As Garth M. Walker slowly strolled over his stark field — a field seeded with the corn that will rise up to bring him profit and guests amusement this summer — he asked a guy who rode up on a bike if he was aware of some of the other highlights of Wolfe Island.

Yes, Mr. Walker's corn is a highlight of the island. But we'll return to that later. As Mr. Walker said, "We try to respect the corn."

He suggested I stop by a particular bed and breakfast down the road in Marysville. "It's the one past the gas station," he said. "I think a couple who used to live in the States owns it."

Wolfe Island, Ontario, is the largest of the Thousand Islands. It's about 7 miles wide at its widest point and 18 miles long. The Wolfe Island Business and Tourism Association said the island is perfect for cycling with its sparse traffic and great scenery. I recently heeded the call of a place "where loitering is allowed."

The relaxed atmosphere spreads from one end of the island, where aromas from the Wolfe Island Bakery entice people waiting for the Kingston, Ontario, ferry, to the side facing Cape Vincent, where cottages, a golf course and passing ships on Lake Ontario invite people to unwind. In between, there are gems like a shoreline wildlife management area.

The relaxing atmosphere is what attracted Kimberly and D. Larry Maracle, owners of Dreamcatcher's Bed & Breakfast, the one noted by Mr. Walker. The former Watertown residents explained when I stopped by that they became familiar with the island when three of their four children attended Queen's University in Kingston. They would take the ferry from Cape Vincent to the island, drive across it and take the ferry to Kingston.

"We fell in love with this island," said Mrs. Maracle, the former Kimberly Ann Lundy, a 1967 graduate of Watertown High School. "We were looking for a piece of property for a retirement cottage. But we saw this and bought it. People thought we were crazy!"

The property is a former fishing lodge at 1277 Main St. in Marysville. The couple now spends winters in Florida. Mr. and Mrs. Maracle have dual citizenship.

"It's like stepping back 50 years," Mrs. Maracle said about the island.

"People look out for each other," Mr. Maracle said.

Getting to the island is relatively easy, and cheap, if you're on a bike. The island-based Horne's Ferry goes back and forth from Cape Vincent to the island several times daily. I took the first one of the day out of Cape Vincent, leaving at 8:15 a.m. The fare for bicycles and their riders is $2 in both currencies for a one-way trip.

The one-mile trip to Wolfe Island takes 10 minutes. I called Canadian customs on the island ahead of time and asked if I would need a passport and was told just some photo ID and a birth certificate would be sufficient.

After showing my ID and answering a few questions at the Canadian Customs station just off the Horne's Ferry dock, and without having to show my birth certificate, I was allowed on the island, which has three paved roads.

If you want a quick ride, bring a road bike. But it you want to explore the back roads, a mountain bike or a hybrid would be best.

Route 95 is the main road that stretches from one side of the island to the other. It's about 7 miles long. At the halfway mark is The Corn Maze on Wolfe Island operated by Mr. Walker and his wife, Marianne.

But before you hit the corn maze, your attention may be diverted by brown specks on the horizon. Wolfe Island is also a place where buffalo roam.

Jason and Christina Pyke began Pykeview Meadows in 1996. They had considered operating a traditional dairy farm.

"We weren't ready to milk cows every day," Mrs. Pyke said. "It was a big commitment and a large investment."

The pair decided on "low maintenance" buffalo. "They take care of themselves, pretty much," Mrs. Pyke said.

The herd has gown to about 150.

Mrs. Pyke explained that bulls are raised until they're about 3 years old and then are processed for meat at Quinn's Meats in Yarker, Ontario.

Summer weekends are busy for Mr. and Mrs. Pyke, who operate Pykeview Meadows booths at the Kingston Public Market on Saturdays and the Ottawa Farmers Market on Sundays. They also sell to a few restaurants and butcher shops.

Buffalo meat, Mrs. Pyke said, is low in fat, calories and cholesterol and is high in protein. She pointed out where a small barn used to stand on the farm. She said she and her husband plan to construct a retail store, which they hope to open this summer, where customers will be able to purchase meat and leather products.

About a mile down the road is the corn maze. Mr. Walker said this will be its eighth year. He said his wife is the daughter of a farmer on the island, but he's a city slicker, having lived previously in Toronto and Kingston. His wife works in Kingston and commutes via bicycle when possible.

"We looked as to how we could make this work as a small farm," Mr. Walker said.

They read about a family in Saskatchewan who started a maze after visiting one in Oregon.

"We thought if they could do it in Saskatchewan, in the middle of the prairie, we could do the same thing on a secluded island," Mr. Walker said.

The maze attracted 3,500 visitors last year, Mr. Walker said. "Every year, it grows," he said.

He said they have found success by combining humor with the maze and offering other attractions such as a pumpkin patch, picnic parties, barbecues and group outings. Those groups are especially fond of "flashlight nights."

The maze's trails are groomed, allowing access to people in wheelchairs. A wood-framed rest stop is an oasis where customers can relax with snacks like homemade apple crisp.

Each year offers a different maze that takes Mr. Walker two weeks to design. He pulls the stalks out by hand. "It's not a simple maze. It's difficult," he said.

The maze's humor, Mr. Walker said, is found in messages and clues people discover in it. "We have people who come just to find the dead ends and to read every one," he said.

Mr. Walker said that many of the messages he puts in the corn are from the book "The Wisdom of Eleanor Roosevelt" by Donald Wigal.

Visitors are also given two-way radios to be in contact with Mr. Walker. "It's only corn, but they act like a security blanket," Mr. Walker said. "It gives them a way out."

If Mr. Walker's maze is a labor of love, so is Dreamcatcher's Bed & Breakfast operated by the Maracles.

Mr. Maracle is a retired self-employed contractor, and his wife is a retired registered nurse who worked for many years at Samaritan Keep Home. They purchased the old fishing lodge in 2003 and opened Dreamcatcher's in 2005.

"We basically took it all apart and put it back together again," Mrs. Maracle said.

The Maracles' bed and breakfast, one of several on the island, has seven bedrooms and one suite. Mrs. Maracle decorated the rooms, which are dotted with painted china pieces she crafted.

Some remnants of the fishing lodge history remain. In one of the rooms, a section of an old piano from the lodge has been turned into a bed headboard.

"We've had people from every continent stay here," Mr. Maracle said.

People who stay can take a three-minute walk to the provincial ferry to Kingston, which is free.

"There's always something going on in Kingston during the summer months," Mrs. Maracle said.

Mr. Maracle said many guests take in shows at Kingston's K-Rock Center, also the home of the junior hockey team Kingston Frontenacs.

Heading south on Route 95 to the ferry to Cape Vincent, I took a detour onto Reed's Bay Road. Taking that paved road to the dirt Third Line Road will bring you to Big Sandy Bay Wildlife Management Area.

The Province of Ontario has identified the site as an environmentally sensitive "area of natural and scientific interest." Much like the 17-mile stretch of dunes in Jefferson and Oswego counties, it features a sandy shoreline and rare trees, plant species and birds.

Linda A. Van Hal, president of Friends of Big Sandy Bay, and volunteer Maggie Crothers were doing some landscaping at the parking area of the wildlife management area. The entrance area includes picnic tables, newly planted trees and two toilet stalls. One stall is handicapped accessible. There is no running water at the site.

Admission fees are $20 per family, $8 for adults, $3 for those under age 18 and free for children 5 and under.

Mrs. Van Hal said bicycles aren't allowed on the 1.8-mile-long trail from Big Sandy Bay's parking lot to the shore.

She said the site was opened to the public in 2004, a year after various environmental groups entrusted the day-to-day management of the area to the township of Frontenac Islands, which constructed the trail. Mrs. Van Hal said the reason for creating the wildlife area was that there was nopublic beach on the island.

Mrs. Van Hal said people used to trespass across private property using a rough trail to get to the Big Sandy beach.

"Most folks preferred not to trespass, and so the area was effectively not accessible to the public except by boat," she said. " Since the trail was built, the area is accessible to island residents and visitors alike."

"We had to ensure to the public that this would be good for the environment," Mrs. Van Hal said. "Which is why we have this long trail, and why you can't ride your bike on it."

But Mrs. Van Hal said the walk is worth it.

"People are rewarded with a great view," Mrs. Van Hal said. "When you're looking out onto the lake, it's like looking out what it was like 300 years ago."

Guests are also welcome to swim off the shore.

After putting my bike on a rack at the parking lot, I took Mrs. Van Hal up on her suggestion. The trail goes through wetlands and woodlands before it hits the dunes. The water was high, preventing visitors from walking along the shore.

Two limestone peninsulas jutting out to Lake Ontario flank Big Sandy Bay. Bear Point is to the south. To the northwest is Long Point. The wind whipped up the dunes, and whitecaps crashed on the shore.

The wind on the island will soon be captured in the form of about 90 windmills to be installed on the west side of it. Plans call for the windmills to produce enough power to supply the 1,300 year-round residents of Wolfe Island and more than 75,000 Ontario residences.

As I left the parking lot, a tail wind whisked me back to Horne's Point and the ferry to Cape Vincent. It made the return trip faster, but I coasted often, struggling to loiter.