Explore Ontario Waterfalls, Provincial Parks, Hiking Trails, and Travel on the Lake Superior Circle Route

East of Nipigon to Coldwell & Neys Provincial Park is my favorite part of the Ontario Lake Superior route - at least from the panaroma's you see through the windshield. You are within site of lake most of the route and you travel up, over, and around some impressive mountains (impressive by upper midwest standards!).

This route goes through Rossport, Ontario our favorite Canadian lakeside village.

("click" on the small images for a larger view)

Traveling east of Nipigon on the Trans-Canadian Highway.

The shots below were taken from the top of a wayside lookout over Kama Bay on the larger Nipigon Bay. There's a vault toilet and a picnic table at this wayside and it is a pretty location, However the two times we've been there the black fly's and no-seums have been pretty aggressive.

Rossport Ontario

Rainbow Falls on the Whitesand River east of Rossport, Ontario. . . . Those little specs on the bridge are Hans and Jo!

After crossing the river, the hiking trail climbs a mountain with a nice overlook of Lake Superior.

On our 1999 circle tour, we enjoyed a nice dinner at the charming Rossport Inn. It has overlooked Lake Superior and the Rossport Islands since the late 1800s. Our reports are that their food, service, and atmosphere remains impressive.

In addition to rooms at the Inn, they also have these cute housekeeping cabins with a terrific view of the Rossport Harbor. > > >

< < < On our 2004 tour, we decided to dine at Serendipity Gardens, a place we'd admired in the past but never stopped to see them. Like the Rossport Inn, they have a great view of the Harbor. The ambience, service and food here was also first rate.

One of Jo's regular Rossport stops is at Island Pottery across the bridge on Nicol Island. While Jo was shopping, I took a walk with Hans and we found this overlook of another one of the Rossport Islands. > > >

By the way, the Rossport Harbor & Bay area has sand flats and warm south facing beaches and is well sheltered from wind and waves by a ring of islands. I think these qualities are why it is a popular destination for Sea Kayaking enthusiasts. The village hosts an annual Sea Kayak Symposium the last weekend in June. Quite startling to see hundreds of kayaks populating a bay that usually has a boat or two out on it at a time.

Terrace Bay

Just past Rainbow Falls, the Trans-Canadian highway moves away from the lake as it goes through the town of Schreiber. It re-connects with the coastline as it passes Terrace Bay and then the town by the same name.

Terrace Bay is quite a bit larger than Rossport and lacking the seaside village charm, yet worth a stop to see Aguasabon Falls. The town has a nice sand beach on Lake Superior. The Casque Isle Hiking Trail begins near the falls and extends westward along the lake through Rainbow Falls and ending in Rossport. (An amusing sidebar. At the other end of the trail, in Rossport, they call this very same route the Voyageur Hiking Trail!)

Here at the western edge of town, just off the highway, is the impressive Aguasaban Falls. > > >

The path to the falls is too short to qualify as a hike, so if you want some exercise you need to follow the trail that leads downstream of the falls. Watch your footing because it's an "unimproved" trail and the drop off is steep!

Another view of the gorge below the falls from a later trip. > > >

Perhaps 30 km down the road is Neys Provincial Park (seen in the distance in the photo to the left) - with some good hiking trails and Lake Superior views. Was a bit buggy the evening we arrived so we hiked along the beach vs a back country trail. The next morning we broke camp early as rain was moving in. Sorry no pixs to share with you - next time circumstances may better favor getting some nice pictures. [In 2005 we had intended to re-visit Neys, but a couple we met at Aguasabon Falls highly recommended Pukaskwa National Park so we went there instead. See info on this page]

After Marathon, the highway moves away from the lake and the landscape flattens. The long stretch of road between there and Wawa is an opportunity to put some good tunes in the CD or an audio book in the cassette and put on some miles!

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