Sault Ste. Marie sits on the St. Marys River, the short, fast channel that links Lake Superior to Lake Huron, and the city exists because the water here drops about seven metres over a set of rapids. The Ojibwe called the place Bawating, the place of the rapids, and it was a fishing and gathering ground long before French fur traders arrived in the seventeenth century. The name Sault, pronounced Soo, is the old French word for rapids. A twin city of the same name faces it across the river in Michigan, joined by the International Bridge, and the two are bound together by locks, trade and history.
The Canadian side is the start of one of the great northern drives. Highway 17 climbs away from town through hardwood forest and then follows the Lake Superior shore for hundreds of kilometres, past the cliffs and sandy bays of Lake Superior Provincial Park, with its ancient painted rock at Agawa, and on toward Wawa, home of a giant steel goose, and Marathon. The road is paved and mostly well kept, with long, undulating curves and good views of the lake, and it is known for rock cuts, lake mists and slowly changing light. The Algoma Central Railway, which runs inland from the Soo into the Agawa Canyon, is another local attraction, with autumn colour tours in September and early October.
Practical advice matters here, because the distances are big. Towns north of the Soo are widely spaced, with Wawa and White River the main fuel stops on the long middle stretch, and some stations close early. Moose and deer are common on the road, particularly at dusk. Weather on the lake can be abrupt, with fog, rain and a sharp drop in temperature, even in July. Carry rain gear, and do not count on a mobile signal in the gaps between towns.
Sault Ste. Marie itself has more than sixty thousand people, with all the services you might need, and a steel mill that has been central to its economy for over a century. The waterfront boardwalk and the old lock make a pleasant place to wander before the long ride north.
Finish a day here with whitefish from the lake, and a view of the lights across the river.