Hi, New here and am looking into all possibilities re stick in place (St Catharines area), move, though North is not in the plan as Hudsons Bay-south could be a potential splash-over depending on the type of national emergency. Have auto and most outdoor equipment; was once a yearly winter-camper. Best chance zone Maps are beginning to pop-up and I feel this general area may Not be the worst choice (300' SL elevation) and am located miles west of Lake Ontario. Have vehicle, inflatable w/both electric and gas motor. AC Generator, chainsaw etc..

That's a good question RachelM. Ive been mulling it over for a while now and have decided that the odds of getting past the GTA area or going west and getting past the 401 corridor are slim to none unless you leave before everything goes for a crap. Even normal rush hour traffic is a pain.

I live in Muskoka and if anything happened I would just like everybody else defend my property. people that have property in here will try to get fast in them. What I am saying ,the best solution is to at least own property in Northern Ont.
I know property's are not cheap ,but once a while I see advertised some good property for VERY reasonable price and I believe that would be anyhow good investment.
That how I got my property .You just have to watch and grab it.
Henry

As far as Niburo aka Wormwood, Red Dragon, Planet X... Stay away from the great lakes. Lake Huron could be a huge potential problem throughout southern Ontario as soon as September (ref: Ed Dames; David Meade).

One of the first preps I added, Rachel, was gasoline. I keep a full tank's worth of stabilized premium gas in 20L containers (to keep it from getting too stale, I use it in my lawn mower and snowblower, and refill each container as it empties out). That gives me some extra range. Depending on your discipline, you may want to increase that amount -- most of us don't keep our tanks full.

Obviously, you'll be heading west at first. I am assuming you'll want to avoid the QEW and take 20, 3, or tertiary roads. The main natural barrier will be the Grand River. It has surprisingly few crossing points, so I'd suggest your first goal be to cross it, either at Dunnville, Cayuga, York, or Caledonia. It will also be a constraint for GTA traffic heading south, so you'll be ahead of the game once you're west of it.

From there, you have a range of options. There is a lot of sparsely populated agricultural land both north and south of the 403/401, though north offers more options (Lake Erie gets in the way pretty quick if you choose to head south). I would aim to be north of Stratford and west of Kitchener, perhaps around Listowel, within about 4 hours of making the decision to bug out. From there, you can work your way northeast and squeeze between Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe, assuming your ultimate goal is to get out of Southern Ontario and into (at least) Muskoka or the Kawarthas.

Some other things for anyone to consider. Place has on roof rack. Also, if bug out location is beyond your gas tank and roof backup is, can you rent a small and easy to access storage facility. Store gas in there and keep it healthy with fuel stabilizers AND changing out at least two to three times a year. Put the containers in a plastic tub so people don’t see the jerry cans when you swap them in and out during those initial or freshen up trips.

www.survive.triwolfsecurity.com

I own a homestead south of Delhi. Traffic is heavy from cottagers in the summer but drops of at season end. There is a lot of nice Carolinian forest in this area and a bit of hidden gem. I was from Kitchener and still work there. My wife and I were originally looking for land in the Mount Forest, Durham, Listowel areas. We decided for bugging out not to even try to make it past Toronto. Everybody and their Uncle will be heading north. We were also concerned about being east of the Bruce Nuclear for fallout reasons. We came south and started the farm, lots of good neighbours that we have met. I know that if TSHTF big time, there won't be much point in bugging out, I'll hunker down and defend. That's a personal decision that we made. I think we stand better chances or surviving having our infrastructure in place with food supply, water and heat. Bugging out means you are travelling into unknown territory with little or no supplies and no community network to rely on. It will be important to be outside the urban areas in the event of collapse/societal failure, but it's anybodies guess as to where it will be best to be at the time. No one has a crystal ball. Ill defend the homestead to the best of my ability and if it brings us death then we'll die free.

There are other arguments to consider with bugging out as opposed to homesteading...

What about weather conditions? It's beautiful in northern Ontario in summer, but come winter, yikes!!! Where will you bug out to when 20 plus cm of snow is coming down and everyone is trying to make it up the 400 past Barrie from Toronto.

What if a Nuc event takes place and the Bruce is spewing fallout? That will all track north east along the band right up past Barrie, Peterbourough.

I do think that it is likely most people will head north, so all the more reason to stay south of the 401 corridor.

Your are already in a nice climate being in Niagara, check out some country land in your region that's away from centralized populations. Get some guns, become proficient with them, establish a network, and have some dogs in the house hold and barn for security.

I may be off base, but these are a few of my thoughts albeit a bit scrambled.

Bounce your opinions back. Love to hear.

Vinny

You are so right talking getting to Northen Ont. in case of disaster. Look at the traffic Saturday nice summer day on HWY 400.In case of disasters forget
it.Walking any side roads You think any farmer will let you crossing his field without taking aim at you ?
In winter time FORGET about it.I live in Nor. Ont. and snow shoe every day in the bush so I can tell You if You can make in some area more than 1 km in 1 hr You are a superman.
I attended prepp. get together few years back and when I heard some guys from Toronto and Barrie area talking how they will walk to the North i was just shaking my head. When we got home my wife could not stop laughing. FANTASY
Reading book and real life is HUGE difference.In real life there are thousands of unexpected and unpredictable things that You do not foresee and guaranteed to happen.
The only way to know what You can do is actually do it.
Henry

Reading book and real life is HUGE difference.In real life there are thousands of unexpected and unpredictable things that You do not foresee and guaranteed to happen.
The only way to know what You can do is actually do it.
Henry

Well said henry, it takes 30 face cords to heat my well insulated home, then there would be cooking wood. An acre of land produces roughly one cord of wood per year with growth. So I hope all the folks heading to the Bush own in their name at least fifty acres of good Bush!

Food, is scarce and every dude with a rifle will quickly decimate deer population. Being able to fish is likely better food option than deer hunting. Growing your own vegetables, fruits ... will be very important and that needs some tilled land and tools and strength to do it. If your not living there full time, forget raising animals.

Clean Water is important and obtaining it for a family of four takes time and patience, especially in minus twenty temps. Inside hand pumped well is really nice but rare. You will need it for bathing and laundry so add the equipment you need to accomplish that

Multiple chainsaws, with chains, bars, oil and gas will be needed for that thirty to forty cord of wood a year and it’s important to know that gas goes bad real fast in plastic jerry cans and that even with fuel stabilizer.

One can use a manual saw to cut all that wood but I hope people have done it, so they know they can handle it. Keeping you and your loved ones safe while out cutting wood is something to put on a think about list. And when you cut that tree down, you will need to drag it or the cut wood, back to the homestead.

Anyone wishing to head to the Bush should write down all the essential items and go through the list for the area you hope to live and then go and do every task to accomplish those tasks for a few weeks so they fully appreciate the physical and mental challenge on them and the effect or tole it takes on the family. No cheating with hydro, water, showers, tv, internet

So bugging out is great idea, but beyond the issues of getting there, there are the costs in buying enough and right type of property and all the stuff and time needed to make it work.

Take a gook hard look at where you live and consider useing time and money to make current situation work for you. You may know more neighbors where you live then in the country where you are definitely an outsider!

Although our current property is rural, we're surrounded by city and subdivisions are rapidly encroaching by the year. Wondering if any other Niagara or southern Ontario preppers have given thought to bug out areas? I know that my car can go 550-600km maximum on a tank of gas fully loaded, and there are a lot of affordable options up north that may be just barely within that distance, but they would require using major highways through Toronto/GTA and other urban areas, or detouring around them in a way that would add too much mileage. Wondering if anyone has any suggestions for areas to check out? In the future I'd love to actually purchase land and begin a homestead of sorts (Which would potentially solve the travel issue), but I need an area to plan for in the interim.
Any other preppers in the area looking to plan as a group would be great also, or even from surrounding areas looking to plan in a central location? Feel free to PM!

Hey i am in your position to and have found the beaver valley it is the perfect bugout location