Circle Lake Huron or the Georgian Bay?

[Imustwander]

We are planing a week to circle either Lake Huron or the Georgian Bay starting and ending at the Mackinac Bridge. Can anyone suggest one route over the other?

We are planing to begin from the Mac and travel Southeast to Manitoulin Island to South Baymouth to take the ferry to Tobermory, but then we can either turn East to travel North around the Georgian Bay or South around Lake Huron back into MI.

Also, any suggestions for not to miss sights along either way would be much appreciated. This will be our first trip into Canada. We are looking for natural wonders. We love hiking and waterfalls, cute towns. We have a dog, so extended absences or non-dog-friendly sights are hard to do.

Very excited!

[sirtate]

Originally Posted by Imustwander

We are planing a week to circle either Lake Huron or the Georgian Bay starting and ending at the Mackinac Bridge. Can anyone suggest one route over the other?



We are planing to begin from the Mac and travel Southeast to Manitoulin Island to South Baymouth to take the ferry to Tobermory, but then we can either turn East to travel North around the Georgian Bay or South around Lake Huron back into MI.



Also, any suggestions for not to miss sights along either way would be much appreciated. This will be our first trip into Canada. We are looking for natural wonders. We love hiking and waterfalls, cute towns. We have a dog, so extended absences or non-dog-friendly sights are hard to do.



Very excited!

You'll want to do Georgian Bay.

Although you could lap both in not much more time, the Chi-Chi-Mon takes a few hours.

The north side of Georgian Bay touches upon the Canadian Shield and is quite beautiful and full of interesting wildlife (moose, bear, chipmunks, etc)

From Tobermory, you'd run east and then North to Sudbury, before turning west on 17 to head back to the Sault.

To go West, you'll just drive through scenery that resembles Northern Ohio and SE Michigan... Although the sunsets of Bayfield are among the 10 best in the world according to National Geographic.

I'd personally skip the ferry and do a clockwise trip around both, it'll add 6 hours of driving...(you could even drive past Toronto if you feel masochistic)

[Jim Flower]

The route between the Sault and Sudbury is currently lousy with construction. The route west of the Sault is one of the most picturesque in Canada but it is a long way around Lake Superior. The route around Georgian Bay is through cottage country, and although beautiful, trailers are a bit of an impediment to hasty arrival at the cottage. The route down the Bruce Peninsula to Owen Sound and then back a bit to #21 takes you along the east side of Huron with some great camping opportunities and an easy cross at Sarnia/Port Huron. There are numerous nice towns and some awesome Provincial Parks along this route. Either way, you are in for a great adventure. Jim

[Imustwander]

Thanks for the advice! I really appreciate the info. We are still looking at each route. I think the Georgian Bay will be the winner. Happy trails!

[Imustwander]

Thanks for your suggestions on which route to take. We ended up spending a lovely 7 nights traveling around the Georgian Bay Clock-wise.

1 night Soo Locks Campground
2 nights Killarney Provincial Park
2 nights Land's End RV Park (Tobermory)
1 night Batman's (Manitoulin)
1 night Taquamonon Falls State Park

I wish we had had more time to explore more of the bay from Killarney to Tobermory and Manitoulin Island. The highlights of the trip were Killarney and the ferry trip (a novel experience when you're from Texas).

Killarney was absolutely beautiful. Full of people, but everyone was very nice and respectful. The campsites seemed semi private even though there were so many and they were very close together. It was our first dry camping experience and all went well.

A great trip!

[sirtate]

Originally Posted by Imustwander

Thanks for your suggestions on which route to take. We ended up spending a lovely 7 nights traveling around the Georgian Bay Clock-wise.



1 night Soo Locks Campground

2 nights Killarney Provincial Park

2 nights Land's End RV Park (Tobermory)

1 night Batman's (Manitoulin)

1 night Taquamonon Falls State Park



I wish we had had more time to explore more of the bay from Killarney to Tobermory and Manitoulin Island. The highlights of the trip were Killarney and the ferry trip (a novel experience when you're from Texas).



Killarney was absolutely beautiful. Full of people, but everyone was very nice and respectful. The campsites seemed semi private even though there were so many and they were very close together. It was our first dry camping experience and all went well.



A great trip!

I love Land's End park in Tobermory...

We were able to score one if the spots just behind the beach in early July...

[Imustwander]

We really enjoyed it lands end also. We did not plan to be there, just sort of picked it at random. So glad we did! We were not on the side with the beach, but walked over there and thought it was so beautiful. A really nice campground for sure!

A part of our trip that was so fun, was that everyone who saw our Texas license plates were so surprised that we were so far from home LOL!