Ltcspec
plymouth, mn
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Joined: 01/23/2005
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We are planning a trip driving around Lake Superior. Are there any good campgrounds between Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie. Also, any great things to see or do, or is it a nice drive along the coast? Thanks for your assistance.
Bob and Karrie
2004 Pace Arrow 37A
2000 Honda Accord EX
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StanleyandIris
Louisiana
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Joined: 06/17/2007
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I just made that trip. It is beyond beautiful. We did not camp along the way, but if you check Woodall's, you will find some CG's listed. It is a roller coaster of a 2 lane highway for sure. It is so awe-inspiring that it is hard to take in all at once. We were pretty much in a hurry to get to NY for our daughter's graduation from Medical school so we had no time to stop and explore. The towns along the way are small and beware - everyone closes shop at 5 and very few fuel stops anywhere. The fuel stations use a card, I can not remember the name of it, but one could run out of fuel trying to find one that takes cash or AMEX.
I hope you have a wonderful time along the way and get to dip your toes into the lake. Do it once for me okay? Then tell me where the CG's were hiding. lol
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JMTTS
52.1122 N, 106.5625 W
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Joined: 11/19/2004
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When I make that trip I usually stay at the WAWA campground.
J & M
2005 Cardinal 33TS LX with TrailAir
2004 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 4x4 DRW D/A (LLY) Crew Cab
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bandb
Thornhill, ON
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Joined: 06/10/2007
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I would strogly suggest that you consider staying at any of the Provincial Parks along that route. Our experience has been that they are all beautiful facilities, mostly directly on the lake, offering large and private sites. The only down side is that they typically offer electrical only sites but all have pump out facilities - shouldn't be an issue for one night stays. The drive is fantastic, take your time to see the sights and don't miss the Terry Fox Memorial a few miles East of Thunder Bay - his attempt to run across Canada on one leg has resulted in hundreds of millions having been raised for cancer research in his memory - it's quite a story.
Have a great trip,
Bob Hunter
2004 DSDP
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retiredtraveler
Woodstock Il --- GO HIKING!!!!
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What do you mean by 'good' campgrounds?
We've made that trip several times (I prefer the Canadian side to the UP). The provincial parks (and Pukaskwa NP --- our favorite) all have cg's --- but they are just for camping. Nice showers but no game rooms and pools (or whatever) and you're usually quite far from town.
For us, that is great camping. For others, it's boring. Lake Superior PP, Pukaskwa NP, and Sleeping Giant have the most hiking (which is what we're after). If you're into fishing, many people simply go down to the beach and cast. I've seen a number of people pull out Lake Superior whitefish while sitting on shore and casting out.
If you like shopping, and little tourist areas, this is NOT the trip you want.
Pup: 2007 Jayco 1206 w/slide-out + shower
surge brakes, 54w solar panel
TV: 2005 Nissan Xterra 4X4, manual trans
25 years tent camping, 4000+ miles of hiking, lots of biking
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GSF
full-timing in North America
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We usually spend a couple of days in Thunder Bay and then drive to Sault Ste Marie stopping for lunch in between. When our sightseeing runs overtime, we have stopped at the RV Campground in Wawa for an overnight. There's a nice river at the end of the property. We prefer the northern route around the great lakes to the southern route. I'll gladly trade the increased price of gas for the wonderful scenery and the greatly reduced traffic.
George
97 Airstream Land Yacht
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Ltcspec
plymouth, mn
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Joined: 01/23/2005
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Thank you for the great repies. We love to hike (both my kids are cross country runners and will want to get their 8 miles in per day). Will we need reservations to stay at the Parks?
Bob
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Timber
Northern Ontario
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Joined: 01/18/2002
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There are several Provincial campgrounds to stay at such as Neys 25% of the way out of ThunderBay, Puskasawa near Marathon, WhiteLake Park on WhiteLake between Marathon and WhiteRiver, Obatanga between WhiteRiver and Wawa, theres a park in Wawa, Agawa Bay park just south of Wawa and Pancake Bay 50 miles out of Sault ste Marie and a nice KOA on the northern edge of the Sault just off 17. Neys, Puskasawa, Agawa and Pancake are on Lake Superior. Pancake has a beautifull beach.
There isn't a problem with fuel or supplies as they're available at all the towns along the way to one extent or the other. Marathon and Wawa are the two larger towns if you need anything such as vehicle repairs or a better selection of groceries.
The area around RossPort has great scenery along Lake Superior as well as South of Wawa at Old Woman bay, Montreal River Hill which can be breathtaking but keep your eyes on the road. The Agawa Indian pictographs are interesting and the walk down to the shore is nice and a chance to get a closer look at some of the rugged beauty.
There is a golf course in Wawa and check out Younges General store.
Just down the road from the Pancake Bay park is the very popular Canadian Carver that sells everything from paintings, carvings, alcohol to large icecream cones. The town of WhiteRiver claims to be home to Winnie the Pooh and has an A&W which is a popular spot along the way with a large parking lot.
Watch for moose, they can be hard to see particularly at dusk and there are many accidents every year involving them...the area between WhiteRiver and Wawa has quite a few.
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StanleyandIris
Louisiana
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We ate at that A&W! Winnie was captured there and taken to England where she became famous. A little blonde bear.
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Betsy II
BC
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Joined: 03/25/2007
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Agawa Bay is a beautiful place to camp, but beware. It is not recommended for anything bigger than a standard width, 24' or smaller 5th wheel or shorter trailer (if you have to drive through the campground to your site).
We stayed there last July on our trip to Toronto, and we had 2" clearance on each side of our Corsair Excella (100" wide) 5th wheel. It is a 26RKS, 27'5" O/L. It took 20 minutes to travel the 1 mile to the sire we were assigned. Patience was definetly a virtue in that case. I think the gate attendant wanted to see waht we were made of. We even had a few folks giving us 2 thumbs up as we crawled through the campground.
If you can get a site at the entrance, on the paved section, on the beach, you will have the best of all worlds. There is only elec at these sites and no services at most of the sites.
The sunsets are great, the kayaking was great and the beach is like Maui of the North.
We will definitely stay there again if we are back that way. However, I strongly suggest you make a reservation for a site as mentioned above.
Happy RV'g.
Roy
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