Lake Superior Provincial Park
6 days and 35 miles along the rugged coastal trail of Lake Superior Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada.

GPS Log
>> Download GPS Coordinates from this trip (right-click to save file).

Useful Information
>> Ontario Parks - Lake Superior Provincial Park
>> Voyageur Trail Association (offers guide books and maps covering the coastal trail)

Over the past 5 or so years we've had the opportunity to hike many places and Lake Superior Provincial park always stands out as one of the best and most scenic. The trail hugs the rocky coast of Lake Superior for the entire length of the park and the scenery varies from forest to rocky outcrops to sandy beaches in a matter of miles.

We met a shuttle at the Gargantua Road trail head in the northern part of the park and were dropped off just north of the Agawa River. We set up camp that first night right on the beach and enjoyed Lehto's pasties in our tents while dodging a passing thunderstorm.

The next day was sunny and pleasant and made for a great day of hiking. The trail alternated between soccer ball sized boulder walking on the shore, cliff scrambles, and very uneven terrain under a forested canopy. After 5.6 miles we set up camp at an established site just north of Sinclair Cove.

Day three was another beautiful sunny day. We hiked 8.7 miles to Robertson Cove over similar terrain. Along the way, one of the guys who was with us decided he would rather set-up camp for the next three nights, enjoy the scenery and do some daydreaming. He picked a great site steps away from the beach in a sheltered grouping of trees. Access to the highway was close so picking him up once we had the car wouldn't be a problem.

Day four was overcast and the clouds eventually opened up while we were boulder hopping along a particularly challenging part of the trail. The combination of rain and wind whipping the waves over the rocks made every step on the exposed rocks a challenge. We hiked 7 miles to a site south of Beatty Cove. Our campsite at here was one of my favorite of the trip. We camped along a sand bar that jutted out into the cove. The rocks at the end of the sand were the perfect spot to soak the feet and wash up.

We had hoped to hike the remaining 11.7 miles back to the car on day 5, but after loosing the trail for a good 30 minutes at one point and dunking my entire boot at a botched river crossing, we were happy to make it the 6.6 miles to our camp for the night.

Day 6 was crisp and sunny with a strong breeze that didn't let up all day. We had 5.1 miles to go to get back to car and were hoping to make it a quick day. The terrain changed dramatically as we approached Gargantua Bay. The area around Rhyolite Cove is what scientists call a site of geological unconformity. It's a place where very new rock (by geological standards) meets very old rock, with a large gap in time between the two eras. Parts of the Rhyolite Cove area look like a martian landscape with deep red rock that contrasts sharply with the surrounding pebbles and boulders.

After some very windy ridge walking we arrived back at the car to find that an army of mice had chewed their way through the firewall to get at the sunflower seeds conveniently left in the cup holder. We drove the rest of the way touching as few surfaces in the car as possible.