An abandoned quarry about ninety minutes north west of Toronto, where the water turns cerulean on a sunny day and twelve metre cliffs rise straight out of it. Timed entry passes vanish days ahead every sunny weekend. Yours comes with the bus.
Pick your date below. The bus leaves from 34 Asquith Avenue, just north of Yonge and Bloor. Your quarry admission for the 10am to 2pm slot comes with the ticket.
Dates not open yet
We put seats on sale one season at a time, and this one is not up yet. Nothing is hidden and there is no list to pay to join. Leave your email and you hear the day the dates open.
Leaving Toronto in the meantime
Cancel 14 or more days before you go and you get 90% back.
Nobody leads the day. The bus drops you off, you do what you like with the time, and you meet it again where it left you.
Flat and short, on even ground, with no climbing and no rush. This is a walk rather than a hike, and you set the pace.
Elora Quarry is a two acre, spring-fed pool cut into the dolostone of Wellington County. The cliffs around it are layered with four hundred million year old fossils, with eastern white cedar growing out of the rock face.
People started swimming here as soon as the quarry closed, long before anybody made it official. The Grand River Conservation Authority turned it into a conservation area in 1976. The swimmers never left.
There is a sandy beach, a shallow wading area for small children, and deeper water further out for anyone who wants to work the perimeter. A one kilometre loop trail runs through cedar forest along the rim, with overlooks down towards the Grand River. It is short enough to walk before your hair dries.
In the afternoon the bus takes you into Elora. A.J. Casson of the Group of Seven called it Ontario's most beautiful village, and the nineteenth century limestone buildings along the Grand River make a decent case. The old mill sits over the falls at the edge of the gorge, and there are bakeries, cafes and ice cream in walking distance of the drop-off.
Four hundred million years of limestone, and you can get in it.
The quarry in the morning on your included slot, then the village of Elora for the afternoon.
We pick you up
Just north of Yonge and Bloor subway station. Come up the Asquith exit and look for the bus. There may be more than one, so check the sign in the window before you get on.
Two acres of spring-fed water in a limestone bowl, with a sandy beach, a marked shallow area and deeper water out from it. A one kilometre loop trail runs the rim through cedar forest with views down to the Grand River.
Good to know:
Facilities: Two washroom buildings and a small change room, No food or drink vendors anywhere inside the quarry
Note: The beach is not patrolled by lifeguards. Parents and guardians must supervise children at all times, and competent swimming is recommended before you go into the deeper water.
Elora sits on the edge of the gorge along the banks of the Grand River. The main street is nineteenth century limestone, filled with independent shops, glass studios, bakeries and cafes, and the restored Elora Mill straddles the Tooth of Time waterfall at the edge of the gorge.
Good to know:
Facilities: Restaurants, cafes and bakeries, Washrooms in the village
Note: Keep an eye on the time. The bus leaves the village for Toronto and it cannot wait.
We drop you back
The bus returns to the same place it left from, so you go home the way you came.
This is our estimated return time, not a guarantee. Traffic can change it and some trips do run late, so please leave yourself some room afterwards rather than booking something tight against it.
A morning in the water and an afternoon on your feet in a village.
It is strictly prohibited and it is enforced. Visitors must stay behind the barriers, and anyone breaking that rule is removed from the park.
The beach is also unsupervised. There are no lifeguards, so children need watching and the deeper water is for confident swimmers.
There are no food or drink vendors inside the quarry conservation area. Pack snacks and water for the morning slot.
The afternoon solves itself. Elora has more places to eat than you can get through in one visit.
Pool noodles and small water toys are fine. Kayaks, canoes, paddleboards, large rafts and boat-style inflatables are not permitted at the quarry.
Anything inflatable has to be deflated for the bus ride. There is no room for a blown-up anything on a school bus, so deflate it before you board or leave it behind.
Elora Quarry runs on a handful of summer dates and they go quickly, which is roughly the same reason the quarry itself sells out.
Placeholder dates · the real ones come from our booking system
We're Canada's outdoor bus service. Since 2010 we've taken more than 300,000 people to parks and trails without a car. You bring a towel. We handle everything else.
No separate booking, no timed-entry lottery, no refreshing the conservation authority's site hoping for a cancellation. It comes with the seat.
The car park at the quarry fills before noon on a sunny Saturday, and getting there means the highway alongside everybody who had the same idea. Not your problem.
The quarry in the morning, then the village of Elora in the afternoon. A swim and a proper lunch, without moving a car.
Two acres of spring-fed water in Silurian dolostone, ringed by cliffs full of four hundred million year old fossils. It is not a water park.
★★★★★ 4.6/5.0 on Google
This is a great service if you don't have a vehicle or just don't want to drive. I'm so happy to have discovered this. There will definitely be more Parkbus trips in my future!James Taylor Wilson · Happy Parkbus customer
Highly recommend them. The bus service is so useful for people who doesn't want to drive and gives return facility. They were on time and bus facility was good too. Total worth the cost if you want to avoid hassle driving/parking.Sidhant Duggal · Facebook · Aug 2022
This is the 1st time I used Parkbus but it won't be the last.Brenda H. · Google
Speaking from someone who doesn't drive. This is a must!! I highly recommend this!Linda Ann · Facebook · Jun 2024
Factor in the cost of gas, parking and renting a car, it's a lot cheaper than taking a personal vehicle.Toronto Star
Parkbus is a great option for nature lovers, whether it's a day trip or overnight camping getaway.The Globe and Mail
Cancel more than 14 days before departure and you get a 90% refund, with 10% withheld for payment processing. Inside 14 days refunds are not available, except for a medical emergency in the 48 hours before departure, which needs a signed doctor’s note within 14 days of the missed trip and returns 50%. Tickets are transferable: you can change the passenger name up to 48 hours before departure.
If Parkbus cancels a trip, you get a full refund. We decide no later than 48 hours before departure and only on confirmed conditions: the park closed or the park authority asking us to stand down, an evacuation order or alert, an area restriction order, the highway closed, or the trip judged unsafe to run. A forecast is not one of those things, and trips run rain or shine.
Bring a swimsuit, a towel and your own snacks. We handle the driving, the parking and the entry.
Not quite the right fit? These all leave from the same spot downtown.
