Sault Sainte Marie

Sault Sainte Marie — "the Soo" to locals — straddles the rapids connecting Lake Superior to Lake Huron at the heart of the Great Lakes, a position of such strategic importance that it has been occupied continuously for at least two thousand years. The Ojibwe people called it Baawitigong, "place of the rapids," and fished the turbulent waters where whitefish gathered in enormous numbers. French Jesuit missionaries arrived in the seventeenth century and gave the rapids their current name, while the construction of the Soo Locks in 1855 transformed the city into one of North America's most vital shipping chokepoints — more tonnage passes through these locks each year than through the Panama and Suez canals combined.

The Soo Locks are the city's undisputed attraction. From the viewing platform at the Soo Locks Park, visitors watch in fascination as enormous lake freighters — some over 300 meters long, carrying iron ore, grain, and coal — are raised or lowered the 6.4-meter difference between the two Great Lakes. The process takes roughly forty-five minutes, and the precision with which these massive vessels navigate the narrow lock chambers never fails to impress. The Soo Locks Boat Tours offer a more intimate perspective, taking passengers through the locks themselves alongside the commercial traffic.

The cuisine of Sault Sainte Marie reflects its Great Lakes geography and multicultural heritage. Lake Superior whitefish, a local delicacy prized for its mild, sweet flavor, is served pan-fried, smoked, or in a chowder that warms against the northern chill. The city's Italian community, drawn by mining and construction jobs in the early twentieth century, contributes excellent pizzas and pastas. Finnish and Scandinavian influences appear in the pasty — a hand-held meat-and-vegetable pie adopted from Cornish miners and embraced throughout the Upper Great Lakes as the perfect working lunch. Craft breweries overlooking the St. Marys River serve IPAs and stouts that pair well with the hearty northern fare.

Beyond the locks, the region surrounding Sault Sainte Marie offers exceptional natural beauty. The Algoma region, stretching north along the eastern shore of Lake Superior, is one of Ontario's most spectacular wilderness areas — a landscape of boreal forest, river canyons, and the Agawa Canyon, whose autumn colors rival any in eastern North America. The Agawa Canyon Tour Train, a full-day rail excursion through the wilderness, is the region's most popular attraction during the September-October foliage season. Lake Superior Provincial Park, south of the city, offers hiking, paddling, and the chance to view Ojibwe pictographs painted on the lake's granite cliffs centuries ago.

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises and Viking include Sault Sainte Marie on their Great Lakes itineraries, with ships transiting the Soo Locks as part of the journey between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. The lock transit itself is a highlight of any Great Lakes cruise. The best time to visit is June through October, with early autumn offering the most spectacular foliage and comfortable temperatures.