Help me get from Toronto to Sault Ste Marie

In My Humble Opinion
1

This summer, Mrs. Skammer, Skammer Jr and I are going on a road trip of about 3700 miles which will take us to New Jersey, New England, the Toronto area, the woods of northwest Ontario and the Upper Midwest of the U.S.

We have our route pretty well mapped out except for one section. Starting from St. George, ON (a bit southwest of Toronto) we need to get to my in-laws cabin which is a couple hours northwest of Thunder Bay. We plan on doing this in two days, probably stopping somewhere around Wawa for the night which seems to be a fair enough midpoint.

Now, it looks like we have several options to get from St. George to Wawa and all of them go through Sault St. Marie. But how should we get to the Soo? It seems like the three choices are:

  1. Head west and cross into Michigan at Sarnia, over to Flint, and north to Sault Ste Marie. This would have the advantage of using the US Interstates, which are faster, but involves two border crossings.

  2. Go north on Hwy 69 to Sudbury, then take Hwy 17 west to SSM. I’m not sure how fast the highways are but there would not be any border crossings. But, we would have to skirt around Toronto. This also looks like a more scenic trip, and more direct, but I can’t tell if it’s faster.

  3. Drive up through Bruce Peninsula and take the ferry to Manitoken Island. This is undoubtedly the slowest route, but it looks like fun :). I don’t think we will do it though because I don’t think we would be able to make it to Wawa the same day.

Anyone familiar with the Lake Huron/Superior area have any suggestions?

2

Well you’ve definitely done your homework, and you’ve even got them labeled from fastest to slowest.

I’m in Waterloo (about 30 mins north of St George) so when I plan that trip, it’s not that off… I lived in Thunder Bay for a while, so I have some experience with this.

Personally, my preferred route is to take the Chi-Chimaun from Tobermory, simply because it gets you out of the car, and breaks up the monontony of the trip… and once you get to northern Ontario it’s nothing but beautiful monotony (the rocks, trees and water sure are pretty… But you can only see so much) Plus you get to see ome of Manitoulin island, which is quite pretty (and not just all rocks and trees… but still plenty of them)

Of course, this route is the slowest, and also the most expensive (well, depending on what you’re driving. The cost of the ferry and the cost of gas for our van pretty much even out.) But if you’re going to be doing a lot of driving, taking a couple hours off and relaxing on the boat is great.

I also have a couple of friends who drive to/from Thunder Bay a couple times per year. Their preferred route is #2. It’s not that much slower than #1, and avoiding the border is always a plus (I guess it doesn’t matter to you, but it also means we don’t need to carry any american money, should we need gas or snacks) They also do it non-stop… Not my cup of tea, but it is possible.

Route number 1 is my least favourite due to a couple reasons, other than the ones I mentioned above. One major thing is the toll roads/bridges… I despise them. (there’s a grand total of 1 in Canada, the 407 in Toronto) I guess that’s more a personal reason than anything… I also don’t like the concrete highways (asphalt is smoother… and doesn’t sound funny)… Again, more personal than anything. It’s really not that much faster (I think the difference between route 1 and 2 is less than an hour) and avoiding crossing the border is great.

Wawa’s a great place to stop, and is pretty much exactly halfway. Tiny little town, with one way in and one way out (or so the locals say.) Nice people there. The Soo itself is also a good place to stop. It’s bigger, with more to do (of course, you’re not staying, so I guess that doesn’t matter) I’ll be stopping there next week. (I have the airplane booked, provided the weather doesn’t crap out on me yet again)

Oh well, hope I helped. Have fun.

3

We once took the ferry from Manitoulin island to the peninsula. Due to sudden brake problems we were delayed and had to take the night ferry. Not very scenic. But Manitoulin island was neat!

4

Someday, we’ll definitely do the Manitoulin route. Our parish priest lived there for many years and always raves about it. However, we really want to get to Wawa in one day and preferably while it’s still daylight. We’ll save that for sometime when we can be more leisurely (we go to Thunder Bay just about every summer, so we’ll have plenty of other opportunities).

If the difference between the other options is only an hour or so, we’ll probably take the northern route. Crossing the border can be unpredictable if it is busy, and we’ve already driven through Michigan from the south to get to the Soo (last year) so we’ve seen that route. Going around the north will be new to us. Plus I’m a big CPR fan so I’m hoping to pause in Sudbury for some railfanning.

We have driven through Wawa before (I have pictures of the Giant Goose to prove it). But never coming from Toronto, so I wasn’t sure which way to go.

Thanks for the help! (and for politely ignoring that I called it “Manitoken” Island in my OP)

5

I took that for a slip indicating your planned recreational activity! :smiley:

6

Good choice. Especially if you’ve done the other drive, and can take the ferry in the future.

The drive should be about equal, I just checked the distances from St George, to an arbitrary point in the Soo, and there’s less than a 5 km difference between the American and Canadian routes… St George is pretty much the centre. Provided you don’t get stuck behind a line of trucks or something unexpected, the times will be very similar.

Have fun.