This past summer we got to visit a location in Ontario that was high on my bucket list.. Lake Superior Provincial Park!
Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes, it has an average temperature of 4 Degrees Celsius making it too cold for swimming at most beaches even in the middle of summer but don't let that stop you from visiting this incredible park!
There are 207 campsites split between 2 campgrounds: Rabbit Blanket Lake with 60 sites and Agawa Bay Campground with 147 - we stayed at Agawa Bay. The beach here was absolutely beautiful and covered with super smooth pebbles my daughter had a blast practicing her rock skipping!
The sites were large and trailer friendly, my only complaint is the site we had was right next to Highway 17 and as tent campers you can imagine how loud the highway can get in the middle of the night!
DAY ONE: On day one we spent most of the day driving from our previous camp - we stopped to register at the park office then made our way to the site, set up and took a walk of the campground to see the lake!
DAY TWO: This is where the fun begins! We woke up early to see a fisher on our site! Thankfully he just carried on with his morning and left us alone. We had breakfast then set out to complete Nokomis Trail (also known as Old Woman's Bay Lookout Trail)
This 5km hike is rated as moderate, it took us experienced hikers plus my in-laws just less than 2 hours to complete. I recommend doing this trail counter-clockwise, you will have a steeper climb up but your energy level will be higher and you get rewarded with the view at the tailend of the hike! We had lunch at the lookout point then made our way back down to where we parked at Old Woman's Bay Day Use area. Nokomis trail is ranked among the Top 5 Day Hikes in Canada according to Lonely Planet's Discover Canada Guidebook!
Next up we drove to the Pinguisibi (Sand River Trail) parking lot - this hike was 2kms of cascading waterfalls and I highly recommend it! It states 6km on the trail guide but our Garmin clocked it as 4.3km there and back.. perhaps we missed some of it but either way I suggest you stop here! It is rated as easy, just mind your footing and you wont have any issues!
We then went back to the campground to have supper - my in-laws were waiting there with a hot supper ready! After supper we decided to head to the Agawa Rock Pictographs to catch the sunset. This was the highlight of Lake Superior PP for us, the history and cultural significance is abundance. The short but rugged hike descends through rock chasms and giant broken boulders. For generations Ojibwe peoples recorded their dreams and spirits in red ochre paint. A must see while in Lake Superior!
DAY THREE: On our final day in this beautiful area we decided to head into Sault Ste Marie (The Soo) to do some city exploring as none of us had been before! The drive into the city is around 1.5 hours - we headed straight for the Sault Ste Marie Canal National Historic Site. We parked at the Agawa Train Tour parking lot (an attraction that was closed at the time due to COVID restrictions) we offloaded our bicycles and biked the short distance to the Canal! The canal was absolutely stunning, crystal clear blue waters! *fun fact* the average visibility in Lake Superior is 8 feet, it is the cleanest and clearest of the Great Lakes!
We crossed over the canal built in 1895 and biked around Whitefish Island - this trail was rough in parts and required walking the bikes. If you are looking for a smoother ride The Soo has 22.5kms of biking trails so there is no shortage of adventure options! Whitefish Island has 3km of bike trails located on two loops - we biked them both and loved the views of the USA on the other side of the river!
Next we had lunch at The Boiler Room - absolutely delicious food, great service and an incredible patio lunch!
After lunch we walked into the Downtown Core to stop at the ICONIC Elliot's Ice Cream Parlor - I still dream about the cookie dough ice cream I had.. there was approximately 12 cookies worth of dough in my cone!
We wrapped up our time in the Soo with a walk through the Elsie Savoie Sculpture Park - a unique spot that was great at burning off some energy!
BUT WAITTTT THERE'S MORE! We knew we couldn't leave the Lake Superior Provincial Park are without a stop at Pancake Bay Provincial Park where the water is actually warm enough to swim and Voyageurs' lodge to grab "the best Apple Fritter in the World" according to some guy on my Instagram page. Not gonna lie it was pretty good but Saint Jacob's Market may give it a run for its money...
All in all we had an incredible time and can't wait to go back! Hopefully you found some adventure inspiration from this post!
- with love