Reviews of Ruthven Park National Historic Site (Museum)

Blayne

We had our wedding here in June of 2019. It was absolutely beautiful, the staff was so kind and the day couldn't have been better. Would absolutely recommend to anyone hoping to have a wedding in an affordable, beautiful setting surrounded by nature.

Nathan Van Natter

Friendly staff cool place to check out

Chad Barber

Awsome old house and great staff.

Larry Vanstone

Beautiful park with a huge old mansion. Even a little bit of an almost 200 year old Ontario town. An active birding community were banding birds the day we were here.

Mark Acland

A great place full of history

Seika Groves

Lovely Historic Home and remaining grounds that include a family cemetery and a seperate Irish Catholic workers graveyard.

Brian Britten

Absolutely beautiful

Steve Gilchrist

Nice quiet historical site.

Janet CM

What a great place. Such an interesting back story. Loved the tour

dshaw431

Beautiful grounds and historic buildings. Very tranquil and photogenic. Ghost walk is fabulous.

Cody Bassindale

I band here very often, if you live close to Cayuga and want to see some wildlife this is the place to go. During the spring banding season (1st of April - 31st of May) you can see some splendid migrating birds including a plethora of warblers. Ideal place to see birds if you do not want to drive all the way out to Long Point. Just remember to bring rubber boots as the trails can get quite muddy.

Michael

As a professional photographer I get to see lots of venues. I have been to hundreds actually! Ruthven is an amazing location to host your wedding or other event. The grounds offer more than enough space for ceremony and reception. There are more places anyone could need for epic pictures. And the staff are very friendly and accommodating. I have been there three times professionally now and every time in more impressed!

Ivo

Had a great time at the Friday 13th ghost walk.

Shawn Richarz

A wonderful place to visit by the Grand. Great venue for meetings and parties. History come alive.

Adie Campbell

A friend and I were at a rag rug workshop! Instructor Helen Sluis was fantastic. The building and the grounds were impressive. A must see park!

Neman Syed

Beautiful grounds, from entrance to the mansion. Unfortunately we arrived too late to take the last guided tour of the day. The host took some time to discuss the exceptional history of the family behind the place and the current uses of the grounds, including the participation in bird banding and monitoring migratory birds. The grounds are beautiful and made the visit worth it in their own. Looking forward to going back and taking the tour, seeing the bird operations, and more. Oh yes - we saw a family of turkeys going for a walk. Gutsy move on Thanksgiving weekend. :-)

Angie Benee

Beautiful home and gorgeous landscape and interesting family cemetery nearby. Only negative is we saw a couple tick bugs.

Ryan Knuth

Great history, gotta see it!

Nancy Denham

Great photo opportunity, friendly staff.

Michelle Martin

Great place to visit, lovely grounds they have some events and lovely for wedding venue. Also have a fantastic bird banding lab that monitors spring and fall migration.

Nigel Maunder

Great historical site. Worth the visit!

Kelly Turnbull

Beautiful

Andrea lynn Sloan

The perfect event space

Ron Wright

What a fantastic place, and a great bunch of people. I really appreciate that people work to keep history alive for us to appreciate it.

Sandy Huang

Volunteers were very knowledgeable of the family and house. They were nervous but down to earth. The house itself tells a nice story though the generations

Andrew Jeffrey

Gorgeous place for weddings

Andrea Szegedi

Interesting

David Licop

The kids and I stumbled on this place by accident. A thoroughly enjoyable experience, they were charging and banding and then releasing wild birds. The scenery was exceptional and the volunteers extremely helpful and very knowledgeable. VERY highly recommend a visit.

Shannon paiva

Great place for a visit. Historical learning yet fun! Beautiful grounds and amazing staff.

Nicholas Hughes

Beautiful new Welcome Centre and great team at Ruthven Park

Patrick McKinnon

Beautiful spot for weddings

Jason Beckham

Beautiful park and grounds.

Mark

A great visit for any history buff - the tour of the mansion was informative and enjoyable. The grounds are well kept and enjoyable to tour on their own, but bring bug spray if you plan to wander far from the buildings. Well with the very reasonable $10 cost!

Alina Rehkopf

Was here for a wedding. The buildings and grounds are absolutely lovely and well kept.

Lady Liberty

Went this past weekend, and was greeted by a sign to not go on property, closed due to Covid! I understand the historic buildings being closed, but isn't it also a park? Golf is opened, but parks not so much??? My kids needed to go out and we REALLY needed a family day... ????

Christel Farkas

Activities were boring but the park is amazing

Heather Lohnes

Ruthven park is a beautiful historic home and property. We visit frequently, but most recently did bird banding with my daughter's class. We have done this every year with my kids school. It is very informative and interactive. The staff are very knowledgeable. I will be returning soon for a "behind the scenes" tour. Can't wait!

Alex DiMarco (DiMarcoTech)

What a great hidden treasures. Definitely worth the visit.

CatsCatsCats!!! Michelle Gendron

My cousin got married their yesterday....it's a beautiful place to have a special occasion....the atmosphere complimented his wedding beautifully....i really liked all the different area's to take pictures....beautiful place

Eileen Godwaldt

Took the kids for a class trip, they're asking when we can go back!

Robert Caddick

Great car show

Dave Shakespear

Education coordinator Natalie was so helpful amazing and beautiful I married her.

Lara Seguin

Incredibly beautiful grounds. It was the perfect setting for our daughter's wedding. The ceremony was outside, but there was an option to move it indoors if necessary.

Joanne Schmidt

Stunning place to enjoy

R.M. Burthom

We loved the haunted walk. Very interesting.

Cameron

Absolutely beautiful! Great place for photographers. House is beautiful and so are the trails. You can also see the Grand River.

Marzena K

Beautiful place!

Josh Leeder (Landscaping Ninja)

Creepy and full of history of the little town of Indiana that was a lumber hub.

SPYROBUDDY

Getting married here !

Mike

Going to see the bird banding here is a great experience

Tomás Baldassarre

I was there for a wedding and the property is beautiful, well-maintained, and has fairly accessible amenities. The road leading into the parking lot was riddled with potholes, so be careful driving in. Has indoor spaces in case of rain, always a plus.

Catherine “AlwaysARedhead” Burden

Went there for a rag rug workshop, it was great.

Cathie Farnington

Great place to visit. History is interesting and lovely walking the grounds.

Crystal cole

Great wedding venue

James Naphtali

Beautiful wildlife area. The bird banding is an amazing experience.

Tara Shannon

Love the new Welcome Centre. Great events and hiking year round.

Annie ONeill

Beautiful spot

Linda T

Not quite what I expected considering I found it in a list of "Ghost Towns " but a beautiful place for an afternoon walk.

Ken Best

Was at a birthday

Rebekah Shantz

For $10 you get an escorted tour of half the house. Then you book another tour to completely go through the mansion. Cute gift shop with lots of inexpensive toys for kids and educational books for any age. Very large wooded area with trails for hiking. Very well maintained outside. One hour evening insect night in August for insect identification. Beautiful, but requires much more in philanthropy donations to bring up to standards inside. All the items inside are authentic, from that family. Also, they have craft days for a cost with a crafting room. You can book wedding photos etc there.

Karen Johnson

Beautiful setting for the wedding. Unfortunately my disabled husband was in hospital and couldn't attend. Good thing as he would have been very difficult to handle in his wheelchair both the hilly outdoors and in the coach house for dinner

Marcia Archbold

This is a cemetery

steven smelt

Hidden gem

Jackie Muschette

Beautiful trails, lovely historic setting.

Bevan Mclelland

Well worth the drive very interesting history

Randy Marco

Great piece of Ontario history. When operating, the mansion is worth the tour.

Pamela Oakes

Very beautiful

debbie mozel

Nice place. Great tour this week

Ron Jones

Nice place for walking

Elaine Garrow

Pretty, nicely restored, great wedding venue

Susan Quinn

Beautiful location!

Caleb Hilbich

Absolutely beautiful place, perfect setting for a wedding

Steven Twiss

Fantastic people to inform people of the history of the site.

Dan Romanoski

GreT place to visit

joseph apps

I DJ'd a wedding here a month ago and loved the atmosphere. It was a great spot to have an outdoor/indoor wedding. It has an out of the way feel which makes you feel like it's just you and your guests on your special day. The staff was helpful and the scenery was beautiful.

Kara McKenzie

We had our wedding at Ruthven Park this August, I loved this venue SO MUCH! Kelly was attentive and wonderful to work with. By far the easiest to get a hold of and to get information from, from any of my wedding vendors. We had the venue for the entire weekend, friday to setup, saturday for the wedding and sunday until 12 to tear down. It was so relaxed and amazing. Our photos are dreamy and the venue was a huge part of that, the flowers and gardens are so beautiful, the buildings and textures of the walls are a photographers dream! You're able to hire any caterer, vendors, and bring your own bar so this is an extremely cost effective venue. It is honestly much more beautiful than a lot of the Niagara venues we looked at, and at a much lower price point, its worth the drive!

Ivan Ocampo

Just excellent! I would recommend it.

Sean Mason

Beautiful all year.

Daniel Stitt

Ruthven Park is an interesting and attractive looking historic site. Indiana, Ontario formerly sat at this location and was later abandoned when Cayuga was chosen as a railway town. It is worth the drive to check it out. The manor itself is open for tours. Part of the manor, however is closed to the public because it is not up to code.

T Kiser

Rich with history, well preserved and volunteers very knowledgeable and polite.

carol noble

It is beautiful

Catharine Sharpe

Beautiful place for a family wa3

Wayne Sloggett

Great place to go

Laura S

Closed. Looking forward to returning when it opens again to give it a better rating.

Sylvia Finlay

Gorgeous historical unoccupied mansion sitting on the banks of the Grand River. Time has passed it by and there is sits overseeing the flowing waters in a peaceful overgrown setting reminiscent of its 1840's past. I had no idea that was sitting there! Great hiking trails; bathrooms too and special events like candlelight tours. Might have to do the Christmas tea!

Tony Smolders

Beautiful

Alicia Naomi Box

Lovely hidden gem. If you blink you will drive right past it! Beautiful grounds, easy paths to walk for the whole family, including puppies

Lisa Barney

Beautiful!!!!

Jean Lentz

Great place to hike.

Willow Bug

An amazing and beautiful gem. The tour was informative and exceptional. The staff was helpful and delightful. I'm definitely going back for the gorgeous walking trails

Tom P.

Beautiful Thompson mansion seated beside the Irish cemetery in the heart of ghost town of Indiana. (54 Highway Cayuga) There is a private cemetery hidden near the banks of the grand as well as the Irish cemetery that offers date lines during a time the Grand River was the more of transportation, locally.

Alex Donison

Great place with great views

Amanda Beckham

Fun and educational, usually these things don't occur at the same time. The staff is great and very friendly.

Amanda Nidd

You can tour the mansion but that is it as far as buildings or monuments to see. Surrounding area is picturesque and is great for a picnic or hike.

D R

Nice historic house to visit. We walked the grounds and had the house tour. The house is very period correct with authentic furnishings, moldings etc. Well worth the price to see.

Mary Robbins

Co worker got married here just beautiful

Fred Bulbeck

Such a beautiful peaceful place

Jess Temesy

My wedding! Gorgeous spot and staff are very friendly

Patsy Joanne Hill

Very historical and cultural and interesting all at the same time. I in courage anyone interested in history to visit this wonderful mansion

Heather MacDonald

Wonderful birding program

Bernadine Lutes

Interesting.