Forum Discussion

craig7h's avatar
craig7h
Nomad II
Dec 17, 2018

Thunder Bay to Niagara Falls

I want to first thank the folks who helped me with the Niagara Falls to Bangor Maine part of the trip.

I would now like to ask (wife wanted to add this) about traveling from Thunder Bay to Niagara Falls. It seems the Canadian Hwy 17 follows the lakes and 11 takes the high road. Both seem to almost take the same amount of time. I am asking for any thoughts on either route, along with places to stay.
  • IB853347201's avatar
    IB853347201
    Nomad
    Dec 17, 2018
    Would recommend you stick to 17 as 11 takes you thru some pretty remote areas with long stretches of Hwy, small towns, lack of services, etc. Hwy 17 is fine as long as you are not in a hurry. 2 lane, hilly highway. As I recall speed limit 80 kmh, maybe 90 in some spots. There are the occasional passing lanes.

    be aware, the price of gas in Northern Ontario is usually quite high.
  • GordonThree's avatar
    GordonThree
    Explorer
    Dec 17, 2018
    Just drove 17 from Thunder Bay to the Sault this October. The drive was gorgeous, up and down through the mountains, lovely little lakeside villages and fantastic views of Lake Superior.

    Dunno how your rig handles grades... I didn't think any were steep but the semi's really bogged down on them.
  • Lwiddis's avatar
    Lwiddis
    Explorer II
    Dec 17, 2018
    “long stretches of Hwy, small towns,..” That’s what we want in a highway.
  • romore's avatar
    romore
    Explorer II
    Dec 17, 2018
    I think I would cross into Michigan at the Soo and back into Canada at Port Huron/Sarnia. That way you miss the gong show around Toronto.
  • JaxDad's avatar
    JaxDad
    Explorer III
    Dec 18, 2018
    romore wrote:
    I think I would cross into Michigan at the Soo and back into Canada at Port Huron/Sarnia. That way you miss the gong show around Toronto.


    Unless you’re ‘express routing’ (4+ lane highways only, no sightseeing) the trip there’s NO reason to go through the ‘gong show’ and doing so would mean you’d miss some the best scenery and interesting stops on the whole route IMHO.

    Otherwise it’s like saying avoid southern BC because Vancouver is a traffic nightmare.
  • GREGORYJ's avatar
    GREGORYJ
    Explorer
    Dec 18, 2018
    I also recommend taking Hwy 17 along the Lake Superior north shore. It is very scenic and has some great Provincial Parks & Campgrounds along the way. Some have an interesting history like Neys which was a World War II prison camp holding nearly 35,000 German POWs in what was then a very isolated area of Canada.

    https://www.ontarioparks.com/park/neys
  • Bob806's avatar
    Bob806
    Explorer III
    Dec 19, 2018
    We did the Lake Superior circle tour in 2016 and had a blast. Our favorite CG was Lake Superior Provincial Park, Agawa Bay CG. The CG is pretty nice, and the beach is very close and scenic. Close by in the area are waterfalls and great hiking. Check it out, you won't be disappointed; we only stayed for two nights, but that was do to time constraints. I'd love to return to that area someday.

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