WANT TO GO TREKKING WITHOUT A HEAVY PACK?
You don’t have to walk for days carrying a heavy backpack to experience the rugged beauty along Superior’s north shore. You can experience extraordinary panoramic vistas, isolated pebble beaches, and spectacular waterfalls with a base-camp hiking adventure package.
Local adventure providers are ready to help you plan a memorable, unique, and affordable hiking vacation. They have put together packages that include expert advice, meals, park passes, trail guides, maps, shuttle service, accommodation (or recommendation for accommodation), and more.
After spending the day hiking, you can enjoy delicious local food and sleep in a comfy bed. Combine several of the day hikes listed below to create a fabulous Canadian hiking holiday.
THUNDER BAY AREA HIKING ADVENTURES
1. Top of the Giant Trail
Round-trip Distance: 22 km
Hiking Time: 5 to 8 hours
Level: Difficult
When To Go: June to September
Climb to the top of one of Canada’s most iconic landforms—the Sleeping Giant, for an unobstructed view of the world’s largest lake. Wind your way through a boreal forest, dense with foliage and filled with birdsong, before ascending 2.7 km straight up the mountain. It’s worth the effort!
Read More: Hiking Guide to Sleeping Giant Provincial Park
2. Eagle Canyon Suspension Bridge, Zipline & Trails
Round-trip Distance: Various
Hiking Time: 1 to 4 hours
Level: Easy
When To Go: June to September
Experience 183 metres of sheer exhilaration as you walk across the canyon on Canada’s longest suspension footbridge. Hike to the bottom and explore the canyon lake shoreline. For the ultimate thrill, zip down to the bottom of the canyon!
Read More: Eagle Canyon Adventures
3. Ouimet Canyon
Round-trip Distance: 2 km
Hiking Time: 1 to 2 hours
Level: Easy
When To Go: Mid-May to mid-October
“Absolutely spectacular,” “must-see,” and “breathtaking views” are just a few of the comments on Trip Advisor describing visits to Ouimet Canyon, often described as the “Grand Canyon of the North.”
4. Nipigon River Recreation Trail
One-way Distance: 8 km (shuttle service is available)
Hiking Time: 3.5 to 7 hours
Level: Moderate
When To Go: June to September
Allow a full day to explore this 8-km trail along the rugged shoreline of the Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area. Absorb the beauty of the landscape from numerous lookouts. Stop and listen to countless songbirds in a large wetland along the way. See majestic bald eagles and other wildlife.
Read More: A Hiking Destination on Superior’s North Shore
5. Casques Isles Trail
One-way Distance: 2 km to 53 km (has various access points)
Hiking time: 1 hour to full day
Level: Moderate to difficult
When To Go: July to September
Hike 53 km of pure Canadian WOW along the Lake Superior coast. Starting at the spectacular Aguasabon Falls, trek past glacial floats, First Nations pictographs, cobblestone beaches, and magnificent views including the Mount Gwynne Lookout. Trail has multiple access points which allows you to choose how far you would like to hike.
Read More: Voyageur Trail
ALGOMA COUNTRY HIKING ADVENTURES
6. Agawa Rock Pictographs Trail
Round-trip Distance: 1.0 km
Hiking Time: ½ to 1 hour
Level: Moderate
When To Go: Mid-May to mid-September
Painted on a 70-metre high rock canvas, blood-red centuries-old Ojibwa pictographs exude an energy matched only by Lake Superior’s endless surge.
Read More: Lake Superior Provincial Park
7. Lake Superior Coastal Trail
Distance: Various (2 km to 65 km)
Hiking Time: various (1/2 hour to 7 days)
Level: Moderate to difficult
When To Go: June to September
A number of access points make it possible to spend one or several days hiking this scenic coastal trail. The most challenging and demanding trail in the park, this trail takes you over high cliffs, along boulder and sand beaches, and over rugged rocks.
Read More: Lake Superior Provincial Park
8. Scenic High Falls Trail
Distance: 5 km
Hiking Time: 2 hours one-way (shuttle to trailhead available), 4 hours return
Level: Easy
When To Go: May to September
If you like waterfalls, you’ll love this 5-km stretch of Voyageur Trail along the Magpie River. Rugged yet featuring multiple access points, this trail offers a good margin of safety for novice hikers. Natural highlights include old-growth eastern white cedar trees deep in the river valley and a unique “stepping stone” section along the fringe of a rocky slope. The payoff is Scenic High Falls, a stunning 30-metre cascade.
9. Bridget Lake Trail
Distance: 8 km
Hiking Time: 4 to 6 hours one-way (canoe shuttle available from Driftwood Beach with Naturally Superior Adventures), 10 to 12 hours return
Level: Moderate
When To Go: May to September
You won’t actually see Bridget Lake on this trail, but you will experience challenging boreal forest terrain and sweeping views of Lake Superior’s wilderness coast. In the spring, watch for pink lady slipper orchids along open sections of the trail; throughout the season, you’ll encounter classic northern flora, including sphagnum moss, Labrador tea and black spruce. The trail ends at Driftwood Beach, one of the largest stretches of sand on Lake Superior’s Canadian shore—perfect for beachcombing!
10. Pancake Bay Lookout Trail
Round-trip Distance: 14 km
Hiking Time: 5-7 hours
Level: Moderate
When To Go: May to October
Watch for wildlife as you hike through sugar maples and yellow birches on route to platforms that offer magnificent views of the “graveyard of the Great Lakes”—the place where the legendary Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a fierce storm in 1975—and scenic Pancake River Falls. Read More: Pancake Bay Provincial Park
FOR REGIONAL TRAVEL INFORMATION, VISIT Northwest Ontario and Algoma Country.