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Lake Superior

Lake Superior P.P. is one of Ontario's largest provincial parks. It spans a massive corridor of Highway 17, and is known for its unbelievable variety of vistas, including cliffs, native pictographs, unbeaten lookouts, waterfalls, wildlife, and of course the famously cold and deep waters of Lake Superior. This park is nearly impossible to explore by one's own self, so do not think of this as a thorough guide, like the other pages on this site. This is just a taste of this park's offerings. We visited in July 2023 and in August 2025.

History

Lake Superior itself was created from the area's rift formations and glacial history. If you want a thorough history of the geological formation and use of the lake, click here. Anyways, the park was obviously used by the Indians in the area, but there were no larger/more substantial settlements ever built within the park's boundaries. Highway 17 was built through the park's land in 1920, a difficult task due to the elevation changes in the park. Eventually, the provincial government saw this land and passed an amendment to protect it in 1944, officially establishing Lake Superior P.P. as we know it today. The government created two campgrounds along Highway 17, one in the south called Agawa Bay, and one in the north called Rabbit Blanket. While visiting the park, I heard rumours about a former campground called Crescent Lake, yet I couldn't find evidence of this online. Email me ntremblett19@gmail.com if you know.

Lake Superior itself gets its name from the fact that it is the largest of the Great Lakes, therefore superior in size (and beauty, if you ask me).

What the Park Offers

Lake Superior offers:
- hiking on innumerable trails ranging from 0.5km all the way to 65km
- walk alongside a cliff while viewing native pictographs
- Agawa Bay visitor centre
- birding for over 250 unique species
- innumerable canoe routes on inland lakes and rivers, yet not on Lake Superior itself.
- boating and trout/salmon fishing
- hunting for game and smaller creatures
- swim on gorgeous Lake Superior at Old Woman Bay, Agawa Bay, and much more
- Bathtub Island, a rock characterized by the warm pools that sit atop it. Read tips and advice.
- free winter access
- go into nearby Wawa, to see Magpie Falls

None of this park's trails can be biked.
Some of Lake Superior's trails are:

Nokomis Trail - 5km moderate

Do this trail before you die. A mighty climb across the highway from Old Woman Bay takes you atop an escarpment with some of the greatest views you'll get in not only the province, but the country.

After the hike, you'll literally look over the clouds, looking down on the fine white beaches and the famous old woman, always overlooking her bay. The Old Woman River underneath makes the view even better. As I said, if you pass by or come to this park, do this loop - you won't regret it. This is where the cover page of this website was taken.

Agawa Rock Pictographs Trail - 0.5km moderate

Don't let the short length of this trail fool you into believing it's easy. Pass by bizarre rocky crevices to come to a straight line - rock on one side, water the other. Not to mention the Ojibwe red ochre pictographs, similar to those of Bon Echo.

Orphan Lake Trail - 8km, moderate

If you have a short attention span, then this trail is for you. Step above the small Orphan Lake before climbing up to a large view over Lake Superior (as if there wasn't enough of those). Climb down to another white sand beach before walking alongside Baldhead River, home to a small set of waterfalls. Continue this gradual change in elevation before coming back to the Orphan Lake shores. After this, you'll take a boardwalk on the way back to the parking lot.

Pinguisibi (Sand River) Trail - 6km, easy

Alright. You want a waterfall? Best I can do is like 50. This is Sand River, known for the contrast of its white sand and the charcoal black rocks. The falls are reminiscent of those at Chutes P.P. The first 3km of this trail is easy, yet the remainder is overgrown and unmarked. Be careful!

This next little section will be a small photo gallery of these trails highlighted above. Enjoy.

Now it's time for the trail signs.

Right click and hit 'open image in new tab' to enlarge the images.

Visiting the Park

This park is far to big for this section.

Just remember, when driving northbound on 17, first comes Agawa Bay, and then Rabbit Blanket much further up the road. In fact, Rabbit Blanket is about 50km north of Agawa Bay.

Some good Lake Superior maps are here.

Interesting Species

Note that the photos in this section are not explicitly from this park, they are good photos of species that live here.

There could be a whole website dedicated to species at Lake Superior. In fact, there is >> right here.

Sandhill cranes

Grouse

Moose

Black bears

Tips and Advice

Stay in Agawa Bay Campground if you want to swim on a good beach. Stay in Rabbit Blanket to get less traffic noise.
Stay in this park for more than one week or you will leave dissatisfied due to the total amount of awesome stuff here.
Go into nearby Wawa, specifically the famous goose and Young's General Store.
Speaking of Wawa, visit the beautiful Scenic High Falls (also called Magpie Falls). Just know if the road is dirt, steep, and empty, you're in the right place.
Driving north into the park, stop in at Voyageurs Cafe for gas and apple fritters.
Visit Batchawana Bay P.P. on the way in or out.
Stop at Katherine Cove and swim to Bathtub Island. It is hard to find, but you'll see myriad signs for Katherine Cove along 17.
Make sure to get to the visitor centre. Great insight into the natural and geological history of the area.
BRING YOUR CAMERA LITERALLY EVERYWHERE.
Turn down random roads - providing it is safe and permitted to do so. You may find rivers, waterfalls, abandoned areas.
I didn't get to, but it is recommended to stargaze at Mijinemungshing Lake, accessed via the road of the same name.
If you could only do two trails, Agawa Rock and Nokomis are great. Remember that this is only a fraction of the stuff to do here.

SPOTLIGHT: Agawa Rock Pictographs

Want to see some ancient red ochre drawings up close and personal? If so, this is the trail for you. Bon Echo may have large pictographs on beautiful Mazinaw Rock, but do they have a walk on the side of a cliff using a chain/rope? These pictographs are not only historic, but impressive. The cover image of this page best shows the walk along the rock. And once you're done this section, walk up a staircase where each side of you is a large cliff-like rock with beautifully coloured lichen and moss. Regardless, visit this or you're missing out.

Opinions

Nash

Formerly my favourite park before visiting Sleeping Giant. But despite being #2, these lookouts are still second to none and worth every kilometre of hike. The main drawback is the inaccessibility - in the sense that everything is so spread out that you must drive to anything. Regardless, 9.8/10.