Advice for Lake Superior and Lake Huron area Ontario

There is basically only one route to take around Lake Superior...that is Highway 17 (Trans Canada Highway)......It is basically wilderness around the lake until you get to Sault Ste Marie. It is a good road, with towns every hour or so. I am not sure about the overnight parking, but there are lots of campgrounds. .

There area actually 2 routes you can take to Niagara Falls going around Lake Superior and Lake Huron/Georgian Bay. One takes you down the Trans Canada #17 to #69 in Sudbury and this takes you straight down thru the heart of Toronto and then you will wrap around the edge of Lake Ontario to Niagara. This route is quicker if you are driving off hours, but can have a lot of traffic if you go during rush hour (cottage country weekend traffic or Toronto AM/PM rush hour). The alternate route is to go on to Manitoulin Island and take the ChiChimon ferry across Georgian Bay to Tobermory and take #6 all the way down to Niagara. This is much less urban and have Bruce National Park and Fathom Five National Park in the Tobermory area. This will take longer due to the ferry but if you want to see more animals and less people, I would favor this route.
For the top half of the trip it is worth stopping at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park near Thunder Bay, Lake Superior PP north of Sault Ste. Marie and Killarney PP (if you go around the Toronto route).

Some suggestions for stops along the top of Lake Superior:

Thunder Bay KOA

Neys provincial park east of Marathon has some great sites looking out on the lake (30 amp electric only, you have to run off internal water and use the dump site), check the website for open dates.

Penn lake park in the Town of Marathon is a full service RV park on a small lake, a hidden jem.

Pukaskwa National Park east of Marathon offers some great hiking on the lake shore, only 30 amp electric, not sure about water and dump site, last time we were there they weren't operational.

Lake Superior PP was suggested, we find it to have too tight spaces and roads for our 39 ft. 5th wheel RV, it got scratched up last time we were there.

On the way south to Toronto and Niagara Falls there are numerous private parks that are suitable for your rig.

OP here.

Thanks for these great tips! Keep 'em coming.

We did the trip a few years ago

We stayed at
KOA Thunder Bay
Sunset Shores Batchewana Bay
Wawa RV Wawa
And wish would have stayed at the Koa in Sault Ste. Marie

Plan to stay in Sault Ste. Marie a couple of days - highlight of our trip was the Agawa Canyon Tour Train leaves 8 am returns 6 Pm - we got free breakfast on the train and they have food available in the canyon. With the favorable conversion rates the $112 fare is only about $ 86 US
We also liked the The Canadian Bushplane museum in town

Make sure you add Canada to your cell phone plan as the roaming fees will kill you if you do not - either that or turn them off for a week ( I could not do that)

This trip is 934 miles in Canada - a week is not enough try to see if you can add more days

rr2254545 wrote:
We did the trip a few years ago

We stayed at
KOA Thunder Bay
Sunset Shores Batchewana Bay
Wawa RV Wawa
And wish would have stayed at the Koa in Sault Ste. Marie

Plan to stay in Sault Ste. Marie a couple of days - highlight of our trip was the Agawa Canyon Tour Train leaves 8 am returns 6 Pm - we got free breakfast on the train and they have food available in the canyon. With the favorable conversion rates the $112 fare is only about $ 86 US
We also liked the The Canadian Bushplane museum in town

Make sure you add Canada to your cell phone plan as the roaming fees will kill you if you do not - either that or turn them off for a week ( I could not do that)

This trip is 934 miles in Canada - a week is not enough try to see if you can add more days

OP here. I wish we did have more time. We are taking out of the Boundary Waters near Ely and leaving there on 9/14 and are scheduled to attend a rally in Watkins Glen starting 9/21. Perhaps we can use this trip as a scouting trip for a future trip and identify places where we want to spend more time at alater date.

footslogger wrote:

rr2254545 wrote:
We did the trip a few years ago

We stayed at
KOA Thunder Bay
Sunset Shores Batchewana Bay
Wawa RV Wawa
And wish would have stayed at the Koa in Sault Ste. Marie

Plan to stay in Sault Ste. Marie a couple of days - highlight of our trip was the Agawa Canyon Tour Train leaves 8 am returns 6 Pm - we got free breakfast on the train and they have food available in the canyon. With the favorable conversion rates the $112 fare is only about $ 86 US
We also liked the The Canadian Bushplane museum in town

Make sure you add Canada to your cell phone plan as the roaming fees will kill you if you do not - either that or turn them off for a week ( I could not do that)

This trip is 934 miles in Canada - a week is not enough try to see if you can add more days

OP here. I wish we did have more time. We are taking out of the Boundary Waters near Ely and leaving there on 9/14 and are scheduled to attend a rally in Watkins Glen starting 9/21. Perhaps we can use this trip as a scouting trip for a future trip and identify places where we want to spend more time at alater date.

Close call we check out of Clute in Watkins Glen on 9/21

There are really no roadside areas to overnight camp but there are provincial parks all along the route. They only have 30 amp electrical but most have dumping stations, water available at taps, and comfort stations with showers and flush toilets. http://www.ontarioparks.com/

There is a fairly long stretch of about 100 miles on Hwy. 17 from Wawa to just south of Pancake Bay Provincial Park where there are no gas stations. Nothing to panic about, just be forewarned.

I don't have any suggestions for the Candian route, but the BWCA Wilderness in mid-September is beautiful. Cool nights, pleasant days, and far fewer people and NO BUGS! Have a great time. We just were in last week and it was very crowded. Several people (but not us) could not find campsites.

You don't leave yourself a lot of time to see a really scenic chunk of Ontario - on the other hand you are going through at a great time of year but check the Ontario Parks website for operating dates.

The route you are taking is one that we take pretty much every year from Thunder Bay area to visit family in the Niagara area.

I've listed our favourite parks.

I'd also ditto the suggestion to take the ferry from Manitoulin to Tobermory - it is a bit pricey - but if this is your one and only trip to Ontario then you are choosing between a straight-forward non-eventful drive from Sault Ste. Marie to Niagara via Sudbury against the opportunity to enjoy Lake Huron up close and personal and spend time viewing the incredible human and natural history of the Bruce Peninsula - no comparison in my view.

The one significant exception to going around Lake Huron via Sudbury is Killarney Provincial Park. It is a stunningly beautiful park that is well worth a visit if you do go via Sudbury - but - having said that - my caution for you has to do with the size of your rig in your avatar - Killarney is not big rig friendly - check and reserve ahead of time to make sure you can get a campsite that will accommodate you.

Favourite Parks:

North Shore of Lake Superior: check www.ontarioparks.com for more information and operating dates for all Provincial Parks

- Terry Fox Memorial and Lookout (just outside of Thunder Bay on Hwy 17) - a must see.

- Neys Provincial Park

- Pukaskwa National Park:
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/on/pukaskwa/index.aspx

- Lake Superior Provincial Park

Lake Huron:

- Chicheemaun Ferry:
http://www.ontarioferries.com/ontarioferries/english/index.asp

- Fathom Five National Marine Park:
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/amnc-nmca/on/fathomfive/index.aspx

- Tobermory:
http://tobermory.com/

- Bruce Peninsula National Park
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/on/bruce/index.aspx

Enjoy your trip.


Jay