Rural Erin

Rural Erin is the farmland, woodlots and river valleys of the Town of Erin outside its two villages, about 28,800 hectares in all. Horse farms and country properties line the side roads, and the land climbs in the east toward the Niagara Escarpment at Ballinafad. The West Credit River and its creeks wind through cedar woods and wetlands. The hamlets of Ballinafad, Ospringe, Brisbane, Cedar Valley, Orton and Crewson's Corners each gather a few older homes at a crossroads, and Ballinafad has its own community centre and ball park. In autumn the hardwoods along the concession roads turn red and gold.

George and Nathaniel Roszell, from Pennsylvania, were the first settlers, arriving in November 1820, and Nathaniel took up land at what is now Ballinafad. Ballinafad, said to be named after Ballinafad in Ireland, had a store by about 1825 and a post office in 1832. Erin Township held its first town meeting on January 5, 1824, and had 3,055 people by 1850.

The 2021 census counted about 4,400 homes in the Town of Erin. Leaving out Erin Village and Hillsburgh, the countryside and its hamlets had about 2,920 homes. About nineteen in twenty are single detached houses. About one in five were built in 1960 or earlier and about a third between 1961 and 1980. More than a quarter were built between 1981 and 2000, and about one in five in 2001 or later.

Wellington Road 124 crosses the town from the Halton Hills line through Brisbane and Erin Village toward Guelph, and Trafalgar Road runs north and south through Ballinafad and Hillsburgh. Orangeville and Highway 10 are about 20 minutes north of the villages, and Guelph about 30 minutes south-west. Downtown Brampton is about 40 minutes from Erin Village by road. The Elora Cataract Trailway crosses the town on the former railway line.

Ballinafad Ball Park and Community Centre, on the Halton-Erin Townline, has a hall, a ball field, a soccer field and a playground. Athenwood Park is at the western edge of Orton, and Barbour Field on Eighth Line has lit ball and soccer fields. The Elora Cataract Trailway is open for walking, cycling and horseback riding, and for snowmobiling in winter. The Forks of the Credit Provincial Park is just across the town line in Caledon. The arenas and library branches of Erin Village and Hillsburgh are close by.

• Brisbane Public School — JK to Grade 6. The public school for most of the south and east of the countryside, including Brisbane, Ballinafad and Orton, and the French immersion school for the Town of Erin from JK to Grade 6.
• Ross R. MacKay Public School — JK to Grade 6. The public school for the countryside around Hillsburgh, including Cedar Valley, in Hillsburgh.
• Erin Public School — JK to Grade 8. The public school around Erin Village, and the middle school for Grades 7 and 8 for the whole countryside, with French immersion.
• Erin District High School — Grades 9 to 12. The public secondary school for the Town of Erin, in Erin Village, with French immersion.
• St. John Brebeuf Catholic School — JK to Grade 8. The Catholic elementary school for the Town of Erin, in Erin Village.
• St. James Catholic High School — Grades 9 to 12. The Catholic secondary school for the Town of Erin, in Guelph.