Market
About
Ardagh Bluffs
Ardagh Bluffs is the west-end neighbourhood wrapped around 518 acres of protected woodland with over 17 km of trails through it. Mostly detached homes from the 1990s and 2000s, a public school inside the neighbourhood, and Highway 400 at either Essa Road or Mapleview Drive.
What Ardagh Bluffs is actually like.
Ardagh Bluffs is the closest thing Barrie has to living in the woods without leaving the city. The Ardagh Bluffs woodland runs between Ardagh Road and Mapleview Drive, west of Essa Road — 518 acres, most of it zoned Environmentally Protected, with more than 17 km of earthen trail through it. That is the reason most people buy here, and it is the thing a listing photo never quite conveys.
The housing is largely detached and largely newer. One documented subdivision inside the area — Cygnus Developments' own Ardagh Bluffs project — was 191 single detached homes completed in 2006, built around the trail system. Tourism Barrie describes the neighbourhood as newly developed and rapidly expanding, and aimed at young families.
It is worth knowing that the northern edge is changing. The City has live applications along Ardagh Road, including 224 Ardagh Road — a six-storey mixed-use building with 50 apartments and 31 townhouses. If you are buying on or near Ardagh Road, ask me what is in front of Council before you commit.
Schools in and around Ardagh Bluffs.
These are the schools in and near the neighbourhood, with the board each one belongs to. They are not a catchment list. Both boards set attendance areas by address and both say plainly that boundaries change, so confirm your specific address with the board before you let a school decide your offer.
- Ardagh Bluffs Public School159 Summerset DriveSCDSB · JK–8 · Inside the neighbourhood.
- Bear Creek Secondary School100 Red Oak DriveSCDSB · 9–12 · Opened 2001.
- St. Marguerite d'Youville Catholic School87 Hanmer Street WestSMCDSB
- St. Joan of Arc Catholic High School460 Mapleton AvenueSMCDSB · Same street as the main trailhead.
- W.C. Little Elementary School11 Bear Creek DriveSCDSB · JK–8
518 acres of it, on your doorstep.
- Ardagh Bluffs — 518 acres, over 17 km of earthen trail, four main trail systems marked with coloured squares and secondary trails marked with triangles and circles. Day use, year round. Dogs on leash, no motorized vehicles. The trails are earthen and are not wheelchair accessible.
- Parking and access — the lot at the Peggy Hill Team Community Centre, 171 Mapleton Avenue, with the trails across the road. Other entrances at Ardagh Road, Wildflower Court, Mapleton Avenue and Penvill Trail are street parking only.
- Sandringham Park, 101 Sandringham Drive — 22.4 acres, with a major baseball diamond, full basketball court, soccer pitch, tennis and two shared-use pickleball courts.
- Summerset Park, 136 Summerset Drive — 7 acres, full soccer field, two basketball courts and a playground.
- Beacon Glen Trails, 7 Beacon Road — a shorter trail, about 533 m, with 28.5 m of elevation change and four lookout points.
The City lists the Ardagh Bluffs trails for walking and hiking. Tourism Barrie files them under cycling as well. The two disagree, so I would not buy here on the assumption that mountain biking is permitted without checking with the City first.
Where you'd shop.
- Sobeys — 37 Mapleview Drive West
- Walmart Supercentre — 35 Mapleview Drive West
- Zehrs — 11 Bryne Drive
- Costco — 41 Mapleview Drive East
- FreshCo — 319 Mapleview Drive West
Mapleview Drive West is the southern edge of Ardagh Bluffs, so the Sobeys and Walmart at 35–37 Mapleview are the closest full groceries.
Where you'd eat.
- Anikky's Kitchen — 199 Ardagh Road, Unit 43 (Nigerian)
- Kenzington Burger Bar — 511 Bryne Drive
- Cora Breakfast & Lunch — 135 Mapleview Drive West
- Jack's Pancake Factory — 222 Mapleview Drive West
- Wild Wing — 490 Mapleview Drive West
- Boston Pizza — 481 Bryne Drive
The highway, and the commute.
Highway 400 access: Essa Road, Exit 94 on the eastern edge, or Mapleview Drive, Exit 90 on the southern edge.
Good for drivers. Two interchanges on two different edges of the neighbourhood means you are rarely stuck with one route to the highway. There is no GO station in Ardagh — the nearest are Allandale Waterfront by the bay and Barrie South on Yonge Street.
On drive times
I have deliberately not published minute-by-minute drive times here. They depend on the hour, the season and which end of the neighbourhood you are in, and a number that looks precise on a website is worse than no number at all. Ask me and I will tell you what the drive is actually like from the street you are looking at, at the time you would be doing it.
About Ardagh Bluffs.
How big is the Ardagh Bluffs forest?
What schools are in Ardagh Bluffs?
How do you get to Highway 400 from Ardagh Bluffs?
Is Ardagh Bluffs good for families?
Thinking about Ardagh Bluffs?
Tell me which streets you are looking at and I will tell you what is actually selling there, what the drive is like at the hour you would be doing it, and what any work the house needs is likely to cost. A real answer within 24 hours.
Other Barrie neighbourhoods: Downtown Barrie · South Barrie · Holly · Painswick · Barrie's East End