Northern Ontario in Canada — Into the Great Wilderness
The truly vast part of Ontario is its north. Leave Toronto and enter the sprawling expanse of Northern Ontario, and you will hear the story of Canadians who built their lives along its rivers and lakes.
Words & Photos Hur Taewoo
In collaboration with Destination Canada
Algonquin Provincial Park
Canada’s First Provincial Park
Designated Canada’s first provincial park in 1893, Algonquin covers about 7,600 square kilometers, an expanse comparable to Chungcheongbuk-do in Korea. Within the park lie more than 2,400 lakes, and rivers and streams run for a combined 1,200 kilometers. It is home to an abundance of plants and animals, and seeing that biodiversity with your own eyes makes the importance of forests easy to grasp. Just three hours by car from Toronto, it draws many visitors for camping, fishing, hiking and canoeing. In autumn, it is famous for the brilliant foliage that colors the vast forest.
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Voyageur Quest
Stay at Voyageur Quest’s log retreat on the shore of quiet Smyth Lake, inside Algonquin Provincial Park. The two-story house looks like a pioneer-era lodge straight out of a movie. The living room has a fireplace and a sofa draped with a fur blanket, and meals are served for small groups of guests. A sign at the entrance lists the wildlife and plants you can spot each season. Visitors who have come a long way use the lodge as a base to enjoy the ecological adventures Algonquin has to offer, with canoeing, fishing and camping especially popular. According to Voyageur Quest owner John Langford, adventures here are surprisingly simple. “You hike, sit by the lake and have a beer, swim and rest a bit, paddle a canoe and rest a bit, and when night comes you camp or sleep in the log cabin. And the next day is much the same. You spend a few days like that, completely relaxed, and then you go home.”
North Bay
Gateway of the North
It is no exaggeration to say that Northern Ontario is a land ruled by lakes and forests. North Bay is something like the gateway city to the region, and its nickname is indeed the “Gateway of the North.” Historically, the canoe route that carried trade goods along the rivers linking the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes passed through here, and today the Trans-Canada Highway, which connects Canada from east to west, runs through it. Thanks to this geographic advantage, North Bay always sees many visitors coming and going. In summer, the main attractions center on Lake Nipissing, with canoeing, river cruises and beach activities. In winter, you can try skiing and cross-country skiing. With solid travel infrastructure, including lodging and restaurants, it is the perfect starting point for a trip through Northern Ontario.
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LOT 88 Steak House
This steakhouse has locations in Ontario and in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It uses certified Angus beef, and its trademark is the On the Stone menu, in which the steak is served on a heated black stone. It makes an ideal dinner for refueling after a full day of paddling or hiking. The drinks list is also varied, including wine and cocktails. We recommend the rib eye steak.
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Gateway City Brewery
Three friends from North Bay started this brewery out of love for their hometown. The master brewer who helped them reportedly honed his skills at a well-known brewery in Alberta. It usually offers eight to ten beers, and the saisons and hard seltzers, packed with rich fruit aromas, are especially impressive. After savoring a local beer you like, try setting a record on the pinball machine.
Sudbury
Northern Ontario’s Largest City
As you drive along the outskirts of Sudbury, the largest city in Northern Ontario, a towering smokestack appears in the distance. It is a remnant of the nickel mining industry that shaped the city’s rise and fall. Canada’s tallest smokestack was reportedly built to send the sulfur-laden pollutants released during nickel smelting high into the air. Today, of course, the smoke has stopped, and the mining industry takes great pains to protect the environment. Thanks to efforts since 1980 to diversify the economy and actively carry out green programs, Sudbury is regarded as a model of regional regeneration in Canada. Erase the smokestack from your mind, and it is hard to believe the city grew up on mining. Explore its witty street graffiti, beautiful waterfront parks and nature reserves, and its eateries, from local markets to breweries and dining restaurants, and you will feel the city’s remarkable transformation. It also preserves Canada’s cultural diversity well, and has the highest proportion of French speakers of any city in Ontario.
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Big Nickel
Another symbol of Sudbury, which contributed to the Canadian economy through mining. It is a giant replica of the Canadian five-cent coin issued in 1951, erected in 1964. Weighing 13,000 kilograms, it is the largest (non-usable) coin in the world. If you visit Sudbury, it is worth stopping by for a commemorative photo. Next to the Big Nickel stands Dynamic Earth, a museum themed on geology and mining, where you can also try a real Sudbury mine experience underground.
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Science North
Science North may just change your mind if you’ve ever felt lukewarm about science. This interactive science museum is far more fun than you’d expect. Set beside Ramsey Lake on the south side of the city, it has an IMAX theater, exhibition halls and hands-on experience areas. Step inside the exhibition halls and you come face to face with the world of science. From a giant whale skeleton to wildlife, science experiments, virtual reality and environmental conservation, a wide range of themes and subjects keeps visitors’ curiosity engaged without a moment to look away. The rock tunnel, we’re told, shows a geological fault one billion years old, just as it is.
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Di Gusto Restaurant
Let’s thank Sudbury’s Italian community for proper cannoli and tiramisu. Here you can enjoy Italian pizza cooked in a wood-fired oven, and the pastas and (especially) the desserts are excellent too. There is also a bread appetizer on the menu that donates $2 to the local community with every order.
Manitoulin Island
Manitoulin Island
It is the largest freshwater lake island in the world. Manitoulin stretches across the northern part of Lake Huron, one of the Great Lakes. Its area is about 1.5 times that of Jeju Island, and a peaceful atmosphere pervades the place, with unspoiled nature scattered across it. Historically, the island was the homeland of the First Nations Anishinaabe people of North America, and their turbulent modern history is woven into it. From the 17th century, Canadian Indigenous peoples and the French traveled by canoe along the French River, which connects to Lake Huron, passing North Bay on the way to Ottawa and Quebec, and carried on the fur trade. Because Manitoulin lies close to where the French River meets Lake Huron, merchants settled early and formed communities. The island’s Indigenous people are said to have been proud. For example, the Indigenous people of the Wikwemikong area in the east of Manitoulin long refused the government’s relocation policy, and it remains one of Ontario’s major reserves today. The island is connected to the mainland by the Little Current Swing Bridge, built in 1893. It is something of a local landmark, and visitors sometimes time their trips to watch the bridge swing.
destinationmanitoulinisland.com
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Wikwemikong
Experience the culture and nature that have endured for hundreds of years on Manitoulin’s Indigenous reserve. Descendants of the Odawa people of the Anishinaabe guide visitors themselves. You can choose from a range of tour programs: a hike along the Bebamikawe Memorial Trail in the footsteps of the Indigenous people, a taste of traditional Indigenous barbecue made with ingredients from the island, a canoe camping tour for stargazing, works by local artists, and traditional dance and music performances. The mood turns solemn when you reflect on the sad memories of the Indigenous people who were forced into uniform schooling at the mission school of Holy Cross Mission Church.
Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie is a small city that guards the crossing point of Lake Huron and Lake Superior. The St. Marys River marks the border: to the north lies Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, and to the south, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, in the United States. One of the oldest cities in Ontario, it has grown on the bounty of its river and lakes. Along the waterway came first the fur trade led by French settlers and the Ojibwe, and later logistics, papermaking and steelmaking built on the canal and hydroelectric power. Today, with manufacturing slowing, the city is making a name for itself as a major Canadian destination through a transformation that doesn’t lose sight of sustainability. The fairy-tale autumn-leaf train to Agawa Canyon, the quaint 19th-century buildings along the main streets, the romantic waterfront parks and high-quality cultural and arts venues keep an exciting mix of culture and nature, sights and experiences vividly alive.
#enjoy
Canal District
The old buildings beside the canal, used from the late 19th century as the paper mills of Sault Ste. Marie businessman Francis H. Clergue, were recently reborn through a large-scale renovation. Development began as part of a regeneration project that started in 2014, and the area has now become the hottest mixed-use cultural district in Northern Ontario. Inside the old red-brick buildings, restaurants, cafés, pubs, performance venues and an art school have opened, and the departure station for the Agawa Canyon train has also been refurbished to welcome travelers.
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Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site
The Sault Ste. Marie canal, built in 1895, was the world’s first electrically operated canal. Through it, the Atlantic and Lake Superior were connected, supplying goods to inland Canada. Protected as a national historic site, the canal is now a place more familiar to ordinary residents than to traders. The newly renovated visitor center walks you through the canal’s history and the events tied to it, and, remarkably, you can see the canal still in operation. The park around the canal recalls a well-kept suburban garden, and is a lovely spot for strolls and picnics.
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Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site
Visit the home of Ermatinger Clergue, who made his name as a Sault Ste. Marie businessman and lawyer from the late 18th to the early 19th century. It is the oldest preserved residence in Northern Ontario. From the moment you step into the yard, it feels as if you’re traveling back some 200 years. Inside the old stone house, daily life from Clergue’s time has been recreated, and in the old kitchen you can taste a dinner made with traditional recipes.
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Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre
The best way to fight a wildfire in the vast forests of Canada’s interior is with a water bomber, a floatplane built for the job. This is the only museum in North America devoted to the history of floatplanes and forest fire management. Housed in a former aircraft hangar, it displays more than 30 aircraft and flight simulators, and it has a 3D theater that screens documentaries about wildfires. Aviation fans may find it hard to look away from the light aircraft up close, since they are rarely seen in person. The center also houses Entomica, a popular exhibit of insects from around the world.
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Peace
Can you get egg fried rice with ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste) and kimchi dumplings in Sault Ste. Marie? At the restaurant Peace, you can. Chef Matt Goodall grew up in Sault Ste. Marie and honed his skills in Toronto. He serves fine dining built on the cooking he learned from his Korean and Japanese friends.
Lake Superior
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of North America’s Great Lakes and the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. The true adventure of Northern Ontario unfolds along this lake, which is as wide as a sea. Some describe it as an encounter with nature in which you are completely alone. Head north from Sault Ste. Marie on the Trans-Canada Highway, and the journey follows the Lake Superior shoreline. For about 700 kilometers, all the way to Thunder Bay, you won’t come across anything you could call a city. The towns scattered along the way, though, can recharge a weary traveler. And the deep blue waves of Lake Superior stretching to the distant horizon, under a clear sky, never get old no matter how many times you look at them.
#enjoy
Lake Superior Provincial Park
Lake Superior Provincial Park, between Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa, covers about 1,550 square kilometers. Take in its richly varied scenery, from the vast lake to cliffs hidden in the forest, beaches, waterfalls, inland lakes and autumn foliage, while hiking and paddling to your heart’s content. The visitor center offers the park’s history and basic information. In the south of the park you can find the Agawa Rock Pictographs, Canada’s most famous Indigenous rock paintings. The 35 red pictographs reveal themselves when the waters of Lake Superior are calm.
#enjoy #stay
Naturally Superior Adventures & Rock Island Lodge
This is like a campground for adventurers exploring a lakeside wilderness. The lodge stands on a point of land that juts sharply out into Lake Superior. The surrounding scenery is dramatic, and the buoy lighthouse swaying in the lake’s waves leaves a lingering image in the memory. Under the skilled management of owner David Wells, the lodge offers expert guided kayak and canoe programs. In its cozy bedrooms, you can count the stars in the night sky while you wait for the next day’s adventure. According to Wells, the finest views come on days when a storm rolls in and heavy waves crash against the point.
#enjoy
Wawa
Wawa began as a stopover on an 18th-century fur trade route. It grew rapidly after gold and iron ore deposits were discovered in the late 19th century, but when mining and steel hit a slump in the 1980s, it could not avoid decline. Today Wawa offers plenty to interest anyone seeking the wilds of Northern Ontario. The landscape is so rugged and captivating that the Group of Seven, one of Canada’s best-known groups of painters, fell for it and left many works behind. Here you can try outdoor activities that make you feel like an adventurer, from hiking to fishing and hunting. At Kinniwabi Pines Restaurant, sitting all alone by the side of the road, the Chinese and Caribbean-style dishes are surprisingly good. Incidentally, “wawa” means “wild goose” in the Ojibwe language, and a giant goose statue really does stand at the entrance to town.