When world was hit with pandemic and we were all captured inside , Not able to go anywhere . So much tragedy happened in the world. We all faced different kind of grief, sadness for sure. We travel lovers surely did miss it. The roads surely missed us (hopefully :P)
Bathtub Island 
Eagle Canyon Suspension Bridge
In 2021 when it was little better to be outside with vaccine and opening up of what we called the ‘New Normal’ Environment, group of friends decided to hit the road (since only local travel was allowed ) and thus decided to do something within our own province – Ontario, Canada. We travelled this beautiful stretch of 1400 kms (oneway) from Toronto to Thunder Bay and thus did the North Ontario roadtrip. I created an itinerary for this trip and we did follow the same. It will be at the bottom of this post.
Day 1 – Toronto -> Sault Sue Marie (695km)
We all left around 3pm to reach the 1st day destination at Sault Sue Marie. We did not stop for any lookout on the way and aimed to reach hotel as soon as we could. We halted for dinner on the way at Sudbury itself as we reached that by 8-9 pm . We reached our hotel by 1am that night. Everyone just crashed and slept.
Hotel stayed – Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham Sault Ste. Marie
Day 2 – Sault Sue Marie to Thunder Bay (700 km)
After the morning coffee we left for the long journey ahead. We started early as we had a long road with viewpoints to see and reach Thunder Bay. We saw the following places (in the same order) and reached Thunderbay around 9pm
a. Magpie Falls (Scenic High Falls) – Little detour from highway but worth it. Falls is very close to parking.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CckrwK-LJJs/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
b. Pebble Beach – This was a nice lunch stop and another beautiful location to sit and enjoy the view . It is a long road journey.
c. Aguasabon Falls – One of the hidden gems of North Ontario and must visit for sure. If you wish to hike it is long trail and hike (might need whole day) . We just went till lookout point and loved this waterfall. I am fan of waterfalls and love them
d. Terrace Bay – Good spot for washroom or coffee break. Beautiful plaza with restaurants and a small light house as well from where you can spot the sleeping giant.
Day 3 : In and Around Thunderbay
After having an awesome breakfast in our hotel we left for our adventure. We were so excited about our 1st spot that day .
a. Eagle Canyon Adventure Suspension Bridge : – Canada’s Longest Suspension Footbridge (600′)
There is entry fee to enter this park – 22$ adult . There are 2 suspension bridges and it gives you a thrilling experience for sure to walk above the ground almost hanging in between and viewing the gorgeous canyon. I personally loved this place.
There is another canyon near by – Ouimet Canyon , but we did not visit this as we were filled with so much happiness and adrenaline from our previous activity we directly went to lookout point
b. Terry Fox Memorial Lookout –
A public monument commemorating cancer research activist Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope. You can also see Sleeping Giant from this lookout point
c. Kakabeka Falls – Our last stop for the day was Kakabeka Falls. It was almost evening by the time we reached here. Back in 2021 we had to do park reservations so we did that from before.
We came back and chilled for the night. We did have issue with our reservations at Thunderbay Hotel (Valhalla Inn) due to forest fires. We were not conveyed that hotel cancelled our reservation and we reached and just had single bed rooms instead of double queen booked. We had to adjust for the 1st night, no cost reduction or anything , we were 14 with kid. We got our room almost at 11 pm in the night (previous night). Next day they did upgrade us to our original bookings.
We were ok to book something else if they had conveyed. IT was very unprofessional of them. So I personally would not suggest booking this hotel.
Day 4 – Thunderbay to Wawa (484 km)
This day we started our return journey. Last 2 days of the trip . We did not go to Thunderbay Lookout point but that is another location to view the Sleeping Giant.
Sleeping Giant hike to top is approximately whole day affair so for now we skipped as less days but not everyone in the group wanted to do that. (Will do the hike sometime in future – on my list)
So our first stop was Old Woman Bay entering Lake Superior Provincial Park. We stopped for very little time here. No picture but there are pictures of the road and some random stops that we did make.
a. Wawa Goose – Just a WAWA monument. ITs your choice to stop here or not.
Our Hotel was very close to this location but we did go further from here to see few beautiful locations of Lake Superior Provincial Park. Also we had purchased the permit in advance.
b. Agawa Pictographs – one of the most visited Indigenous archaeological sites in Canada. The majority of the red ochre paintings from the Agawa site date back centuries. Pictographs are surviving messages. This is a sacred site where generations of Ojibwe have come to record and commemorate dreams and spirits. Hike is steep at places and very quick one. Please wear proper footwear as the path is difficult with rocks and little climb as well.
c. Katherine Cove – Another beautiful beach space within Lake Superior
d. Bathtub Isalnd – Well this was one of the unique locations we visited. This place is also not easily accessible , just follow the map (walk) and find the entry or you can hike through Katherine Cove . Luckily we found the way and since we reached very late in the evening , we did not go for dip but it would have been an awesome experience to get a dip here.
We did cross the water to reach the island and it is naturally made and just like a bathtub , thus the name.
We came back to our motel in Wawa and I would highly recommend this place. It ws beautiful and had awesome views.
Day 5 – Back to Toronto – another long journey
Finally it was time to go back, we saw so many beautiful places and north ontario needs more days surely to see more such amazing places . We did stop at other locations on the way.
1st stop was Agawa Bay and it was so beautiful. Blue clear water and such picturesque location
Then we stopped at random roadside location. Probably somewhere near horseshoe bay but I am not sure if it was that area.
Then we stopped at Sault Ste. Marie for lunch and explored the waterfront area
Loon Dollar Monument located at Echo Bay , Little diversion from highway.
Our last stop of the trip was at Sudbury to see the Big Nickel. Then we head home and it was a long day but beautiful journey.
Here is my Itinerary that I created and we followed the same for our trip. If you go to the below post on instagram , you can find more details as well.
Hope this helps 🙂 Happy Travelling 🙂
Highways & Runways 