Rural Rootz, a Harvest Hosts location between Wiarton and Oliphant in Ontario, is a magical place.  You may stumble upon dragon eggs, forest fairies, and wonderful people with big hearts and gentle ways.  It was a delightful surprise encounter at the end of a scenic but wet trip to the Bruce Peninsula.

Since our trip to the Bruce and Manitoulin was soggy and the rain kept on coming, we decided to change our route. Instead of heading out to Manitoulin Island as planned we tracked our way back home hoping for better weather next time. The sun was low and we considered going straight home when I recalled Rural Rootz, a Harvest Hosts location that caught my eye.  It seemed different than the usual winery and we decided to give it a try.

Even though it was last minute, the hosts, Dee and Tom, were very accommodating and told us to just come on over.

We did.

As we drove into the yard we could tell that there was something special about this place.  We drove past gardens and arches

 

and parked on the RV pad as directed by Tom.  They even offer a 30 AMP connection if we needed power!

We were eager to explore the property and went on a hike.  To our surprise, the hike that we thought on going on was actually on this property. Rural Rocks is the only Bruce Peninsula satellite trail and is interwoven with the many trails on the 100 acre property.  We hiked most of it and left some for the next day.

We strolled through the gardens and admired the fabulous tree house that Tom and Dee built, the sound garden

There are two meditation labyrinths

And magical creations encounters accompanied by inspirational poems.

The Rural Rocks side or satellite trail is microcosm of the entire Bruce Trail;  you can find a variety of landforms and flora within a short 4.4 km walk.  As Tom stated, if you only have a half a day to spend on the Bruce Trail, you can find it all hiking this trail.

We drifted in and out of sleep as a thunderstorm lingered over us at night, but woke up to a clear morning.  We were ready to hike the rest of the trail.

Tom and Dee invited us to see the wonderful house that they had built and we have to say that it is one of most beautiful houses we’ve seen.  Beautiful in warmths, views, functionality, materials, thoughtfulness, and sensibility.  We’ll move in in a heartbeat, but they didn’t want to trade it for a Class B campervan, so we just enjoyed the views, the company, and the conversation.

Tom and Dee’s passion about this unique property is inspiring. Take a look at their website or Facebook page and read about it in their own words.  There is a perpetual conservation easement on the property to protect it from the surrounding limestone quarries.

Before we left, we had a quick tour to the gift shop and bought wonderful hemp soap.

Dee’s wonderful art is everywhere and of course it is also for sale in the gift shop.

Some of their offerings is available online as well.  There are gorgeous dragon eggs should you need one!

We bid our goodbyes and headed over to hike the rest of the trail.  Our gracious host, Tom, said that we kept the best for last and true enough, that part of the trail is incredible!  Having said that, it can be a bit challenging with climbing and ankle twisting rocks (yup, still hurts a bit).

We walked through an enchanted forest,

moss-covered boulders strewn by a giant hand.

Caverns and overhangs,

Here is Tony disappearing into one of the caverns

and there were several fairy offerings for lost children.  We found three.

There is so much more to write about this place, but we wanted to leave something for your imagination.  Instead, we urge you to go and check it out for yourself!

We hope to be back and perhaps this time we will be more successful in trading our van for this magical place.

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