Road trip to Algoma - Part II

                 On the second day morning, we set out to visit the Sault St.Marie Canal National Historic Site. This Canal is now used mainly for recreational boating purpose, the highlight of which is that visitors can get the experience of going through the ‘Lock System’ in the canal. This lock called Soo Lock was built in 1998 and is built inside the bigger historic lock which once existed here. Other side of this canal is the US state of Michigan. The International Bridge connecting US and Canada is another attraction here, which was closed for public traffic due to the Covid pandemic.

Sault St. Marie International Bridge

   

The Soo Locks

An American tourist boat passing through the Soo Lock

         There are a handful of beautiful heritage buildings made of sandstone in this historic site. Also located here is the Sault Canal Emergency Swing Dam, which an information board there said, to be the only remaining emergency swing dam in the world. There is also a beautiful walking trail in this nicely maintained park, where one spend time exploring the history or click pictures in front of the iconic structures or feeding  the hundreds of gooses roaming around. After doing a little bit of all these, we left the place by noon.

The Sault Canal Swing Dam

        Our next destination on the second day was the Aubrey Falls, 130 plus kms away from Sault St.Marie. The route through the winding roads is quite scenic and the landscape keeps changing as we make our way uphill. Once left the town, the roads of highway 556 gives way to unpaved roads, providing a nice off road driving experience. The road runs amidst thick forest and there are high chances of wild animal spotting, although we spotted only a couple of deers. The landscape is dotted with numerous lakes and waterbodies of different size and shapes. There are a handful of resorts and cottages as well in their banks, staying in them will, I imagine, surely be a surreal experience. The Ranger Lake is the biggest of them and the view of this clear lake nestled in the thick forest bordered by mountains is sensational. We took a short break at the banks of this lake enjoying the clean cool air and then continued the ride.

The Ranger Lake

         We reached the Aubrey Provincial Park around 4 PM. A short hike took us to the waterfall. The first glimpse itself of the gorgeous waterfall and it was worth the long drive and the hike. The water falling down from the hill and then flowing between deep canyon-like landscape with dense forest is a marvellous sight. It’s surely a hidden gem and is worth the visit. 

Aubrey Falls

         The flow of water in this falls is controlled by controlled by the dam located above it. The trails near the falls is more than 2kms long, and there are different view points along it which offers a nice panoramic view of the waterfall. We spend the entire evening at this secluded paradise in nature, and then began our journey return.

         We took the Highway 129 on our way back since the accommodation for the second day was booked at the Blind River town. The drive through this route along the Mississagi River too is scenic. There is a Trading Post in this route, which also has a couple of eateries and a gas station. Finding a gas station or an eatery after this trading post is possible only after driving hundreds of kms. We reached our hotel in Blind River after more than a 2 hrs drive. The nearby A&W or McDonald’s was the only option for dinner, as everything else were closed by then. We hanged out till midnight after having dinner, before retiring to bed eventually.

         It was raining when we woke up on the third and final day for the trip. We had to wait till almost noon before we could head out, and because of this delay we abandoned the rest of the planned destinations and spent most of the time fishing in the nearby Lake Lauzon. After spending time fishing and indulging in some games near the lake, we left Algoma.

Lake Lauzon

         The 3-day road trip covering almost 2000 kms, through heritage sites and cities, mountains, forests, provincial parks., is coming to an end. It’s not just about the destinations we visited, the drive through the scenic highways with diverse landscapes in itself was a pleasure. Algoma can be considered as one of the places where the northern part of Ontario begins, but the vast Northern tip of Ontario needs much more days to explore., may be in the next trip.