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Ontario Trans-Canada Highway Route: Highway #17 from Sault Ste Marie to Sudbury, Ontario
Here is the itinerary for the 301 km along Highway #17 from Sault Ste Marie to Sudbury:
At the end of the last Ice Age, Lake Nippissing was larger than all of the Great Lakes, and its melt waters flowed eastward via North Bay to the Ottawa River. As the land rose, without the weight of the now receding 2 kilometer thick ice sheet, the Ottawa River route was blocked and the modern south-flowing route via the Great Lakes began to form. Sand and silts of the former lake bottom, littered with "erratic" boulders and stones dropped by the glaciers and subsequent melt waters, were quickly overgrown with spruce.
The St Mary's River is the waterway that lets water from Lake Superior flow into the lower Great Lakes. There are great views along the waterfront, particularly at Bondar Park and at the International bridge. Travellers to/from the east, will not see St Lawrence shipping , since the freighters use the American Locks and travel south of Sugar Island, on the American side.
Desbarats is the access point for the very scenic St Joseph's Island. This 220 square mile island marks the northern terminus of the Niagara Escarpment (of which Manitoulin Island is also a part), It has a lake-moderated client, and has many trees and plants more common in southern Ontario, including maple and beech. Along the southern edge of the Island are prime lake freighter watching locations.
Between Manitoulin Island and the north shore of Lake Huron is the North Channel. This was long home to a commercial fishery, centered around Thessalon and Blind River, until the opening of the Welland Canal caused the invasion of the parasitic sea lamprey from the Atlantic Ocean, reducing catches in the 1960s. The North Channel is still a recreational boating paradise, being protected from Lake Huron storms.
Bruce Mines was a copper mine that was active from 1846 to 1876. The town also has a colony of double-crested cormorants. Between Bruce Mines and Blind River are patches of fertile but poorly-drained clay coils, that attracted farmers in the early settlement days, but are beginning to revert to forest. The Mississagi River, once used for transporting logs from the forest to Great Lakes shipping at Blind River, is now dammed for hydro-electic power.
Between Blind River and Massey, the lakeshore follows the Murray Fault, an east-west fracture running pretty-well parallel to the highway. This fault was filled in by gravel and silt during the Ice Age, providing a relatively flat surface for highway and railway lines. Unfortunately, a high water table (and an acidic one at that) have made the ground more suitable for swamp than for farming. Travellers will notice black spruce and alder trees in the wetter areas, with white pine and trembling aspen in higher areas.
Serpent River has a brilliant azure blue colour, and can be seen from a rest stop beside the river. Elliott Lake (25 km up highway 108 from Serpent River) is a leading producer of radioactive uranium, from a mine that dates back to the 1950s, extracting the element form a quartz pebble conglomerate that was formed about 2-1.2 billion years ago.
From Espanola, home to a large pulp mill, travelers can access Manitoulin Island, which at 4112 square kilometers (1588 sq miles) is the larges freshwater island in the world. It is even home to the world's largest lake-on-an-island-in-a-lake in the world. Manitoulin was scoured clean by the Ice Age glaciers and has little arable land. The highway to manitoulin skips over a number of small islandsHighway 6 also connects to a ferry that connects Manitoulin Island to Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula, which can be a scenic shortcut to southern Ontario or part of a "Great Circle Tour" around Georgian Bay.
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Ontario Highways road condition reports for this segment.
KM from Start | Highway Point Description | Municipality | GPS and
Map Zoom |
EB | WB |
0 | 301 | Great Northern Rd & Wellington St. west to downtown Sault Ste Marie, International Bridge, east to Highway 17,North to Wawa | Sault Ste Marie | |
1 | 300 | Wellington St & Pine St, S to Bellevue Park | Sault Ste Marie | |
1 | 300 | Wellington St & Trunk Rd at Elizabeth St, Park on S side, Churchill Plaza on E site | Sault Ste Marie | |
2 | 299 | Trunk Rd & Lake St | Sault Ste Marie | |
3 | 298 | Trunk Rd & Black Rd, WB traffic can head N to bypass Sault Ste Marie, west to downtown, and International Bridge | Sault Ste Marie | |
4 | 297 | Trunk Rd & Market St, Wellington Square Mall on S side | Sault Ste Marie | |
4 | 297 | Trunk Rd & Boundary Rd, south to SSM Golf & Country club, N to access Rankin Location Indian Reserve 15D | Sault Ste Marie | |
7 | 294 | Trunk Rd & Fournier Rd, access S to Queen St, and S to access Rankin Location Indian Reserve 14 along St Mary River | Sault Ste Marie | |
8 | 293 | Western boundary of Garden River Indian Reserve 14 | Sault Ste Marie | |
8 | 293 | New Highway 17 Bypass | | |
11 | 290 | Hiawatha Dr | | |
14 | 287 | Point Charles Rd (S), Jordan Mine Rd (N) | | |
14 | 287 | River crossing | | |
15 | 286 | Gemba Rd | | |
18 | 283 | Echo River Rd, view to ## Island (Canada) | | |
23 | 278 | Crossing mouth to ## River, eastern boundary of Garden River Indian Reserve 14 | | |
24 | 277 | Hwy 638 (Church St E) Junction, Echo Bay, west to Island Springs Golf Resort, and Puddington B&B | Echo Bay | |
25 | 276 | Watsons Rd | | |
27 | 274 | Maple Leaf Rd | | |
29 | 272 | Bar River Rd | | |
31 | 270 | River crossing | | |
32 | 270 | Lake George Rd | | |
32 | 269 | Calabogie Rd, airport access to W | | |
36 | 265 | Pumpkin Point Rd | | |
37 | 264 | Neebish Rd | | |
40 | 261 | Town Line Rd, highway curves sharply | | |
41 | 260 | Bar Rd | | |
44 | 257 | Hwy 548 to S, access to St Joseph Island, communities of Richards Landing, Hilton Beach | Desbarats | |
52 | 249 | River crossing, Town of Desbarats | Desbarats | |
52 | 249 | Mink Point Rd | Desbarats | |
55 | 246 | Deplonty Rd (E), Cora Rd (W) | | |
58 | 243 | Archibald Rd (S) | | |
60 | 241 | Boundary Rd (N), Oak Bay Rd (S) | | |
63 | 238 | Bruce Bay St | Bruce Mines | |
6 | 295 | Crawford St, Esso gas & stores | Bruce Mines | |
6 | 295 | Cunningham St (N), access to Harbour | Bruce Mines | |
7 | 294 | Taylor St, shopping | Bruce Mines | |
64 | 237 | Highway 638 (N) | | |
66 | 235 | Road Junction, Mine/Quarry to N and S (watch for trucks) | | |
67 | 234 | Garden Bay Rd (S) | | |
67 | 234 | Waltonen Rd (S) | | |
71 | 230 | Trunk Rd (N) , Perch Bay Rd (S) | | |
79 | 222 | Trunk Rd (S) | | |
82 | 219 | Lakeside Dr (S) into Thessalon | Thessalon | |
83 | 218 | River Rd, S to downtown, all services | Thessalon | |
84 | 217 | Highway 129 (N), River St (S) to downtown, all services | Thessalon | |
88 | 213 | Walker Rd | Thessalon | |
90 | 211 | Pine Ridge Rd | Thessalon | |
91 | 210 | Livingstone Creek Golf Course to S | | |
91 | 210 | Livingston Rd (N) | | |
92 | 209 | Maple Ridge Rd (S), access to Thessalon Indian Reserve 12 | | |
97 | 204 | Basswood Lake Rd (N) | | |
100 | 201 | Dayton Rd (S) | | |
103 | 198 | Melwel Rd (N) | | |
106 | 195 | Clear Lake Camp (N side of hwy) | | |
109 | 192 | Bright Lake Rd (S) | | |
111 | 190 | River crossing | | |
111 | 190 | Highway 546 (N) Main Street. Town of Iron Bridge, all services | Iron Bridge | |
118 | 183 | Dean Lake Rd (W), bridge over river | | |
121 | 180 | Old Mine Rd (NO | | |
128 | 173 | Rd to N | | |
130 | 171 | Rd with west access to Mississagi River Indian Reserve 8 (N) | | |
132 | 169 | Village Rd (N), services and access to Mississagi River Indian Reserve 8 (N) | | |
133 | 168 | Eldorado Rd (S), access to golf course | | |
136 | 165 | Eastern boundary of Mississagi River Indian Reserve 8 (N) | | |
137 | 164 | Michigan Ave (S) access to marina | Blind River | |
138 | 163 | junction Hwy 557/555 (N), town of Blind River, river crossing | Blind River | |
139 | 162 | Leacock St(N) | Blind River | |
141 | 160 | Rue Oak (S), access to beach area | | |
148 | 153 | Boundary Rd (S), Hwy 538 | | |
149 | 152 | Lauzon Village Rd (N) | | |
153 | 148 | Hwy 538 (S) | | |
157 | 144 | Access to large quarry/mine to S | | |
158 | 143 | Access to gravel pit to S | | |
161 | 140 | Spragge town rd, access to Serpent Harbour marina (S) | Serpent Harbour | |
164 | 137 | Spragge town settlement (S), Wagoosh Lake Rd (N) | | |
165 | 136 | Sheppards Lane (N) | | |
165 | 136 | Strawberry Hill Rd (N) and Martin Rd (S), shopping to NW, Campground to S overlooking Serpent River | Spragge | |
167 | 134 | Highway 108 (N) junction to Elliott Lake & Mississagi River Provincial Park, truck weigh station (S) | Serpent River | |
167 | 134 | Riverview Rd (S), west access to Serpent River Indian Reserve 7 | | |
172 | 129 | Rest & Picnic Area, S side of Hwy | | |
173 | 128 | Riverview Rd (S), east access to Serpent River Indian Reserve 7 | | |
177 | 124 | Village Rd (S), east access to Serpent River Indian Reserve 7 | Cutler | |
179 | 122 | Eastern boundary of Serpent River Indian Reserve 7 | | |
185 | 116 | Johns St, access S to Spanish Marina | Spanish | |
186 | 115 | Colonization Rd (S), town of Spanish, all services | Spanish | |
189 | 112 | Water Falls Rd (N), access to Brookwood Brae Golf Course, all services | Spanish | |
194 | 107 | Sugar Lake Rd (N), River Rd (S) west access to Sagamok Indian Reserve 5 | | |
204 | 97 | Gage Rd (N), Government Rd (S) | Massey | |
206 | 95 | Highway 553 junction, town of Massey, N to Chutes PP, S to Indian Reserve Rd with east access to Sagamok Indian Reserve 5, Lee Valley Rd | Massey | |
207 | 94 | River crossing | Massey | |
207 | 94 | Birch Lake Rd (N) | Massey | |
222 | 79 | Agnew Lake Rd, town of Webbwood | Webbwood | |
223 | 78 | town of Webbwood, services both sides | Webbwood | |
232 | 69 | Highway 6 Junction, town of Espanola 3 km Little Current on Manitoulin Island (53 km), via Whitefish River Indian Reserve 4 | Espanola | |
234 | 67 | Levert Rd (N) | | |
237 | 64 | Rest Area N side of hwy | | |
239 | 62 | Jacklin Rd (S) | | |
240 | 61 | River crossing, Rd to N on W side | | |
245 | 56 | Old Nairn Rd (N) | | |
248 | 53 | Spence St | Nairn Centre | |
249 | 52 | McDonald St | Nairn Centre | |
252 | 49 | Lone Falls Rd (S) | | |
269 | 32 | Highway 55 (S) west access to Whitefish PP, Holiday Beach Campground, Whitefish Lake Indian Reserve 6 | | |
269 | 32 | Bay St, Highway 3 N to Fairbank PP, Highway 17 to east is "twinned" | | |
272 | 29 | River crossing | | |
283 | 18 | Highway 144 north junction, to Chelmsford (18 km), Dowling, Onaping, and north to Timmins | | |
285 | 16 | Santala Rd S to Service Rd, all services | | |
286 | 15 | Highway 24 to Black Lake Rd (S) services along Hwy 55, Main St (N) in Lively services | Lively | |
288 | 13 | Major junction Highway 55, Old Highway 17 (S) to Mikkola, N to Copper Cliff | Sudbury | |
290 | 11 | Fielding Rd (N) access to Fielding Park, Kelley Lake Dam Kantola Rd (S), Highway 17 "twinned" to W | Sudbury | |
293 | 8 | Southview Rd (N) access to Sudbury, Jarvis Rd (S) to Long Lake | Sudbury | |
298 | 3 | Long Lake Rd S to Long Lake, N to Sudbury via Paris St (7 km) all services & hospital | Sudbury | |
301 | 0 | Major Interchange Highway 46 (Regent St) N into Sudbury, all services & hospital, and Highway 69 S to OPP, Parry Sound, Barrie, Toronto | Sudbury | |
KM from Start | Highway Point Description | Municipality | GPS and
Map Zoom |
EB | WB |
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