Owen Sound, Ontario

Owen Sound is a mid-sized city (population 21,753 in 2005), located on the Owen Sound Bay of Lake Huron in South Central Ontario. It is located in the heart of the Lake Huron Snowbelt, so it receives a HUGE amount of snow wintertime. It is also home to the Owen Sound Transportation Company, which operates an extensive ferry service in the summertime (including the relatively famous MS Chi-Cheemaun). Owen Sound is the seat of government for the County of Bruce and is the home to Georgian College. It is also home to the Owen Sound Attack, my favorite OHL (Ontario Hockey League) team.

Check out this link to the Festival of Lights Webcam (the Festival of Lights is schedule for late December, 2009) : http://www.festivallights.ca/webcam.php

Orillia, Ontario

Orillia, Ontario is located about 50 kilometers north of the city of Barrie (see post on October 29th). It is situated on the eastern shore of Lake Couchiching (Lake Couchiching is really just the northern end of Lake Simcoe). Orillia is home to one of my favorite waterfront parks, with a really fantastic monument to one of the regions early explorers, Samuel de Champlain. The park is also a major overnight stopover for boaters traveling on the Trent-Severn Waterway. Orillia is the home of singer / songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, pianist Glenn Gould and was the birthplace of author Stephen Leacock. If you like to gamble, Casino Rama is very close by.

Check out the view of the lake from the Lagoon City Webcam: http://www.lagooncitywebcam.ca/tin/lagoon.html

Niagara Falls, Ontario

Ever since European explorers were first drawn to Niagara Falls by the native's tales of the gods that inhabited this area, tourists by the millions have flocked to one of the great natural wonders in North America. Niagara Falls has grown from a popular honeymoon stopover to a huge four season tourist destination. Even though the area around the falls is "touristy" in many aspects, it is still one of my favorite places to visit. If you take an early morning walk, before the crowds set in, you can still get a feeling of the majesty and raw beauty of the falls. And on the Canadian side, I also enjoy traveling up the Niagara Parkway to Niagara on the Lake, but that will be a topic will be covered in another post.

Check out the falls on this webcam:
http://www.fallsviewcam.com/

Barrie, Ontario

Barrie, Ontario is located about 45 minutes north of Toronto, and is situated on the shore of Lake Simcoe, on Kempenfelt Bay. Barrie was founded back in the early 1800s, and in 1833, was named in honor of Sir Robert Barrie. As with many other cities in Southern Ontario, it became a focus for and a terminus of the Underground Railroad. Barrie is now part of the Golden Horseshoe, and serves as the home of many commuters who work in the Greater Toronto Area. It is also home to Georgian College, and CFB Borden.

Check out several excellent views of Barrie via their webcam: http://www.barrie.ca/Content2.cfm?C=4150&SC=1&SCM=0&MI=1226&L1M=38

Collingwood Ontario

Collingwood Ontario is a small town located at the southern end of Georgian Bay. It was founded in 1858, and its early economy and settlement was driven by European Settlers and freed Black Slaves from the US. Once the railroad reached Collingwood, the harbor became a focal point for Great Lakes Shipping and Shipbuilding. The city remained a force in Shipbuilding up through the end of World War II. Overall, the Shipbuilding industry began to fade after the war, and as of late, many of the area's major industrial companies (and major employers) have begun to close their doors. To counteract this job loss, Collingwood has tried to re-invent itself as a four seasons tourist area, leveraging the Georgian Bay coast, and nearby skiing and other resort areas

Check out this link for a good view of Collingwood's main street: http://www.collingwoodnow.com/vrcam/cwood_cam.htm

Anchor Grill - Downtown Little Current - Manitoulin Island - Ontario, Canada

The historic Anchor Inn is located in the town of Little Current, Ontario, on Manitoulin Island. The inn, which was originally constructed in 1889, is now home to a restaurant and bar. The inn also provides guests with a choice of rooms for overnight accommodations.

Follow this link to their Patio Cam, which provides a live view of one of the main streets in Little Current: http://www.anchorgrill.com/jview.html

Haliburton, Ontario

Haliburton is a small village located in South Central Ontario, on the southern border of Algonquin Park. Halliburton is situated on the shores of Head Lake, and is one of the larger villages in the Halliburton County (the other being the village of Minden). The terrain and scenery is similar to the Scottish Highlands, and that similarity has earned the area, including the village, the nickname "Halliburton Highlands". The area economy is largely dependent upon tourism, and Haliburton is considered one of the main gateway areas to Algonquin Park. The area boasts a large number of lakes hosting many resorts and campgrounds.

Check out this view of the village of Haliburton: http://www.halcom.ca/haliburton.php

Torbay Resort – North Bay, Ontario

I came across this web cam when I was looking over the City of North Bay Web Site (http://www.city.north-bay.on.ca/). Torbay reminds me of a place in the North Bay area that I vacationed at back in 1965. It may, in fact, be the same place. If you look at the history of Torbay on their website (http://www.torbay.net/) you'll see that they have been around for 70 years. I remember the place that I stayed at being much larger that the resort as shown in the pictures on their site, and in fact they mentioned that the resort now is quite a bit smaller.

Enjoy a great view of Lake Nipissing via their web cam: http://torbay.net/camera.htm

North Bay, Ontario

The city of North Bay, Ontario, is located about 210 miles north of Toronto, and is situated on the North Bay of Lake Nipissing. Although the North Bay Area was first explored by Samuel de Champlain, settlement did not occur until the last two decades of the 19th Century, with the coming of the CPR and CNR railroads. Given its strategic location, the city quickly became a railroad and transportation center, which was being driven chiefly by the emergence of the lumber and mining industries. Today, the area's focus is on service industries, the government and tourism. North Bay also boasts of a thriving arts community. In 2004, the TVOntario program Studio 2 selected North Bay as being one of the top three most artistically talented communities in the province

Check out their webcam here: http://www.city.north-bay.on.ca/living/bay-cam/