ROADSIDE CANADA - Roadside attractions in the Great White North

Wardell

New member
I read through the Roadside America thread Eddie started, and I was very impressed with all the little attractions along the highway that people were sharing there. It's inspired me to start a Canadian version of the thread.

I haven't done a huge amount of highway traveling with my Jeep yet, but I did make one significant trip in halfway across the country November 2014 when I moved from Ottawa to Yellowknife. I drove the main route of the Trans-Canada highway west until Calgary, then turned north, going through Edmonton before taking the Mackenzie Highway there rest of the way into the Northwest Territories. The whole drive was just shy of 5700 km (3500 miles) which more that doubled the odometer on my new Jeep. Here's some pics of a few of the places I stopped at along the way. I wish I had a passenger for the trip to take more pictures - the scenery was amazing - but there's only so much I could do while driving.

The "Big Nickel" in Sudbury, ON.

1 - Big Nickel.jpg

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Chippewa Falls. It's the "halfway point" in the Trans-Canada Highway, even though it was fairly early in my trip.

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The "Wawa Goose" in Wawa, ON. There's actually more than one. The first one overlooks the highway.

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The second one is just off the highway as you're driving in the town. It's starting to show its age. (There was a third big goose that I noticed on the roof of a motel as I was driving away, but I didn't get a shot of it.)

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The Terry Fox Memorial in Thunder Bay, ON. This is near where he was forced to end his Marathon of Hope (which he started in St John's, NL).

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There's a pretty nice view from the memorial to Lake Superior, but unfortunately it was a really grey and cloudy morning when I took the pic.

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From here I took the southern route to go through Lake Superior Provincial Park. The views here are amazing. I'd definitely like to camp here for a night the next time I'm driving through (hopefully it will be during the summer).

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Crossing 90° latitude and moving into the next time zone.

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Saw this little place in Fort Vermilion, ON and just had to stop. It was closed for the season (like most places I saw along the way), and apparently it was for sale too.

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One of many Inuksuk I saw along the way. This was one of the nicest ones, close to the "fort."

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Crossing from Ontario into Manitoba. Unfortunately it was already night by the time I got here.

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And crossing from Manitoba into Saskatchewan the next day. It's also where I crossed into Mountain Time, but unlike in Ontario there wasn't a sign indicating that.

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A wider angle shot here... note how flat the prairies are...

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More pics to follow in a second post...
 
The Indianhead, in Indianhead, SK. Apparently there was a TV series filmed here too...

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One of the grain elevators along the way. I had expected to see more, but I think they're more frequent along the Yellowhead Highway to the north.

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The big moose in Moose Jaw, SK. There's also a Tutor from the Snowbirds in the background.

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A little western saloon I saw in a little village in Saskatchewan. I wish I could have stopped here for a pint.

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Crossing into Alberta.

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On the Mackenzie Highway now. Apparently this truckstop in Valleyview, AB has the best restroom in Canada. I can believe it, it was quite nice.

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Crossing the 60th Parallel and leaving the provinces behind.

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Alexandria Falls. I didn't expect to see such a nice waterfall along the way. I'm definitely going to have to come back and camp in the park here this summer. There is another smaller waterfall here too that's supposed to be very nice as well, but the route to it was closed for the season. I'd have walked out to it, but since there was a lot less daylight when I got this far north I really couldn't spare the time.

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On NT Highway 3 now, heading around the north of Great Slave Lake towards Yellowknife. The whole area is a buffalo preserve. (Note to self for next time - getting out to take the pic was a bad idea... fortunately for me they were too busy relaxing to care that I was there).

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And finally - when I arrived!

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Anyone else have any good pics from roadside spots in Canada? Please share!
 
1424016258991.jpgFrom the top of sleeping giant provincial park. 1424016440509.jpgBobby Orr museum in his hometown of Parry Sound, Ontario. 1424016537420.jpg

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