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Top Attractions in Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay is a city in, and the seat of, Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario with a population of 108,359 as of the Canada 2011 Census, and the second most populous in Northern Ontario after Greater Sudbury. The census metropolitan area of Thunder Bay has a population of 121,596, and consists of the city of Thunder Bay, the municipalities of Oliver Paipoonge and Neebing, the townships of Shuniah, Conmee, OConnor, and Gillies, and the Fort William First Nation. European settlement in the region began in the late 17th century with a French fur trading outpost on the banks of the Kaministiquia River. It grew into an important transportation hub with its port forming an important link in the shipping of grain and other products from western Canada, through the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the east coast. Forestry and manufacturing played important roles in the citys economy. They have declined in recent years, but have been replaced by a "knowledge economy" based on medical research and education. Thunder Bay is the site of the Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute. The city takes its name from the immense Thunder Bay at the head of Lake Superior, known on 18th-century French maps as Baie du Tonnerre . The city is often referred to as the "Lakehead", or "Canadian Lakehead", because of its location at the end of Great Lakes navigation on the Canadian side of the border.

Sleeping Giant

The Sleeping Giant is a formation of mesas and sills on Sibley Peninsula which resembles a giant lying on its back when viewed from the west to north-northwest section of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. As one moves southward along the shoreline toward Squaw Bay the Sleeping Giant starts to separate into its various sections. Most distinctly in the view from the cliffs at Squaw Bay the Giant appears to have an "Adams Apple". The formation is part of Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. Its dramatic steep cliffs are among the highest in Ontario . The southernmost point is known as Thunder Cape, depicted by many early Canadian artists such as William Armstrong. An Ojibway legend identifies the giant as Nanabijou, who was turned to stone when the secret location of a rich silver mine now known as Silver Islet was disclosed to white men.

Kakabeka Falls

Kakabeka Falls is a waterfall on the Kaministiquia River, located beside the village of Kakabeka Falls in the municipality of Oliver Paipoonge, Ontario, 30 km west of the city of Thunder Bay. The falls have a drop of 40 m, cascading into a gorge carved out of the Precambrian Shield by meltwater following the last glacial maximum. Because of its size and ease of access, it has been consequently nicknamed "the Niagara of the North". The rock face of the falls and the escarpments along the gorge are composed primarily of unstable shale, and are eroding. These rocks host sensitive flora, and contain some of the oldest fossils in existence, some 1.6 billion years of age. Due to the fragile rock, going into the gorge below the falls is prohibited. The name "Kakabeka" comes from the Ojibwe word gakaabikaa "waterfall over a cliff" .

Pukaskwa National Park

Pukaskwa National Park is a national park located south of the town of Marathon, Ontario in the Thunder Bay District of northern Ontario, Canada. Established in 1978, Pukaskwa is known for its vistas of Lake Superior and boreal forests. The park covers an area of 1,878 square kilometres, and protects part of the longest undeveloped shoreline anywhere on the Great Lakes. The Hattie Cove Campground is located at the north end of the park and can be accessed via Highway 627, the only road access into the park. There are also a number of backcountry campsites located along the 60km Coastal Hiking Trail which follows the north shore of Lake Superior. The Coastal Hiking Trail has two suspension bridges; one across the White River at Chigaamiwinigum and one across the Willow River. The Coastal Hiking Trail is part of the long-distance Voyageur Hiking Trail. Backcountry campsites are also located along the Coastal Paddling Route, the White River, and the Pukaskwa River. Black bears, moose, Canadian Lynx and grey wolves are found in the park. There is also a small population of Woodland caribou but their numbers declined from 30 caribou in the 1970s to about four in 2012 mainly due to wolf predation.

Jackknife Bascule Bridge

The Jackknife Bascule Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Kaministiquia River at Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, to link the city to Mission Island, one of two islands in the Kaministiquia River delta. The bridge was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway between August 1910 and April 1913. The contractor for the abutments and piers was Alexander Charles Stewart . The bridge had two decks, the lower deck for trains and the upper deck for vehicular road traffic. The vehicular portion of the bridge was replaced by the Island Drive Bridge, which connects neighbouring McKellar Island to the mainland, in 2003. The connecting roadways and upper deck of the Jackknife Bridge were dismantled in 2004, but the lower deck continues to function as the only rail link to the islands.

Fort Kaministiquia

Fort Kaministiquia, was a French fort located on the north shore of Lake Superior at Thunder Bay, Ontario at the mouth of the Kaministiquia River. It and Grand Portage to the west were the starting points of the canoe route from the Great Lakes to western Canada. See Canadian canoe routes . Details of the route can be found under Kaministiquia River. In 1685 Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut built a post nearby. In 1688 Jacques de Noyon went from Kaministiquia as far as Rainy Lake. In 1696 the post was abandoned along with many western posts when the system of fur trade permits was abolished due to a surplus of beaver. In 1717 Zacharie Robutel de la Noue was sent west to find the western sea. It is not clear how far inland he got but he seems to have established Fort Kaministiquia and remained there until 1721. Coureurs des bois seem to have spread out from the fort, but we only know of them from rumors picked up by the English on Hudson Bay. Morton thinks they may have gotten as far as Lake Winnipeg. From 1717 it was one of the postes du nord which included a post on the Nipigon River and one at Michipicoten. La Vérendrye took over the postes du nord in 1728 and in 1731-1743 he pushed trade and exploration west beyond Lake Winnipeg, mainly via Grand Portage using Kaministiquia as a base. It was abandoned in 1758 or 1760 with the fall of New France. Trade was open again by at least 1767, most likely using the easier Grand Portage. When the North West Company was driven out of Grand Portage they established Fort William on the site of Fort Kaministiquia. Whatever remains of the fort is probably buried under the town of Thunder Bay.

Ouimet Canyon

Ouimet Canyon is a large gorge in the municipality of Dorion, Thunder Bay District in northwestern Ontario, Canada, about 60 kilometres northeast of the city of Thunder Bay. The gorge is 100 metres deep, 150 metres wide and 2,000 metres long, protected as part of Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park. There is a walkway consisting of boardwalks and trails, which leads to viewing platforms overlooking the canyon. Visitors to the canyon should remain on the marked trails for their own safety. Also in the Ouimet Canyon area, there are rare alpine flowers that are considered especially beautiful and arctic plants normally found one thousand kilometres further north. The canyon is shown in the IMAX film North of Superior. The canyon was named after the former railway station of Ouimet, today an unincorporated place and railway point, located nearby on the Canadian Pacific Railway line. The station itself was named after the Canadian Minister of Public Works from 1892 to 1896, Joseph-Aldric Ouimet. Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park, a day-use park with no camping facilities, covers an area of 7.77 square kilometres around the canyon.

Jackfish

Jackfish is a ghost town in northern Ontario, Canada, located on the north shore of Lake Superior east of Terrace Bay. The last spike on the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) track between Montreal and Winnipeg was driven in west of Jackfish on May 16, 1885.[1][2][3] Laying one particular mile of railway in this area is said to have cost $700,000. Jackfish was established as a train order station on the CPR following the period of railway construction between 1883 and 1885. Initially a siding or passing track was built at this location to allow east and westbound trains to operate on the single track main line. An electrical telegraph enabled the station operator to control the movement of trains with information received from a train dispatcher. With its location as a railway siding, along a beach area, amongst Lake Superior's otherwise rocky shoreline, Jackfish became a port of commercial fishing. Fish were caught here and packed in ice and loaded aboard trains bound for markets in Toronto and Montreal. In 1895 Jackfish was established as a port to receive coal required as fuel for steam trains travelling on the CPR.[4] A dock outfitted with cranes allowed large ships to unload their cargo.[5] From this point, the coal was loaded into cars and delivered to CPR coaling depots such as Schreiber and White River. With the increased activity of steam locomotives shunting cars around, a large water tower was located near the railway tracks. In the 1930s A lumber company here sent logs by ship for use at pulp mills in the United States.[6] During World War II, young Canadian men of Japanese origin from British Columbia were sent to road construction camps, including one at Jackfish, to work on the construction of the Trans-Canada Highway. With the dieselization of CPR's motive power and replacement of its steam engines in the 1950s, the fortunes of the town began to decline. The fish stocks also collapsed with the introduction of the sea lamprey into the Great Lakes. The Lakeview Hotel at Jackfish, built at the end of the 19th century, remained a popular stopping place during the summer for a number of years. The hotel burned down in 1960. By September, 1963 two families remained in Jackfish and they moved out of the town a month later. Hence,the town site was totally abandoned by 1963. The name Jackfish and its railroad connection still exist. The Canadian Pacific Railway operates and maintains a siding named Jackfish located just east of the original Jackfish townsite. The siding is part of the operating infrastructure making up the Heron Bay Subdivision, a defined piece of track which extends from White River to Schreiber, Ontario. Jackfish siding is 6915 feet in length. It is a signalled siding rated for 30 mph. The signals and switches are part of a Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) system operated by a Rail Traffic Controller situated in Canadian Pacific Railway's headquarters in Calgary, Alberta. "Jackfish" is a common name for the Northern Pike.

Silver Islet

Silver Islet refers to both a small rocky island and a small community located at the tip of the Sibley Peninsula in northwestern Ontario, Canada. A rich vein of pure silver was discovered on this small island in 1868 by the Montreal Mining Company. At that time, the island was approximately [50 m²] in size and only 2.5 metres above the waters of Lake Superior. In 1870, the site was developed by Alexander H. Sibley's Silver Islet Mining Company which built wooden breakwaters around the island to hold back the lake's waves and increased the island's area substantially with crushed rock. The islet was expanded to over 10 times its original size and a small mining town was built up on the shore nearby. After most of the purest ore from the original site had been removed, a second vein was discovered in 1878. By 1883, most of the highest quality silver had been extracted and the price of silver had declined. The final straw came when a shipment of coal did not arrive before the end of the shipping season. The pumps holding back the waters of the lake stopped and in early 1884 the islet's mine shafts, which had reached a depth of 384 metres, were flooded. They would never be de-watered, and the mine's underground operations would never be reopened. Over the 16 years that the mine was in operation, $3.25 million worth of silver was extracted. The houses originally built to house miners are now used as private summer cottages. The general store has been restored, and serves light meals in its tea-room, in addition to selling a variety of knicknacks and basic foodstuffs. This is an article written by Syd Hancock, January 21, 1972 on the occasion of Julian Cross's death. As recounted by Syd Hancock, Silver Islet is the home of Julian (Jules) Cross, founder of Steep Rock Iron Mine in Atikokan, Ontario. Outside the Atikokan Library & museum is a bronze plaque erected by the Ontario Department of Public Records and Archives to mark the historical significance of the Steep Rock Iron Range. On December 29, 1971, the man who unveiled this plaque, and made possible the Steep Rock story, Julian Gifford Cross, died at the age of 83. Born at Silver Islet on July 25, 1888, only four years after the closing of that historic silver mine, his destiny and the future of many others was inevitably associated with mining. Sleeping Giant Provincial Park has an excellent exhibit in its visitor centre, detailing the structure and history of the mine. There is speculation that much silver remains to be recovered at this location, but attempts to reopen the mine in 1919 and the 1970s (reprocessing mine tailings) were not successful. The Silver Islet Mine was also where "Vanners" were first used commercially to extract metal from low-grade ore. Known as the "Frue Vanner" as it was named for W. B. Frue, Superintendent of the Silver Islet Mine, who developed the system, it was first installed at the "Stamp Mill" beside "Frue's Brook" on the mainland. Modern versions of the Frue Vanner are still in use today.

Saganaga Lake

Saganaga Lake is a large lake on the Minnesota – Ontario international border. It is protected by the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the United States and by Quetico Provincial Park and La Verendrye Provincial Park in Canada. It is both the deepest and largest lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness with a maximum depth of 280 ft and surface area of 13,832 acres . Saganaga is a popular fishing destination, with northern pike, walleye, lake trout, smallmouth bass, and lake whitefish among others. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has issued a consumption advisory for some fish in Saganaga Lake due to mercury pollution. The Lake is the eastern boundary of the historical Hunter Island region. Saganaga Lake is bordered to the south by Seagull Lake, home to Wilderness Canoe Base.

Waverley Park

Waverley Park is a public park located in the north end of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It is the second oldest municipal park in Ontario. The park forms the centre of the Waverley Park Heritage Conservation District, a collection of historical homes, churches, schools, and other buildings at the centre of Port Arthur. The property was surveyed and set aside as parkland by the Crown Lands Department, in the original ordnance survey of the Prince Arthurs Landing town plot in 1871. It was given to the city of Port Arthur in 1907 on the condition that is "not be alienated or leased and that no buildings be erected on it except municipal buildings". The most notable features of Waverley Park include its giant cottonwood trees, which stand as much as 40 m above the park. In recent years, many have been removed due to advanced age and disease. Other notable features include a fountain, cenotaph, and bandshell. The park is between Waverley Street and Red River Road in Thunder Bay, and is located between two historic schools — Port Arthur Collegiate Institute and Port Arthur Central School — the latter is now home to Magnus Theatre.

Connaught Square

Connaught Square is a public park located in the north end of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly east of Waverley Park across Algoma Street, formed by the conflux of Waverly Street and Red River Road. The square was originally named Gore Park, then renamed in 1936 for Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, after whom the former city of Port Arthur was named. It covers a quarter of an acre, or 1,000 square metres. Contrary to its name is actually triangular. A cairn, built in 1925, at the eastern corner of the park describes its history, and behind it lies the Geodetic Survey of Canadas bench mark for Port Arthur. The bench mark states that it is located 677.7 feet above mean sea level. Located in the centre of Connaught Square is the Centennial Shelter, a project built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Canada in 1967. During the Christmas season, the Knights of Columbus erect a nativity scene beneath the canopy, and a pine tree located just to the east is decorated with coloured lights.

Neys Provincial Park

Neys Provincial Park is a Natural Environment Class provincial park on the north shore of Lake Superior, just west of Marathon, Ontario, Canada. This 5,383-hectare park includes the historic Coldwell Peninsula and the surrounding island system consisting of Pic Island, Detention Island, and the Sullivan Islands. The ghost village of Coldwell, which lies just outside the east boundary of the park, was home to an old railway and fishing community until the 1960s. All that remains of the village now are a few foundations, shipwrecks in the harbour and a cemetery. Within park boundaries is also the muse for Group of Seven member Lawren Harris, who in 1924 painted the now famous image of Pic Island. Only the hardy survive here, including subarctic plants and a rare herd of woodland caribou. Enjoy one of the finest beaches on Lake Superior’s north shore or view a model of a former German Prisoner of War Camp at the Neys Visitor Centre.

Sleeping Giant Provincial Park

Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, established in 1944 as Sibley Provincial Park and renamed in 1988, is a 244-square-kilometre park located on the Sibley Peninsula in Northwestern Ontario, east of Thunder Bay. The nearest communities are Pass Lake, located at the northern entrance to the park, and Dorion, located 35 kilometres NW, both in the township of Shuniah. The seasonal community of Silver Islet is located on the southern tip of the peninsula. The primary feature of the park is the Sleeping Giant, which is most visible from the city of Thunder Bay. The park occupies most of the lower portion of the peninsula excluding the area around the seasonal community of Silver Islet, and a portion of Thunder Cape which is designated as the Thunder Cape Bird Observatory. The eastern portion of the park is lowlands, while the western half is terrain composed of cliffs, valleys, and the mesa–cuestas which make up the Sleeping Giant formation. At its eastern edge, it will touch the future Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area.

Thunder Bay Tourist Pagoda

The Thunder Bay Tourist Pagoda, built in 1909, was an early tourist bureau promoting the city of Port Arthur, Ontario. Located on the waterfront and close to the former train station, the pagoda was intended to attract the attention of visitors arriving by rail or water. Competition with nearby Fort William was one factor leading to its construction. Another factor was the planned construction of the nearby Prince Arthur Hotel, completed around 1910. The hexagonal-shaped structure, designed by architect H. Russell Halton, was in use until 1986, when it was closed. In 1986, the building was designed as a National Historic Site of Canada. It was later reopened as a heritage building. The stone panel over the entrance depicts a beaver and a maple branch, both symbols of Canada. A gable extending over the entrance includes a small dragon’s head, said to be a Scandinavian good luck symbol. In 1961, 1973 and 1985, the roof of the pagoda was painted in multi-coloured polka dots.

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