Just a short 8 hours from Toronto, the trip to Sault St. Marie is really not made for a last minute road trip, you really have to want to go north for a good reason. Our reason was to ride the rails on the Agawa Canyon Train Tour, another long, long 10 hour trip from Sault St. Marie to Agawa Canyon Park (but don't try them on the same day).
On the way up look out for traffic accidents and construction, they tend to extend the drive. Do keep an eye out for
indigenous reserve gas stations with some significant savings on fuel. We went up for a long weekend (Friday to Monday) so that we could travel Friday and Monday, take the train on Sunday and have Saturday free.
French River Visitor Centre
French River Bridges - from top to bottom, two at Highway 69, one for Settlers Road and the pedestrian bridge near the visitors centre
Friday the trip was up Highway 400, then onto Highway 69 and the finally following the Trans Canada Highway Highway 17. About 700km of fun on four wheels. French River located south of Sudbury is considered the boundary between Northern and Southern Ontario is worth a quick stop to check out the trading post, nearby visitor centre/museum and the river itself.
Miss Marie Soo Lock Tour boat
Inside Canada's Soo Lock
Now Sault Saint Marie is really a twin city, one on the Canadian Side and one close across the St. Marys River in the United States of America. There are a couple of shipping locks in the river between the Great Lakes of Huron and Superior, one on the Canadian Side and two currently operating locks on the American side. Boat tours of the Soo Locks are run by both sides so we caught one in Canada's Sault St. Marie and toured the area and because you never get out of the boat you don't need a passport to go through the American locks.
The Agawa Canyon Railway Tour begins very early in the morning (8am) and doesn't return to the station until 6pm so bring some snacks, lunch and some beverages for the journey, although there are snack and beverage cars on the train if you don't want to bring your own. At first I thought the trip was through the canyon but I found out that the canyon is at the end of the trip. You ride for hours, stop, get out for 90 minutes and explore the park, then ride back for more hours.
Agawa Canyon Park is a nice piece of nature with a river running through it, three waterfalls, a lookout up a 300 step vertical trail, picnic tables and a large washroom building. Generally you can do either the lookout or hike the trails to see the waterfalls with time for a little lunch. We hiked to the waterfalls because we didn't want to do the climb up the stairs. Fall colours were in view so that was a bonus.
I'll be honest, it was a long trip and I was somewhat glad that I went but if they just moved the canyon a little closer to Sault St. Marie so the trip was a couple hours shorter it would be much better. And I won't be back to the canyon.
See more of the trip after the jump.
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