market on Thursdays and Saturdays, Canada's largest year-round market with its Mennonite vendors, its summer outdoor market and its flea market; the village's King Street shops and the Mennonite Story centre; the horse-drawn buggies on the county roads), then Highway 86 or the county roads north through Mennonite country (Woolwich and Wellesley townships — the West Montrose covered bridge, the Wallenstein and Hawkesville general stores) to Elora (the Elora Gorge's cliffs and the Grand River's rapids, the Elora Quarry's summer swimming hole with its capacity limit, the Elora Mill Hotel on the falls, Mill Street's shops and galleries, the Elora Festival's summer singing and the Fergus Scottish Festival next door) — on the hourly or a flat day rate, in a sedan for a couple or an SUV for a family with the market's purchases, with the fall colours and the March maple syrup as the seasons, and the Kitchener-Waterloo and Stratford add-ons on the way.
The country day west of Waterloo is the trade's gentlest run — a market that opens at 7 on a Saturday and is best before 9, a countryside where the black car slows for a buggy and its lantern, a covered bridge, a general store with a wood stove, a gorge, a swimming hole with a line at the gate, and a mill hotel where lunch looks over a waterfall — and the black car makes it a day for a couple, a family or the grandparents from Vancouver who have never seen a Mennonite farm; the chauffeur handles the market's parking chaos, the county roads' etiquette and the quarry's capacity, and the passengers handle nothing. This guide covers the drive, St. Jacobs and its market, the Mennonite country's roads and their etiquette, Elora and the gorge, the quarry and its rules, the mill and the village, the festivals, the seasons, the vehicle and the rate, the add-ons, and a worked Saturday.
The drive
The 401 west to Kitchener's Highway 8 exit (the Kitchener-Waterloo article's seventy-five minutes), the 85 (the Conestoga Parkway) north through Waterloo to its end at St. Jacobs' Farmers' Market exit (the market is on the 85's east side at Weber Street North and Farmers' Market Road — the giant lots), and the village a kilometre north on King Street; then the county roads north — Highway 86 through Wallenstein and Macton to the 6 and south to Elora (forty minutes), or the back way on the Woolwich roads through West Montrose and its covered bridge to the 21 and north to Elora (forty-five minutes and the better drive); Elora to Toronto is the 6 south to Guelph and the 401 east (ninety minutes); 120 kilometres to St. Jacobs, 145 to Elora, the rush hour article's Saturday morning 401 clear at 7:30, and the 407 to Milton for a weekday departure.
St. Jacobs and the market
The St. Jacobs Farmers' Market — Thursdays and Saturdays year-round from 7 a.m. (and Tuesdays in summer), the largest year-round farmers' market in Canada: the main building's Mennonite vendors (the summer sausage, the cheese curds, the apple fritters fried in the morning, the maple syrup, the pies, the quilts upstairs), the peameal on a bun, the outdoor market from May to October (the produce, the flowers, the crafts under the pavilions), the flea market building across the lot, the Market Road's outlet stores and the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse's theatre; the black car's timing — the 7:30 departure for a 9 a.m. arrival before the 10 a.m. crowd fills the lots (the chauffeur drops at the main building's door and parks in the far lot; the passengers text from the door), two hours in the market, the purchases (the cooler in the trunk — the in-car amenities article's request for the sausage and the cheese; the luggage capacity article's SUV for the quilt), and the drive up to the village — King Street's shops (the Village Silos, the Mennonite quilts, the Hamel Brooms, the Eco Café, the bakeries), the Mennonite Story (the interpretive centre on King Street — the Old Order's history and its present in an hour), the Conestogo River's mill and the Riverworks, and the Benjamin's Restaurant and Inn for lunch.
Mennonite country and the roads' etiquette
Woolwich and Wellesley townships north and west of Waterloo are Canada's largest Old Order Mennonite community — the farms with no hydro lines, the black buggies with the orange triangle and the lantern, the children in the bonnets and the straw hats walking to the one-room schools, the roadside stands with the honour box, the general stores (Wallenstein General Store on the 86 — the wood stove, the bulk bins, the boots; Hawkesville's and Linwood's; the St. Clements store), the West Montrose Covered Bridge (Ontario's last — the 1881 "Kissing Bridge" over the Grand, one lane, the buggies' right of way, the photograph from the bank), the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival (the first Saturday of April — the world's largest single-day maple festival, the pancakes and the sugar bush tours, the 60,000 visitors and the shuttle lots), the Kissing Bridge Trail for the walkers, and the Sunday's quiet (the stores closed, the buggies to the meeting houses — a Sunday drive sees the community at its own pace and the chauffeur drives it at theirs). The etiquette the chauffeur keeps: the buggies are slow (15 km/h) and the county roads are two-lane — the defensive driving article's patience, the pass only where the road is straight and clear and wide, the horse startled by a horn or a close pass (never), the buggy's hand signals (the driver's left arm out is a left turn; a wave is a wave), the children at the road's edge, the Sunday's meeting-house traffic; and the photographs — the Old Order do not wish to be photographed and the chauffeur says so to a passenger reaching for a phone at the bridge (the privacy and discretion article's courtesy extended to the community).
Elora and the gorge
The Elora Gorge Conservation Area (the Grand River's 22-metre limestone cliffs below the village — the trails along the rim, the lookouts at the Hole in the Rock and the Tooth of Time, the tubing on the river's rapids in summer (the GRCA's rental and the shuttle — a two-hour float), the campground, the day-use fee at the gate; the chauffeur drops at the gate's lot), the Elora Quarry (the old limestone quarry a kilometre east — the turquoise swimming hole with its cliffs and its beach, open late June to Labour Day, with a daily capacity the GRCA enforces (the gate closes when the lot is full — by 11 on a hot Saturday; the online reservation the GRCA introduced for the summer weekends), the Sandbanks logic on a smaller scale; the chauffeur's drop at the gate and the 4 p.m. pickup), and the Grand River's falls at the village's centre where the Irvine meets it — the Tooth of Time's islet in the falls, the mill's dam, and the mill.
The mill and the village
The Elora Mill Hotel and Spa (the 1832 grist mill on the falls, rebuilt as a hotel in 2018 — the thirty rooms, the spa across the river, the restaurant's terrace over the falls, the porte-cochère on Mill Street — the anniversary and date night article's country weekend and the wedding venues article's Elora weddings), Mill Street and Metcalfe Street's shops and galleries (the stone village of the 1850s — the antiques, the Elora Centre for the Arts in the old school, the bakeries, the Lost & Found café, the Shepherd's Pub), the Elora Brewing Company (the taproom on Mill Street), Fergus (the Scottish stone town five minutes east on the river — the Fergus Grand Theatre, the St. Andrew Street shops, the Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games in August — the pipes, the caber and the heavy events, the clan tents), the Elora Festival (the July singing festival — the Elora Singers and the visiting choirs in the churches and the Gambrel Barn), the Elora Riverfest (August's music on the river), and the Elora Farmers' Market (Saturday mornings in summer in Bissell Park).
The seasons
Spring (March–May): the maple syrup season — the Elmira festival's April Saturday, the sugar bushes' pancake breakfasts on the county roads (the Wellesley and the Woolwich bushes), the market's fresh syrup; the gorge's spring rapids. Summer (June–September): the market's outdoor pavilions, the quarry (the reservation and the 9 a.m. arrival), the gorge's tubing, the Elora Festival and the Riverfest, the Fergus Highland Games (the second weekend of August — the black car's Scottish Saturday), the Mill's terrace. Fall (October): the fall colours article's Grand River valley — the gorge's rim in colour, the county roads through the maples, the market's pumpkins and the apple fritters; the Elmira and the Wellesley fall fairs. Winter (November–February): the market indoors (the quilts and the sausage; the Christmas market's weekends), the Mill's fireplace and its spa, the gorge's ice, the village's Christmas lights, the winter driving article's county roads (the buggies in the snow — the chauffeur's care doubled).
The vehicle and the rate
The S-Class or the executive sedan for the couple's Mill weekend, the Escalade for the family's market-and-quarry Saturday (the cooler, the quilt, the towels, the child seats), the Sprinter for the shower's or the birthday's eight to the market and the Mill's lunch; the hourly for the nine- to ten-hour day or the fleet's flat St. Jacobs–Elora day rate (the engine shows it), the flat one-way to the Mill for the weekend (multi-day hire or the Friday drop and the Sunday pickup), the gratuity guide, the quarry's and the gorge's gate fees the passengers' own, and the how much does a black car cost article's comparison with the family's own car, the market's lot at 10 a.m. and the drive home with the sausage.
The add-ons
Kitchener-Waterloo (the Kitchener-Waterloo article's twenty minutes south — the Oktoberfest Saturday's morning at the market and evening at the festhalle), Stratford (the Stratford Festival article's forty-five minutes south-west — the Thursday market and the evening show, or the Saturday matinee and the market on the way home), Guelph (the 6's twenty minutes south of Elora — the university, the Sleeman brewery, the downtown's stone), Cambridge's Galt, Rockwood (the conservation area's caves and mill ruins on the 7 east of Guelph — the proposal article's photographers know it), and the Belwood Lake reservoir north of Fergus.
A worked Saturday
A Leaside family — the parents, two children (nine and six) and the visiting grandmother from Vancouver — a Saturday in late September, an Escalade on the flat day rate. 7:30 a.m.: the pickup (the child seats article's booster for the six-year-old installed Friday; the cooler in the cargo); 7:45 the DVP to the 401 west, clear; 8:50 the Kitchener exit and the 85; 9:05 the St. Jacobs market's main door — the drop; the chauffeur to the far lot; the family's two hours (the apple fritters at 9:10, the summer sausage and the cheese curds for the cooler, a quilt for the grandmother upstairs, the outdoor market's last September peaches, the peameal on a bun at 10:30); 11:10 the text; 11:15 the pickup at the door (the lots now a scrum the family did not join); 11:25 the village — King Street's brooms and the Mennonite Story's hour (the grandmother's request); 12:45 the back roads north — Sawmill Road to West Montrose, the covered bridge (the photograph from the bank, not of the buggy crossing it — the chauffeur's word), a buggy passed on the straight past Winterbourne at a walking pace, the Wallenstein General Store's wood stove and its boots (fifteen minutes); 1:45 Elora — the Mill's terrace for a late lunch over the falls (booked by dispatch; the chauffeur on Mill Street); 3:15 the gorge's rim trail from the gate (an hour; the quarry closed for the season on Labour Day); 4:30 Mill Street's shops and the Elora Brewing's growler for the father; 5:15 the 6 south through Fergus and Guelph, the 401 east at 5:45; the children asleep by Milton; 7:00 the Leaside door with the cooler and the quilt carried in. Eleven and a half hours, 290 kilometres, one market, one bridge, one buggy, one gorge, one grandmother who had a story for Vancouver, and no one who drove home tired.
St. Jacobs and Elora quick reference
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Drive | 120 km, 90 min to St. Jacobs (401 → Kitchener's Hwy 8 → the 85 north to the market exit); 145 km to Elora (Hwy 86 via Wallenstein, or the Woolwich back roads via West Montrose — the better drive); Elora → Toronto via the 6 and the 401, 90 min |
| The market | Thursdays and Saturdays year-round from 7 a.m. (Tuesdays in summer); the Mennonite vendors; the outdoor market May–Oct; the flea market; the outlets; arrive by 9 before the 10 a.m. lots; the drop at the main door; the cooler |
| The village | King St's shops (silos, quilts, brooms); the Mennonite Story centre; Benjamin's for lunch |
| Mennonite country | Woolwich and Wellesley; the West Montrose covered bridge (1881); the Wallenstein, Hawkesville, Linwood and St. Clements stores; the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival (first Saturday of April); the Sunday quiet |
| The etiquette | Buggies at 15 km/h — pass only where straight, clear and wide; no horn; watch the hand signals and the children; no photographs of the Old Order |
| Elora | The Gorge (the rim trails, the lookouts, the summer tubing, the gate fee); the Quarry (late June–Labour Day, the daily capacity and the online reservation — arrive by 9); the falls and the Tooth of Time |
| The mill / village | The Elora Mill Hotel and Spa (the terrace over the falls, the porte-cochère on Mill St); Mill and Metcalfe Streets; the Brewing Co.; Fergus 5 min east (the Highland Games, second weekend of August); the Elora Festival (July); Riverfest (August) |
| Seasons | Spring's maple syrup; summer's quarry, tubing and festivals; fall's colours (the best); winter's indoor market, the Mill's fire, the buggies in snow |
| Vehicle / rate | Sedan (the couple's Mill weekend); Escalade (the family's market day with the cooler and the quilt); Sprinter (a party of 8); the hourly (9–10 h) or the flat day rate; the one-way to the Mill for a weekend |
| Add-ons | K-W 20 min S (Oktoberfest); Stratford 45 min SW; Guelph 20 min S of Elora; Rockwood; Belwood Lake |
Booking the day
The hourly chauffeur page books the country Saturday; the engine shows the day rate and the Mill's one-way; the multi-day hire article the weekend; dispatch books the Mill's terrace and the quarry's reservation on request. Leave at 7:30 for the fritters.
