Spencer Smith Park on Burlington's waterfront

Halton is a region of the Greater Toronto Area, home to about 550,000 people in 2016. As its bedroom communities for Toronto workers expand, it has one of the highest population growth rates in the country. Despite the growth in residential development, agriculture and protected lands along the Niagara Escarpment are still the predominant land uses in the region. Burlington and Oakville are largely urban and suburban, while the towns of Milton and Halton Hills are more rural.

Cities

• 1 Oakville — an affluent suburb of Toronto whose downtown has a quaint, small-town atmosphere
• 2 Acton — formerly a major centre for the leather goods industry, known throughout the Greater Toronto Area for its massive leather store
• 3 Burlington — a pleasant suburban community that is home to the amazing Royal Botanical Gardens
• 4 Georgetown — an historic town connected to Toronto by commuter rail
• 5 Glen Williams — a charming village where the focus is on art, crafts, antiques, and well-preserved heritage buildings
• 6 Milton — one of the fastest growing communities in Canada, with a picturesque downtown area

Other destinations

• 1 Bronte Creek Provincial Park — has a large pool, trails, a barn converted to playstructure, historic farm and home, and a campground area

Understand

History

Halton County is named after Major William Mathew Halton, a British Army officer, who was appointed in England in 1805 as Secretary to Upper Canada Lieutenant-Governor Sir Francis Gore and spent little time in Canada during his posting (served two terms 1806-1811 and 1815-1816).

European settlers started to arrive in the area in the early 1780s. The south was first settled by United Empire Loyalists, and the north was settled mainly by immigrants from the British Isles. In 1788, the area became part of the Nassau District, which was renamed the Home District in 1792.

The lands that eventually formed part of Halton were acquired from the Mississauga First Nation (Indigenous) people through a series of land surrenders between 1795 and 1818.

Get in

• Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga is Canada's largest airport.
• The beaten-path Windsor-Quebec Corridor and Canada's busiest highway, Ontario Highway 401, lead through Oakville and Burlington.
• Via Rail runs three intercity trains daily from Toronto to Georgetown, and onward to Guelph, Kitchener and London to Sarnia.
• GO Transit operates commuter rail and bus from Toronto to Oakville, Burlington and Georgetown.

Get around

GO Transit operates commuter rail and bus services in the region, while Oakville, Burlington and Milton each have their own municipal transit systems. GO, Burligton and Oakville Transit systems accept the Presto card payment card, which is used in Toronto and other parts of the Greater Toronto Area.

See

Copper Kettle Pub, Glen Williams

In Burlington, the world-renowned Royal Botanical Gardens is Canada's largest botanical garden. There are four separate parks containing gardens and natural areas, spread out over 900 hectares.

The Old Seed House Gardens in Georgetown features formal gardens, meandering pathways, a dry stone riverbed leading to a naturalized pond, and a walled garden among the foundations of the famous mock-Tudor Dominion Seed House building.

The Glen Williams Visual Arts Centre is a collection of historic buildings housing the working studios of over 35 artists.

The Halton County Radial Railway, in Milton, is a working museum of electric streetcars, trams, other railway vehicles, trolleybuses and buses.

Do

The Glen Abbey Golf Course, in Oakville, frequently hosts the Canadian Open golf tournament, and was designed by Jack Nicklaus.

Kelso Conservation Area in Milton offers camping, picnicking, mountain biking, a ski hill, stand-up paddle boards, swimming, and movies under the stars.

The Bruce Trail passes through Georgetown and Glen Williams as it runs 890 km (550 mi) along the Niagara Escarpment from Niagara to Tobermory.

The Mohawk Racetrack & Slots is a harness racing track in Campbellville near Milton with a large slot machine parlour.

Buy

Downtown Oakville

Downtown Oakville offers shoppers a variety of fashionable stores and galleries in historic buildings, while Oakville Place is a modern shopping mall featuring shops including The Bay, H&M, Mexx, Roots, Purdy's Chocolates, and The Body Shop.

The Beaumont Mill in Glen Williams is a multi-vendor antique and collectibles market housed in a turn-of-the-20th-century limestone knitting mill.

Go next

Routes through Halton

Guelph ←	W  E	→ Brampton
London ← Cambridge ←	W  E	→ Mississauga → Toronto
Merges into ←	W  E	→ Junction → Brampton
Niagara Falls ← Hamilton ←	W  E	→ Mississauga → Toronto
London ← Hamilton ←	W  E	→ Mississauga → Brampton