Quiet most of the year, enormous on Thanksgiving weekend.
↳ Hastings beaches · 15 min south on Cty Rd 45
The Trent River at Hastings, 15 minutes south of Norwood — September 2026
Why stop
Norwood is the corridor’s last village before Peterborough, and for most of the year it’s a pleasant, blink-and-breathe kind of place — a mill pond, a main street, and a genuine roadside find: the Mill Pond Butterfly Garden, a sheltered picnic table right on Highway 7 itself. Stretch your legs without even leaving the road.
Then Thanksgiving weekend arrives, and with it the Norwood Fall Fair — running since the 1860s and one of the best classic fall fairs in Ontario. Midway, livestock barns, demolition derby, pie: the full canon. It’s the traditional close of the corridor’s season, and the one weekend a year Norwood outdraws every other town on the route.
The detour south — Rice Lake water
Fifteen minutes down County Road 45, the village of Hastings sits where the Trent leaves Rice Lake, with two sandy public beaches (Front Street West, and by the marina on Dit Clapper Drive) — warm river-mouth swimming with a real village attached. Further along the lake at Roseneath, Sandy Bay Public Beach is the small-kid favourite: swings, shallow warm water, easy afternoon.
The library and Norwood's United Churches host a trivia night upstairs at the town hall. Bring a team of six or come on your own and join one. Admission is by donation, toward youth and community programmes, with a cash bar run by the Norwood Lions and refreshments at the break.
Hosted by Royal Canadian Legion Branch 300. A march of the colours, wreath bearers and Legion members to the cenotaph for the 11th-hour service. Call the branch at 705-639-2374 with questions.
The Norwood Market comes back for one festive evening at the Town Hall, with local makers, artisans and small businesses. It's the same day as the Norwood Santa Claus Parade.
The Legion walks Santa through Norwood after dark on the last Saturday of November, under the theme the branch picked this year — "Small Town Friendly Norwood". Run by Royal Canadian Legion Branch 300.
A quiet park on the Trent with a public boat launch, restrooms, picnic tables, horseshoe pits and a playground — the one to pick if the crew isn't all going out on the water.
139 Indian Rd, Hastings · Checked Aug 2026 · Township of Asphodel-Norwood
A township park where the Ouse River runs through one corner, past an old concrete bridge and over a low rock ledge. Picnic tables, a sheltered picnic area you can book, a playground, and wood carvings throughout, including an owl chair carved into a stump.
1446 Asphodel 3rd Line, Hastings · Checked Sep 2026 · Township of Asphodel-Norwood parks page; our own visit 44.2981, -78.0454
Norwood's sports hub — ball diamond, skate park, basketball and pickleball courts, splash pad, playground, and a walking trail. Everything a family road trip needs to burn off an hour.
Two sandy public beaches where the Trent flows out of Rice Lake — Hastings North on Front Street West, Hastings South by the marina. Warm water, working village, 15 minutes south of Norwood.
Hastings, 15 min south on Cty Rd 45 · Checked Jul 2026 · municipal sources
Thirty-three kilometres of Trans Canada Trail from the Trent River at Hastings west into Peterborough, surfaced with more than 30,000 tonnes of crushed limestone — flat, wide and well finished. Hiking, cycling, horses, skiing and snowmobiles.
Hastings to Peterborough, on the old CN bed · Checked Aug 2026 · Lang-Hastings Trail association and Ontario Trails Council
A genuine roadside find — right on Highway 7 through Norwood, with a sheltered picnic table, benches, parking, and summer washrooms. Stretch your legs without even leaving the highway.
A full 18-hole, par-71 public course east of Peterborough, open since 1966 — well-groomed, with real water hazards and sand traps (the par-5 13th runs 600 yards). Pro shop, driving range, putting green, and an on-site restaurant and bar.
1993 Asphodel 7th Line, Norwood · Checked Sep 2026 · the club's own site, oaklandgreens.com
A stainless-steel walleye twelve feet long and twelve feet tall, designed by the Canadian artist Bill Lishman, beside the Trent in Pisces Park. The walleye is the fish local anglers come for, which is why Pete is one.
3 Dit Clapper Drive, Hastings · Checked Sep 2026 · Trent Hills Tourism; our own visit 44.3069, -77.9569
A home and cottage shop mixing new decor, gifts, textiles and dishes from Canadian small makers with a curated stock of vintage and antique pieces.
2351 County Rd 45, Norwood · Checked Oct 2026 · Peterborough County tourism listing (thekawarthas.ca/businesses/vintage-inspired), the shop's own site, and kawarthaNOW's Sep 2025 Asphodel-Norwood road trip
Family hairstyling, esthetics and advanced foot care right on Hwy 7 in the village, with massage, waxing and a gift boutique alongside. Owner Karen Kearney. Mon 10–4, Tue–Fri 10–6, Sat 10–4, closed Sunday. 705-933-6360.
4257 Hwy 7, Unit B & C, Norwood · Checked Sep 2026 · owner submission by email, unit confirmed by the owner on a follow-up, phone corroborated by the salon's own site; logo from the same site
