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Autumn is one of the best times to explore Ontario’s scenic backroads and historic small towns and enjoy the bounty of the fall harvest. From sweet treats to seasonal beverages with fall flavours and local ingredients, there’s something for everyone, all while supporting Ontario farmers, producers and businesses.

Cooler days means it’s apple season in Ontario. While apple trees were brought here by European settlers, they’ve flourished thanks to temperate weather conditions around the Great Lakes. Today, Newcastle is considered Ontario’s apple capital, home to Algoma Orchards – the largest producer of apples in the country.

Fall’s sweetest treats

While there are a host of u-pick farms to choose from, you can also enjoy the harvest with locally produced sweet treats. In Clarington, Tyrone Mills – a water-powered grist mill that’s been in operation since 1846, complete with a woodworking and blacksmith shop – is famous for its apple cider doughnuts. There are freshly made apple fritters at White Feather Country Store in Oshawa, and fritters, turnovers and apple-filled doughnuts at the Village Bake Shop in Whitby. In Uxbridge, Little Thief Bakery makes its apple fritters with fresh-cut apples and pure maple syrup.

Perth Country is celebrating sweet treats with a “dessert trail” that showcases 10 spots to enjoy such goodies as freshly baked pumpkin pies, apple eclairs, butter tarts and fry pies. And it’s an easy day trip from Toronto, London, Guelph, Hamilton, Niagara Falls and other major hubs.

Highlights include the apple fritters at Anna Mae’s, a family owned and operated Mennonite restaurant and bakery in Millbank. Impressions Bakery Café, located in Listowel, is a local favourite for fry pies; along with several staples, they offer seasonal flavours that are worth the drive. And in Mitchell, Sugar Maple Restaurant offers sweet treats, with seasonal Nanaimo bars on offer.

But apples aren’t the only star of autumn. It’s cranberry season, and these tart berries also make their way into sweet treats.

Unique cranberry delights include the cranberry gelato at Affogato Café + Gelato in Huntsville, or the ‘mEHple Cranberry Tail’ at BeaverTails Huntsville – a twist on the traditional beavertail with a maple-flavoured spread and maple sugar crunch, topped with cranberry sauce. (BeaverTails also has cranberry poutine, with real Quebec cheese curds and cranberry sauce.)

Muskoka’s Cranberry Route, offered in the fall, features more than 30 stops where visitors can experience cranberries.

Any cranberry-related culinary adventure should include a visit to the Muskoka Lakes Farm & Winery, the oldest cranberry farm in Ontario. Starting two weekends before Canadian Thanksgiving until Halloween, the farm harvests about 300,000 to 400,000 pounds of cranberries on 27 acres, and visitors are welcome to join in on the fun.

The Bog to Bottle Discovery Tour, for example, is a guided wagon tour around the South Marsh. Then there’s the Insta-worthy cranberry plunge, where you don hip waders and wade out into a sea of floating cranberries for the perfect fall photo op.

To discover more cranberry sweet treats, head to the Bala Cranberry Festival from Oct. 13 to Oct. 15 in the cranberry capital of Canada.

And what would fall be without pumpkins (or pumpkin spice)? Just in time for cooler weather, the pumpkin spice cheesecake doughnut is available from Crave Doughnuts in Whitby, which features its signature brioche dough. Pine Farms Orchard in King City offers up pumpkin spice cake topped with caramel drizzle, as well as pumpkin spice squares and pumpkin pecan crunch pie. Or, try pumpkin pie in gelato form at Flavours of Unionville in Markham.

Fall’s best beverages

The fall bounty isn’t just for sweet treats; it also makes its way into seasonal beverages, from apple cider to pumpkin spice lattes to seasonal spritzes.

Norfolk County, for example, has a host of apple orchards and craft cideries. For tastings, make sure you have a designated driver, or Ride the Bine offers guided tour options – with a mix of cideries, wineries and craft breweries – if you want someone to do the driving for you.

Highlights include Hounds of Erie Winery, which, like its name suggests, is dog-friendly. Located on 23 acres of farmland, visitors can sample handcrafted hard cider during an outdoor tasting.

Blueberry Hill Estates offers small-batch ciders with Ontario fruit, including its namesake blueberry cider. In fall, you can also try Old Grizzly cider with vanilla and baking spices – aged in a Chardonnay barrel –for a taste of freshly baked apple pie. And Bonnieheath Estate Lavender & Winery brings out its Harvest Spice Folkin’ Hard Cider in fall.

Durham Region also offers a range of ways to enjoy apples in a glass. At Slabtown Cider, located near Uxbridge in the Oak Ridges Moraine, you can breathe in the crisp fall air in neighbouring trails before sampling Slabtown’s ciders, including a hopped version and a ‘Legendary Cherry’ variety featuring Niagara tart cherries.

But Durham is also popular for pumpkins. And in fall, that means pumpkin spice everything. Go local for your pumpkin spice latte at Roost Café in King City, with locally roasted Barocco coffee, or The Shortiss in Beaverton on the shores of Lake Simcoe for a PSL with a view.

Or, skip the caffeine and try pumpkin spice milk from Sheldon Creek Dairy in Loretto, which offers seasonal milk flavours, with milk sourced from their herd of cows – great for adding a dash of pumpkin to fall recipes.

For a “hard” pumpkin option, Brock Street Brewing in Whitby offers a pumpkin pie ale for crisp fall days, featuring hints of pumpkin, brown sugar and spices. Spirit Tree Estate Cidery in Caledon roasts pumpkins in wood-fired ovens to make a seasonal pumpkin spice cider. There’s even PSL moonshine: Applewood Farm & Winery in Sunderland makes its own ‘Pumpkin Smash Moonshine,’ which makes for a great addition to an after-dinner coffee.

At Heartwood Farm and Cidery in Erin, there are both alcoholic and non-alcoholic ciders to choose from, including Forest Garden, a blend of five apple varieties and the farm’s own maple syrup. Its ‘Eve Goes Badass’ version adds ghost pepper, cayenne and a touch of honey for sweet heat.

For cranberry beverages, Muskoka Lakes Farm & Winery offers cranberry cider and cranberry splash wine spritzers. And for a new twist on classic beverages, Muskoka’s Cast Iron Restaurant offers up its signature red cranberry sangria in fall, while Bracebridge Barrelhouse serves a specialty drink made with Sparkhouse Ale and cranberry juice.

Apples, pumpkins and cranberries also make their way into seasonal teas this time of year, and there’s no better way to sample it than a high tea experience.

What many Canadians associate with high tea is actually afternoon tea. In working-class Britain during the Industrial Revolution, high tea referred to a hearty meal after work served with a pot of tea, while sitting on high-backed chairs.

Afternoon tea is a tradition that started in the Edwardian period when ladies would meet to gossip, in parlour chairs, over dainty pastries and sandwiches with a cup of tea. Nowadays, afternoon tea is typically served with scones, jam and clotted cream.

At Montrose Inn in Belleville, high tea is worth the setting alone, in a mansion with a stately veranda, grand staircase and solid oak panelling built in 1916. High tea includes scones with Devonshire cream, as well as mulled apple cider in season. Afternoon tea in the drawing room of the Prince of Wales Hotel in Niagara-on-the-Lake provides a touch of Victorian luxury with ornate tea sets and regal décor, with scones, pastries and English sandwiches.

To make the most of the fall harvest, the Blue Willow Tea Shop, which overlooks the Muskoka Wharf in Gravenhurst, offers a seasonal Fall Harvest High Tea with cranberry apple tea, cranberry apple scones, cranberry turkey sandwiches and grilled cranberry brie sandwiches.

There’s no shortage of culinary experiences that showcase Ontario’s fall bounty. With a bit of planning, it’s possible to spend a weekend (or two) eating and drinking your way through autumn and experiencing the best the province has to offer.

Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.