Ontario: 

 The Highway  

 Province  

 Cities & Towns  

 Accommodation  

 Links & Info  

 Travel Tips  

 Home  

 British Columbia 

 Alberta 

 Saskatchewan 

 Manitoba 

 Ontario 

 Quebec 

 New Brunswick 

 Nova Scotia 

 PEI 

 Newfoundland 

 Yukon Territory 

 Northwest Terr 

 Nunavut 

Home > Ontario's Trans-Canada Highway > Ignace to Thunder Bay Itinerary

Ontario Trans-Canada Highway Route: Hihgway #17 between Ignace and Thunder Bay, Ontario

Here is the itinerary for the 247 km along #17 between Ignace and Thunder Bay:

Ignace was founded in 1879 and was a key water route to Lake of the Woods for early settlers. When the CPR was built through northern Ontario, it became a divisional point for taking on water and coal. Today is a jumping off point for prospectors and miners.

This area is traversed by waterways, which were much more convenient for travel and transportation by First Nations and early explorers, than cutting through the dense forests. The English River starts its westward path to the Winnipeg River into Hudson's Bay, and was a major fur trading route into the area. Today, the river generates significant amounts of hydro power. Towns like Upsala are key points for visitors to get to the many fly-in fishing resorts in the area. Early fur traders used a portage at Savanne Portage to connect east to Lac du Mielieu (near Raith) to the Kaministkwia River to complete a fur trading route between Lake of the Woods and Lake Superior, at Thunder Bay. Raith marks another Continental Divide, with points to the north and west flowing into Hudson's Bay, and points to the southeast flowing to the Great Lakes and the Atlantic.

The highway passes Kakabeka Falls, where the Kaministikwia River plunges 40 metres into a gorge. Kakabeka is Ojibwa for "thundering waters". According to legend, an invading party of Sioux Indians captured the daughter of the local Ojibwa chief who escaped by jumping over the falls, and warning her tribe to successfully fight off the Sioux..


The soils from here to Thunder Bay are flat and have rich sandy soils, well suited to potato farming, as well as for forage crops fed to cattle, sheep and pigs. Before you reach the Thunder Bay Expressway, which bypasses the on a high hill overlooking Lake Superior, you will pass close to the original fur trading for, Fort William. It was established by the Montreal-based North West Company in 1789, and became a Hudson's Bay company fort after the firms amalgamated in 1821. Today, Thunder Bays is a key shipping point for prairie wheat, as indicated by the many grain elevators seen along the waterfront.

Use mouse to drag/move map. Click on "+" or "-" to zoom in or out. "Satellite" shows photo, "Hybrid" combines map & photo.

Next West: Kenora to Ignace

Next East: Thunder Bay to Marathon

Ontario Highways road condition reports for this segment.

KM from Start		Highway Point Description	Municipality	GPS and Map Zoom
EB	WB
0	247	Junction Hwy 599, N to Silver Dollar (69 km)	Ignace	Map Zoom
13	234	Green Pines Campground R V Park, north side of highway		Map Zoom
56	191	English River town & river crossing	EnglishRiver	Map Zoom
68	179	Picnic area W side		Map Zoom
85	162	Picnic area, N side		Map Zoom
86	161	Graham Rd crossing		Map Zoom
83	164	Beaver Creek crossing		Map Zoom
86	161	Fire Steel River crossing		Map Zoom
89	158	Little Fire Steel River crossing		Map Zoom
102	145	Town of Upsala, OPP detachment	Upsala	Map Zoom
103	144	Gonyou Rd (W)	Upsala	Map Zoom
108	139	Inwood Township Rd, access to Inwood PP, information center		Map Zoom
110	137	Mille Lakes Rd, access to Thousand Lakes Resort (10 km, Upsala, ON P0T 2Y0 Tel: (877) 986-1633		Map Zoom
114	133	Rd crossing, to Lac des Mille Lac Indian Resrvation		Map Zoom
119	128	Sawmill Bay Rd, access to Cap Sawmill Bay (General Delivery, Upsala, ON P0T 2Y0, Tel: (807) 986-2427 _		Map Zoom
122	125	Little Savanne River crossing	Savanne	Map Zoom
122	125	Exit to Savanne River Resort	Savanne	Map Zoom
127	120	Services N side of hwy		Map Zoom
141	106	Dog River Rd (N)		Map Zoom
142	105	Spencer Rd, and view of Florence Lake		Map Zoom
146	101	Time Zone Change, east bound traffic, put watches ahead 1 hour, west bound traffic, set watches 1 hour back		Map Zoom
148	99	Lake Rd, town of Raith	Raith	Map Zoom
151	96	Roadside Turnout with viewpoint on south side	Raith	Map Zoom
177	70	Junction Hwy 11 (to Fort Frances), & 17		Map Zoom
177	70	East Oskandaga River crossing		Map Zoom
195	52	Shebandowan River Crossing, Sunshine Loop (S) western exit		Map Zoom
188	59	Finmark Rd, town of Finmark, OPP detachment	Finmark	Map Zoom
195	52	Shebandowan River Crossing		Map Zoom
197	50	Sunshine Loop, east exit		Map Zoom
198	49	Junction 102, E alternate route to Thunder Bay		Map Zoom
200	47	Wiljala Dr (W)		Map Zoom
204	43	Mokomon Rd crossing		Map Zoom
207	40	Lundstrom Rd crossing		Map Zoom
211	36	Hunt Rd (W), pass Lake to E		Map Zoom
213	34	Junction Hwy 590 (W) to Bible Camp & camping, crossing river above falls		Map Zoom
214	33	Exit to Kakabeka Falls viewpoint	Kakabeka Falls	Map Zoom
228	19	Clergue St (N)		Map Zoom
219	28	Hwy 588 (S) Junction	Kakabeka Falls	Map Zoom
222	25	McFarlane Rd crossing		Map Zoom
224	23	Railway underpass		Map Zoom
226	21	Fraser Rd crossing		Map Zoom
228	19	Vibert Rd crossing		Map Zoom
230	17	Twin City Crossroads (Hwy 130) crossing		Map Zoom
232	15	25th Sideroad (S) junction, Hwy 17 to E is also Artur St W		Map Zoom
233	14	25th Sideroad (N)		Map Zoom
234	13	Overpass Motel (2410 Arthur Street West , Thunder Bay, ON P7K 1E6 , (807) 475 7758)		Map Zoom
235	12	20th Sideroad (S)		Map Zoom
235	12	Mapleward Rd (N)		Map Zoom
236	11	Garden Ave		Map Zoom
237	10	Vanguard Ave (N), Thunder Bay Airport boundary to S	Thunder Bay	Map Zoom
238	9	Parkdale Blvd (N) access to shopping, Morgan Ave (S), Thunder Bay Airport boundary	Thunder Bay	Map Zoom
239	8	Arthur Street Market (N)	Thunder Bay	Map Zoom
239	8	Neebing Ave (N) Valhalla Inn Rd (S), access to service and accommodation	Thunder Bay	Map Zoom
239	8	Neebing River crossing	Thunder Bay	Map Zoom
242	5	Harbour Expressway (E) to Intercity shopping & services	Thunder Bay	Map Zoom
245	2	Oliver Rd , access to Downtown North (Port Arthur), Casino, Marina	Thunder Bay	Map Zoom
246	1	Junction John St, access to Downtown North (Port Arthur), Casino, Marina	Thunder Bay	Map Zoom
247	0	Junction Hwy 102, Dawson Rd (W), Red River Rd (E)	Thunder Bay	Map Zoom
249	-2	Crossing McVicar Creek, Shuniah Park to W of hwy	Thunder Bay	Map Zoom
249	-2	EB Exit for Huron Ave	Thunder Bay	Map Zoom
249	-2	Junction Balsam Ave	Thunder Bay	Map Zoom
255	-8	Current River crossing,. Blvd Park to E	Thunder Bay	Map Zoom
255	-8	Hodder Ave (S) to downtown Port Arthur	Thunder Bay	Map Zoom
KM from Start		Highway Point Description	Municipality	GPS and Map Zoom
EB	WB