It is relatively remote, particularly by the standards of densely populated Southern Ontario and remains a primarily rural region of farmland and woodlots.

A number of residents work in Kincardine or Goderich, with the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station being the largest employer in the area.

This public garden is the first of its kind in Canada using tourism to address the issues of food insecurity, sustainable agriculture and the plight of the small family farm.

The township comprises the communities of Amberley, Bruce Beach, Blair's Grove, Clarks Church, Clover Valley, Holyrood, Kinloss, Kinlough, Langside, Lower Langside, Lucknow, Lurgan Beach, Pine River, Point Clark, Purple Grove, Reid's Corners, Ripley, Verdun, and Whitechurch.

The area was founded as a Scottish settlement in the mid-19th century by 109 families forced to leave the Isle Of Lewis during the Highland Clearances.