The Ultimate Northern Ontario Road Trip: Week 1

Whether you enjoy hiking to gorgeous cliff lookouts, swimming in pristine lakes or discovering new towns, you’ll love this road trip along the Boreal Driving Route through Northeastern Ontario! We split our time between camping and roofed accommodations, visiting five cities, 15 provincial parks and everything in between!

Day 1

Driving north along Highway 11, the traffic began to thin as we made our way towards North Bay. Known as the “Gateway to the North”, this Northeastern Ontario city is the perfect place to start an Ontario road trip! We spent one night at Homewood Suites by Hilton North Bay. The hotel is perfectly located within a five minute walk to the waterfront of Lake Nipissing.

We enjoyed swimming and playing at the playground at Shabogesic Beach, walking along King’s Landing Wharf for some ice cream at Dock Shoppe and going for rides on the historical miniature railway and carousels!

The evening was perfect for a sunset cruise aboard the Chief Commanda II. We booked the dinner option and were served a delicious four course meal as we cruised around Callander Bay and watched the sunset over Lake Nipissing.

In addition to our meal aboard the Chief Commanda II, we enjoyed breakfast at Syl’s Neighbourhood Kitchen and lunch on the waterfront patio at The Boat.

If you are looking for more opportunities to connect with nature in North Bay, we highly recommend a canoe ride on Trout Lake and a short hike to explore Duchesnay Falls!

Day 2

After leaving North Bay, we made a quick stop at Marten River Provincial Park to visit the logging museum and go for a swim. It was raining hard, so our time here was cut short, but we will definitely come back some day to explore the park more!

We spent the night at Finlayson Point Provincial Park. This park is only one hour away from North Bay, which allows you to maximize your adventure time! Situated right on the shore of Lake Temagami, Finlayson Point is the perfect place to go for a canoe ride. You will also want to stop at the nearby Temagami Fire Tower to see the stunning 360 degree view from the top!

Day 3 & 4

Our next Northern Ontario road trip stop was in Cobalt, a mining town established in the early 1900s when silver was discovered in Northern Ontario. Here you can learn about the history of mining in town at the Cobalt Mining Museum and go on an underground tour in an old silver mine!

Leaving Cobalt, we made our way to the City of Temiskaming Shores, a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts! The city is made up of the communities of Haileybury, New Likseard and Dymond and is located along the shores of Lake Temiskaming. We spent lots of time at the public waterfronts - enjoying the boardwalk, mini putt and playground in New Liskeard and the epic enclosed natural swimming area and waterslide in Haileybury!

When you’re in the area, make sure to stop at Devil’s Rock and hike to the epic lookout over the 300 foot cliffs. This view is one of the best lookouts in all of Northern Ontario! You’ll also want to spend some time exploring the trails and waterfalls at Pete’s Dam Park.

The food in Temiskaming Shores is next level! We loved sitting on the lakefront patio at 28 On The Lake and enjoyed our tasty meal at Zante’s. Lunch at Beach Bitez was a nice treat near the lake!

We spent two nights in Temiskaming Shores at the President’s Suites. Our accommodation was absolute perfection. With three bedrooms, a full kitchen and living room, hot tub and balcony views right over the lake, we could have stayed here all summer!

Day 5

After leaving Temiskaming Shores, we drove 40 minutes north to Kap-Kig-Iwan Provincial Park. This smaller park has the most stunning river of waterfalls! You can walk a short trail down to High Falls to bask in the beauty of the powerful water and continue along the 2.4 km Hell’s Gate loop to see more cascading falls along the river!

Next, we deviated from Hwy 11, driving through Kirkland Lake to Esker Lakes Provincial Park. Here you can enjoy a canoe ride on Panagapka Lake and go out for a hike along the 1.5 km Lonesome Bog Trail.

Day 6 & 7

Cutting back to the west, we continued along on our Northern Ontario road trip to Timmins, Ontario. Just outside town we stopped at Dream Acres Alpaca Farm where we got to meet the alpacas and take our new furry friends for a walk through the forest!

Upon arriving in Timmins, we checked into our room at Cedar Meadows Resort & Spa. The resort offers a Wilderness Tour of their onsite wilderness park where you can see bison, fallow deer, elk and eagles! Their onsite Voyageurs restaurant offers delicious gourmet meals.

While in Timmins, we had the opportunity to go on a guided tour of the Indigenous murals painted throughout the downtown area. We learned about the Indigenous teachings, heritage and culture depicted through the murals and heard about the project that brought the community together, incorporating the local youth in the artistic process.

If you’re looking for more fun things to do in Timmins, you can visit the Timmins Museum National Exhibition Centre to learn more about the history of Timmins and view the current art exhibit.

You can also make a stop at Hollinger Park, and go for a walk nearby around Gillies Lake! Just outside of town is the Hersey Lake Conservation Area where you can hike the trails and swim in the clear waters of Hersey Lake.

A few of our favourite restaurant meals in Timmins included tasty sandwiches and tea at Aline’s Tea Shop, all day breakfast at Toujour Mikes and a surprising gas station restaurant with large servings at Red Seal Catering in Rubino’s Gas Bar.

Timmins was hard to leave, but we were excited to get to our next campsite at Kettle Lakes Provincial Park. This is a large park with 22 pristine clear kettle lakes and lots of hiking trails. The park is perfect for canoeing and swimming.

Check out week 2 here!

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