Perth

A life-sized bronze of Big Ben and Ian Millar — one of the greatest show-jumping partnerships in history, 40-plus Grand Prix titles, and a hometown hero (Millar Brooke Farm is just outside town). Standing by the Tay in Code Park, next door to Stewart Park and across from Code's Mill, since 2005.

The corridor's biggest sports complex — two soccer pitches, five baseball diamonds, tennis and basketball courts, nine pickleball courts, a skate park, pump track, splash pad, and a toboggan hill in winter.

The eastern trailhead of the corridor's rail trail — leave Perth's stone downtown and be on a hundred-plus kilometres of old CP grade within minutes, west through the lake country to Sharbot Lake and beyond.

A 27-acre riverside retreat on the Tay, named for Upper Canada's last fatal duel — picnic shelter, washrooms, a campground, and the town's water access. Boat launch and a separate kayak launch, six dock slips with shore power for boats up to 38 feet, open May 15 to Thanksgiving. Launch passes are sold daily or seasonally and canoes and kayaks launch free.

Roadside-attraction royalty — in 1893, twelve Perth-area cheesemakers used the milk of 10,000 cows to build a 22,000-pound cheese for the Chicago World's Fair. The replica sits on its weigh-cart at the Tay Basin by the Crystal Palace (and cheese pilgrims can find the 1943 concrete original near the old train station).

A National Historic Site built in 1840 for a senator in Canada's first parliament — four restored 1840s period rooms, plus the mineral collection that started the whole museum in 1925.

Built 1863–64 of locally quarried Potsdam sandstone, designated a National Historic Site in 1984 — still standing at the heart of downtown, a five-bay Italianate-neoclassical landmark that once held the market, concert hall, fire hall, police station, and post office all under one roof.

A 257-hectare reserve over the Tay Marsh, about 7 km south of the highway — the Betty Wilson Nature Trail (2.5 km) climbs to an observation tower over the marsh, and the Butterfly Trail (0.7 km) is the easy version. No dogs permitted; a small daily parking fee applies.

The corridor's best picnic stop — shade, the Tay River, and room for kids to burn off an hour of back-seat energy. Behind the town hall.

Service club hall out on Hwy 43 east of town. Bingo on Wednesday nights, doors at five, and a music jamboree on the second Sunday of the month with dinner at five.

The Perth-upon-Tay branch on Beckwith Street East, with a military museum on the second floor running from the Boer War through to Afghanistan. 613-267-4400.

A pub kitchen in one of Perth's oldest stone buildings, with a patio overlooking the Tay and Stewart Park — 22 taps, Thursday night live music, and a menu built for lingering.

A local-and-seasonal kitchen on Gore Street doing modern comfort food made almost entirely in-house — mac and cheese, pot pies, and a picnic basket if you're headed to Stewart Park instead.

Certified AAA beef from small family farms, plus poutine, and a second window right on Hwy 7 at Innisville. Home of the Rhippo Challenge, which is two one-pound burgers and a pound of poutine in twenty minutes.

A from-scratch bakery on Gore Street doing sweet and savoury pies, quiches, tarts, and espresso — no artificial anything, and the case changes with the season.

A family-run diner on the stretch where Hwy 7 runs through town as Dufferin Street. Burgers, hot chicken sandwiches, chicken pot pie and lamb chops, and one of the better-reviewed kitchens in Perth.