Forum Discussion

footslogger's avatar
footslogger
Explorer
Aug 19, 2015

Advice for Lake Superior and Lake Huron area Ontario

In mid-September we will be entering Ontario at Grand Portage MN on the north shore of Lake Superior, heading towards Thunder Bay. We will have about 6 days before re-entering the US at Niagara Falls NY. I think we are pretty comfortable with the border crossings, but would like advise on stops and points of interest along the way. We have no particular route in mind, but I don't expect we will venture too far north, likely staying fairly close to the lake shore. We have never been to this area and don't know what to expect. Is it generally a remote and rural area? Is roadside overnight parking allowed and safe?

Any advice is appreciated!

19 Replies

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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).
  • 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. .