Our Schitt’s Creek pilgrimage (part 4)

Putting our faith in the satnav once more, we left Goodwood heading west. It was about an hour and 20 minutes to our next destination: 308399 Hockley Rd, Mono – the location of the Schitt’s Creek Motel.

Dating from the 1960s and originally called the Hockley Motel, the building had been sold in 2011 to the president of a high school basketball coaching scheme, who used it to house young players during their training. In 2021 it was put up for sale for a reported CAD$2 million (around £1 million). It’s not clear whether it was actually sold or who owns it now, but recent reports had suggested it was being renovated with a view to reopening as ‘a Schitt’s Creek-themed destination’. I was slightly concerned that, having driven all this way, we might arrive to find the motel hidden from view behind scaffolding and hoardings. I certainly didn’t imagine that it would be possible to drive onto the car park; Google Streetview images from 2020-21 show ‘Private Property – No Trespassing’ signs posted at the entrance. The best we could expect, I assumed, was to be able to pull over at the side of the road and grab a quick photo.

So I was more than a little gobsmacked when we rounded a bend on Hockley Road and came across the motel, not only looking spick and span with tubs of flowers and a gleaming new sign, but also with cars parked outside and every appearance of being open for business. There was even a couple sitting on camping chairs having a drink outside one of the rooms. I turned into the car park, pulled up, and we got out.

The couple sitting out front were watching us with mild curiosity so I walked over, said hello, and asked about the current status of the motel. Their replies were a little confusing and non-committal so I didn’t press them for more information and just contented myself with taking a couple of photos.

While the business has now been rebranded as the Mono Motel, the sign on the front wall has clearly been created to closely match the style of the iconic Rosebud Motel sign in later seasons of Schitt’s Creek. One noticeable difference is the lower position of the sign, allowing the windows of the manager’s apartment in the upper storey to be seen. In the TV show, it was implied that there was only a basic storage area above the front office, so on location the production designers placed the sign over the windows to mask the upper floor and maintain the illusion of a modest, run-down roadside lodge.

Although there was an illuminated ‘Open’ sign in the office window, the door was closed with the blind pulled down and a sign saying ‘Private Property’. The only hint that the motel might be in business was a crudely printed paper sign taped inside the window reading ‘Call for rooms: (519) 940-8434’. If you’re in the area and fancy staying here, give them a call!

The lookout point

Climbing back into the car, we set off for our final destination: the picturesque lookout where Patrick takes David for a picnic in the season 5 episode ‘The Hike’. This heartfelt scene is one of the emotional highlights of the entire series and I was looking forward to seeing where it was filmed. The only challenge was going to be finding it...

Plenty of online sources will tell you that the location of this scene is in Rattlesnake Point Conservation Area, around 50 miles south west of Toronto near the town of Milton. What’s harder to find out is where the exact spot is within the 100-square-kilometre park. There are a number of colour-coded trails through the park, and my research before leaving the UK had suggested we should head for the lower parking area, then follow the blue markers. This is a section of the Bruce Trail, the longest marked hiking trail in Canada, which follows the edge of the Niagara Escarpment for more than 550 miles through southern and central Ontario. The location of the picnic scene would be just off this trail, only about five minutes’ walk from the car park.

I made my first schoolboy error by parking in the wrong car park, which meant we had a 10-15 minute walk to get to the start of the trail; but it was a fine afternoon and a very pleasant walk through pine and cedar trees. Once we reached the lower parking area, the blue waymarkers were immediately obvious and we set off following them to the west. After about another 15 minutes’ walk, we hadn’t found the spot and had clearly gone too far, so we retraced our steps, this time exploring some of the many side trails off the main path.

I thought I had an ace up my sleeve in that I’d found a Reddit post by a hiker who gave the precise map coordinates (43°28'8" N 79°55'10" W); Michael popped these into Apple Maps which should then have been able to lead us to the exact spot. Unfortunately the heavily wooded surroundings seemed to be interfering with the GPS signal, and the app kept losing track of where we were.

It was late afternoon, it had been a long day, and we were getting tired. I’ll admit I was on the point of admitting defeat when Michael scrambled up a rocky incline, stood at the top for a moment looking at what lay beyond, then turned and beckoned for me to follow.

We’d found it.

We really were very close to the parking area – we could see cars through the trees barely a hundred yards away. Rather than sticking to the marked trail, we would have done better to walk through the trees keeping the edge of the escarpment within sight. No matter: we’d found the spot, and the journey had been worth it. There was even a turkey vulture or two circling overhead, just like the one that greets David when he first steps onto this rock – was that a real bird, or just a bit of post-production VFX trickery? Whatever, there was nothing fake about this view. Shame we didn’t bring any cheese...

We took it in a while longer before tearing ourselves away and heading back to the car. The Friday evening rush hour was by now well under way, and our journey back to Toronto was slow and tedious. It didn’t matter. We’d had a brilliant day, immersing ourselves in the world of a television comedy that hasn’t just won awards – it’s changed lives.

As Alexis would say: ‘Loved that journey for us!’

• Go back to part 3