Smiths Falls, Ontario: A guide for day trippers

8.3K

Updated June 17, 2022.

Sure, lots of Canadian small towns have fallen on hard times in recent decades. But few have taken as many sucker punches as Smiths Falls has.

Back in 1950, it was a thriving place. The big Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) yards handled hundreds of trains a week, the CPR’s railway station restaurant was open around the clock, and the Frost & Wood Company made farm machinery for international clients. In 1963, the Hershey Company opened its first factory outside the U.S. in Smiths Falls, and the town’s RCA Victor plant pressed North America’s very first record featuring a little band called The Beatles.

Then, everything changed.

The closure of Frost & Wood in 1955, after 116 years in operation, was an early warning sign. The CPR demolished most of the railway’s 29-stall roundhouse in the 1960s and finished the job in 1992. RCA Victor shuttered its plant at the end of the 1970s, and Hershey left town in 2008.

In addition, the Rideau Regional Centre for people with developmental disabilities closed in 2009, for completely understandable reasons—the government was shifting to helping people live more independently. Still, the closure was a blow to Smiths Falls’ economy; at one time, about 1,000 people worked at the centre.

 At this point, some towns might have just called it a day. However, like the man in Chumbawamba’s song “Tubthumping,” Smiths Falls got knocked down, but it got up again. (In 2022, TV Ontario released a fascinating documentary about Smiths Falls’ rebound.)

Smiths Falls bounces back: Museums, hikes and festivals

The Rideau Regional Centre is slowly finding new life as a mixed business-residential-recreational development called the Gallipeau Centre (361 Queen Street).

Industrial history is also a key focus at the Rideau Canal Visitor Centre (34 Beckwith Street South). This three-storey space, housed in a 19th-century stone mill building, is more of a full-fledged museum than a simple visitor centre. Informative displays give you lots of insight into the history of the canal, and you should definitely check them out, but make sure to follow the signs to the top-floor observation room, too. It gives you a great view of the Rideau Canal, the locks and the town.

Museum fans can also check out the Heritage House Museum (11 Old Slys Road), located next to the Old Slys locks on the Rideau Canal. This 1861 wood-frame mansion now portrays the life of an upper middle-class 1870s family and illuminates the town’s history. It also hosts special events, such as a Halloween haunted house, art sales and Victorian-style teas.

If you want to catch a show while you’re in town, check out the website of the Station Theatre (53 Victoria Avenue). Housed in what was once the CPR station, the theatre opened in 2010 after an 11-year fundraising and renovation project. Today, it hosts movies, productions by the Smiths Falls Community Theatre troupe and other events.

Annual Smiths Falls festivals worth checking out include the Spirit of the Drum Powwow (June), the RISE Festival (June), Live at the Falls (August), Trainfest (August), Bustle on Russell (October) and the Celebration of Lights (December).

Seeking some exercise? Smiths Falls is the beginning—or the end, depending on your point of view—of the Cataraqui Trail, yet another legacy of the town’s days as a railway hub. In 1997, the CNR donated this abandoned railway right-of-way to the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority. It is now a 104-kilometre recreational trail between Smiths Falls and Strathcona (near Napanee). In summer, it is open to hikers, cyclists and horseback riders; in winter, it becomes a snowmobiling and cross-country ski trail. The trailhead at the end of Ferrara Drive is one of several entry points in Smiths Falls.

When you need to refuel after all that exploring, the town also has great picnic spots near the Rideau Canal. They include Centennial Park (22 Confederation Drive) and Lower Reach Park (Old Slys Road at Jasper Avenue), which also has a splash pad, a play structure and other recreational amenities.

Shopping in Smiths Falls

Pop into the grandly named Michele’s Doorway to Splendour (10 Beckwith Street South) to browse for women’s fashions (such as bamboo items from Toronto-based Orange Fashion Village), skincare products from k’pure Naturals, purses and more.

Literature fans will find both new and used volumes, along with a selection of puzzles, at Arlie’s Books (14 Beckwith Street South).

Doting animal lovers can treat their fur babies to dog parkas and boots, cat and dog toys, gourmet chews, and more at Bone Appétit! Pet Company (1B Main Street East).

For Instagram-worthy items to freshen up your home—tea towels by Swedish artist Charlotte Nicolin, bath bombs and body lotions from local favourite Pink Soapworks, Sprig candles—and a wide selection of Fusion mineral paints for your DIY furniture projects, drop by Pearl’s Gem (7 Russell Street West).

Smiths Falls restaurants and food shops

First of all, I have to note that the local tourism office has been running some excellent promotions to draw visitors to Smiths Falls’ restaurants and bakeries. For instance, in summer 2020, it ran a program called Picnic Smiths Falls that made it easy for visitors to pre-order picnic lunches online from a variety of local eateries. All you had to do on arrival was pop by your chosen restaurant and pick up your box of goodies. What could be easier? Check the tourism bureau’s website (listed in the “If you go” section at the end of this post) for news of current promos. (Disclosure: For review purposes, I received a free picnic box from the Town of Smiths Falls, which neither reviewed nor approved this post.)

I actually discovered C’est Tout Bakery (20 Beckwith Street North) through the picnic promotion, and I’m glad I did. It’s a great place for fresh sandwiches, soups, salads and baked goods of all descriptions—including house-made bread, bagels and doughnuts. (Try the raspberry-swirl cheesecake.) You can also get specialty coffees and teas made with local products.

A block away, The Pickled Pig (1 Chambers Street) specializes in charcuterie, deli meats and cheeses but also serves up all sorts of takeout treats, from sandwiches and cupcakes to sweet and savoury pies. You can pick up packaged goods from local makers, including preserves from Renfrew County’s Shamrock Gardens and mustards from Mrs. McGarrigle’s. The same building is also home to Sweet Scoops, source of yummy ice cream, cakes and other desserts.

Other food options include Shawarma on the Falls (16 Beckwith Street North), where the baklava alone is worth the stop; or Matty O’Shea’s Pub (16 Chambers Street), where you can shoot some pool or watch a hockey game while noshing on burgers, pizza or poutine. 

Feeling thirsty? The 4 Degrees Brewing Company (275 Brockville Street) makes a range of beers with names evoking local stories. North of 7 and South of 7, for instance, reference nearby Highway 7. You can also try Frost & Wood ’55 or Old Slys ’69.

Local gem: Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario

As mentioned earlier, Smiths Falls was once a hopping railway hub, with multiple rail lines linking it to many communities in Ontario and Quebec. The first train—connecting Brockville to Smiths Falls—chugged through in 1859. At one point, the town had busy train stations for both the CPR and Canadian National Railway (CNR).

When the CNR station closed in 1979, a group of enterprising local train fans saved the 1912 building from demolition, renovated it and reopened it as the wonderful Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario (90 William Street West). It’s now a national historic site. If you’re a trainspotter, you’ll be in your element here, as you can wander through lovingly restored engines and rolling stock (don’t miss the railcar-turned-dentist’s-office), check out the reconstructed waiting room and telegraph office, and shop for rail-related souvenirs and books. During special events, you can even take a ride on one of the vintage trains.

Quirky story: Fort Hemlock

A red-brick building at 28 Beckwith Street South in downtown Smiths Falls looks completely ordinary—unless you happen to spot the stone on the second floor inscribed as follows: “Fort Hemlock, Erected 1868, Rebuilt by Jas Gould, 1877, Jus Vincit.” The Latin translates as “Justice Triumphs.” So what’s the story?

Accounts vary, but the gist seems to be that a man named Michael Carroll, who ran a grocery store in the adjacent building in the 1860s, used what was then a vacant lot to store supplies. The owner of the lot, one Jason Gould, took issue with that. To stake his claim to the lot, he built a small shack of hemlock wood. A mob knocked it down. The riot act was read. Like one of the Three Little Pigs, Gould rebuilt—this time, in brick. That building stands to this day—despite a possible plot to blow it up during its construction. A local wag nicknamed it Fort Hemlock, and the name stuck.

If you go

Smiths Falls is 78 kilometres southwest of Parliament Hill. To get there, head west on Highway 7, then south on Highway 15. The town is also one of the few in Eastern Ontario that you can reach from Ottawa on VIA Rail.

Cyclists (and really keen hikers) can get there largely off road by following the Great Trail from Ottawa, then picking up the Ottawa Valley Recreational Trail in Carleton Place. Hikers can also follow the Rideau Trail from Ottawa to Smiths Falls. Boaters and paddlers, meanwhile, can get to Smiths Falls on the Rideau Canal.

If you want to stay overnight, check the map below for accommodations. (If you click a link on this map and book a place to stay, I’ll receive a small commission, which will help support this site—at no additional cost to you. Thank you!)

For visitor information, see the websites of the Town of Smiths Falls and Lanark County Tourism.

Looking for more tips for things to see and do in Eastern Ontario, the Outaouais and beyond? Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter and/or buy my guidebook, Ottawa Road Trips: Your 100-km Getaway Guide, from which this post is adapted.