The summer was upon us when I realized there was still a lot I wanted to do before experiencing a new season.
Our love for long road trips started many years ago. We find joy preparing a road trip, and get excitement to the max with every new adventure on the road. Having our own schedule leaves us the flexibility to adjust the plans on the go, giving us a certain freedom, especially in these pandemic times.
Three years ago, after enjoying so much a road trip around Lake Huron, we planned a new one around Lake Superior, the biggest Great Lake from North America. This summer was about the time, and although the pandemic and the northern wildfires didn’t help at all, we decided we still have a chance to explore the north side of the lake, to see places I yearned for, the wild and extensive shore of this magnificent lake, the biggest fresh water lake in North America.
If you love natural beauty, pristine beaches, or visiting cozy villages, then, the breathtaking drive around Lake Superior should be on your list. Trans-Canada Highway 17 is winding along the rocky northern shore, offering some of the best panoramic views of this Lake. Whether you’re standing at the top of the cliffs, or sitting down on a sandy beach, you can watch the splashing waves forever, or be mesmerized by the lullaby song of the shushing waves.
Although Canada, and the province of Ontario goes up North quite a lot, the region of Northern Ontario starts right here, on the shore of Lake Superior. All 700 kilometers stretch from Sault Ste Marie to Thunder Bay, along Trans Canada Hwy, offers some of the most picturesque coastlines and rocky cliffs that will take your breath away. The road is wide and well maintained, and driving is not too challenging although quite busy in some areas. Wilderness, wildlife, lakes, rivers, canyons, valleys, and waterfalls, you have them all along this scenic drive.
The breathtaking scenery from Algoma County inspired the famous Canadian Group of Seven, who had their own unique style of painting landscapes. You can follow the route to see the most famous places where they stopped to dip their brushes in amazing colours, immortalizing the nature forever.
There are plenty of spots to canoe, following historic routes once navigated by voyageurs. You can learn a bit by visiting Fort William Historical Site, in Thunder Bay.
Miles of sandy beaches, such as the ones from Terrace Bay, or Wawa are laying their white grains of sand enticing the people to stroll, lay down, or get a swim.
Make sure you are not missing any waterfalls along the way. With a short stroll, reason for a picnic maybe, the waterfalls like Chippewa, or Mink Creek, White Sand, are amazing places to stretch your legs while energizing from the rushing waters.
The plenitude of the provincial parks along the northern shore of Superior Lake offers as many trails as one might even imagine.
Make sure you do not miss Agawa Rock and the pictographs the rock is so famous for,
or the Sea Lion geological formation
On your journey, you’ll discover spectacular rugged shorelines, cascading rivers and waterfalls, pebbled and sandy beaches, rocky cliffs, unique geological features, and excellent wildlife viewing, all in one making it the most spectacular Riviera in Ontario.
A memorable road trip, I will let you enjoy a little movie.
~ visited in August 2021
1000 Places and Memories 
Quite beautiful, Christie. I’ll make sure to include it as Peggy and I begin wandering North America again next year. –Curt
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What a better plan than wandering through the beautiful continent. I was surprised to see so many cars and RVs from Alberta and US along our route. The borders were just being opened for you😊
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🙂 Here’s to hoping Covid goes away, Christie, and the borders remain open. I still recall the days when I simply showed my driver’s license to get back and forth. –Curt
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Yes, I’ve heard of those great days🙂
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We stopped at a few of those spots but honestly didn’t spend too much time exploring as we wanted to get to the Maritimes. It was beautiful though and we’ll probably go back one day. Thanks for showing the places we missed! Maggie
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There is so much to explore everywhere, we never have time enough for any place😊
Are you still in the East? Hope the weather is still nice! xx
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No we came home a couple of weeks ago. We left Newfoundland 3 days before it got hit by the hurricane! Yikes
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I guess there is always something in the fall on the eastern coast..
I was wondering if you get a chance to come to Toronto, but it’s too late now.. next time!
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Beautiful shots of a beautiful route, Christie. We were very lucky to travel along the North shore during our 2018 cross Canada trip. Missed the Agawa Rock, but saw so much else. Thanks for the memories. Stay well. Allan
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Wow, a wonderful trip for sure to be able to do a cross-country trip, and Trans-Canada Hwy offers the best of it. 2018 was a wonderful year, we did a road trip around Lake Huron, as the borders were all opened😊
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Beautiful pictures 😊. Many years ago I visited the US side of the Great Lakes and I would love to come back for the Canadian banks, as well as Quebec.
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Thank you! Hope you can come back one day to explore more of the Great Lakes. Canada has so much to offer😊
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Lake Superior really is superior to all the other Great Lakes. We’ve done the drive around the north shores of Lake Superior three times now and it never gets old. The landscape is incredible and it’s hard to believe that all this exists in Ontario.
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Well said, Lake Superior is indeed superior to all the other Great Lakes😊 I felt the same way, I didn’t know it can be so beautiful!
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superb pics Cristina, thanks for sharing!
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You’re very welcome! Hope you can make it to Canada, one day😊
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This post makes it so inviting! Bravo!
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Thank you🙂
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Whoopee – we love road trips!! And it seems you had a great one … beautiful beaches and a lovely picture of the Mink Creek Waterfalls. Oh, and I love your video too! The lake sometimes looks like the ocean … and wow, what a spectacular sunset picture!
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You wouldn’t believe how true it is, many days I had this impression I was at the ocean, and with those white sand beaches who could blame me😊
Thank you!! xx
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Great post and amazing photos, Christie. I am glad to see that you had a fantastic time exploring Lake Superior. Its size still boggles me and as someone who loves nothing better than being outdoors enjoying hiking, sailing, camping, trail running, kayaking and mountain biking, this place would be a tremendous getaway spot for me. Thanks for sharing, and have a nice day 🙂 Aiva xx
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As the second largest country by total area, there is always so much to explore across Canada, and Ontario is only one province😊 Hope you can come over and enjoy some of these areas, too!
Have a wonderful week ahead😊
Christie, xx
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Smitten with Danny’s Cove and Agawa rock. My husband doesn’t especially enjoy driving so no chance we’ll do this but I appreciate you sharing. Many thanks for the follow.
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Thank you, Jo! We drove quite a bit this summer, around 7k km in total. This year was a bit hectic, I’m behind with reading, isn’t it?..
Have a lovely weekend!!
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Thanks! You too!
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You definitely made me wish I’d managed to stop along the way during my cross-Canada trek. Thanks for showing me what I missed ! 😊
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With so many places to stop and visit along Trans-Canada Hwy, there is no way one can really see everything, but glad I could bring you along, this way🙂
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Great pictures of a gorgeous landscape!
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Thank you! With so many lockdowns at the beginning of the year, we enjoyed so much being outdoors, especially this first road trip of the year, along Superior Lake!
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These lockdowns can get you, can’t they?
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Hopefully we are moving on the right path now, and getting (slowly) our old lives back🙂
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Reblogged this on battleoftheatlantic19391945 and commented:
”Tuesday, March 15, 2022-NOT ONLY THE Canadian And American LARGEST FRESHWATER LAKE, though the WORLD’S LARGEST, and THEN SOME!!! WELL, more than precisely IN my TRAVELS I HAVE SEEN Lake Superior; in Canada, AND AMERICA, WITH in Canada; SUMMER TIME, and WINTER TIME, in AMERICA…SUMMER TIME ONLY…AS TRAVELS IN AMERICA…DURING WINTER…I WAS DOWN SOUTH…Florida TO California, Georgia, South Carolina, Arkansas!!! Heading out to VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada, from Mount Hope, Ontario, RIGHT NEAR BATCHAWANA BAY-Sault Ste. Marie Area; I GOT INTO my CUTOFF SHORT’S-BLUE JEAN’S, one JULY, JUMPED INTO Lake Superior, AND ALMOST FROZE my BALLS OFF=FREEZE THE BALLS OF A BRASS MONKEY, and THEN SOME!!! STAYED IN THE LAKE…15-20 FEET FROM SHORE…FOR ABOUT 20-30 SECONDS, and SAID FU.K THIS…Man, WAS IT COLD!!! I have SEEN Lake Superior IN DAY TIME, NIGHT TIME, MORNING TIME; IN ALL ITS BEAUTY, and THEN SOME!!! IF Y’ALL HAVE THE TIME, THERE ARE SO MANY ROADS-TRAILS-ETC., BETWEEN Sault Ste. Marie, AND Thunder Bay, ONTARIO, CANADA; more than precisely WHERE Y’ALL CAN PULL A SMALL CAMPER, RV, little Bus, ETC., AND CAMP RIGHT DOWN NEAR THE WATER!!! BEAUTIFUL, CLEAN AIR-WATER, ONE OF OUR GREAT LAKES; A VACATION-TRAVEL-WANDERLUST Y’ALL WILL NEVER, EVER FORGET=Lake Superior…in ALL HER AMAZING AND BEAUTIFUL GLORY!!!”
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