We ditch work early on Fridays, pack the car the night before, and eat while we drive—anything to beat the traffic. The less time spent driving to the cottage, the better.
Today’s roadside service centres reflect that feeling. Ontario’s ONroutes make fast food, restrooms, and fuel accessible along Hwy. 400 and 401 to get us back on the road ASAP. But when the highways and stops opened in the 1950s and ’60s, the cottage commute became an excursion all its own.
“Highways were novelties in the early 1960s. It was Ontario’s first chance at high-speed driving,” says John Merritt, a historical interpreter at the Simcoe County Museum in Minesing, Ont. Drivers cruised to new towns and pulled over to picnic on the shoulder. Barrie, Ont., business owners, who benefited from through-town traffic before the highways opened, began selling refreshments along Hwy. 400. “They catered to holiday traffic—people on long drives who needed somewhere to stop,” says Merritt.
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Then, in the late ’60s, the Department of Highways (now the Ministry of Transportation) opened 23 service centres along the two highways in an effort to meet the need for designated spots where people could take a break. They were built 80 km apart to alleviate driver fatigue and came complete with sit-in restaurants, gas bars, and car repair services.
The centres had character: many were designed with a flying saucer-esque shape, topped with orange-domed roofs. But they’re remembered best for launching road trip traditions, such as treasured (or not) family meals: “Salisbury steak, instant mashed potatoes, and canned peas. I can still taste it fifty years later,” says one user on a Reddit thread devoted to the structures.
With facilities deteriorating, the Ministry began replacing the rest stops with ONroutes in 2010; the last original centre, on Hwy. 400 near Cookstown, was demolished in 2013.
Today’s rest stops might not have the charm of the old versions, but they can launch new traditions. Why not make a ritual of fuelling up—by grabbing a coffee and donut for yourself? And take your time; there’s no beating cottage traffic anyway.
This article was originally published in the Summer 2026 issue of Cottage Life.
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