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Hunts' Guide to Michigan's UPPER PENINSULA
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JUST OUT!
A new edition of Hunts' Mapguide to Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Over 300 entries, all conveniently located on maps and chosen because we think they are the coolest things to do in the U.P. (No ad tie-ins!) Great choices for restaurants, hikes, shops, adventures, museums, boat trips, waterfalls, vistas, road trips, and much more!
To learn more click UP MAP GUIDE
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SAULT STE. MARIE CANADA
POINTS
OF
INTEREST
Agawa Canyon Tour Train and Snow Train. 114 miles up into the wilderness, with panoramas viewed from the comfort of a passenger train ...
more
Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site. A close-up look, with historical and technological perspective, at the 1895 Canadian canal, built next to but well after the American locks ...
more
Lock Tours Canada. A 2-hour boat tour past not just the locks but eerily looming Algoma Steel Works ...
more
St. Mary's River Boardwalk. A beautiful mile-long downtown riverfront boardwalk, dotted with fishing platforms and interpretive markers about key events in area history ...
more
Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre. In a 1940s hanger, see the planes that pioneered fighting forest fires from the air ...
more
Ermatinger/Clergue Heritage Site. An 1814 stone house, once a fur trading post, has been brought back to life with period furnishings and costumed interpreters ...
more
Art Gallery of Algoma. Stimulating art (24 shows/year) and a cool museum shop and sculpture garden in a beautiful riverfront setting. ...
more
Sault Ste. Marie Museum. In an unusual and interesting 1906 post office, tour a museum that illuminates local Indian, maritime, military, and industrial history ...
more
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Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre
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The well-done museum with its 19 striking bushplanes is a must-see for anyone crossing the border. It appeals to people with an interest in history and the outdoors, not just to airplane fans.
Seaplanes & bushplanes enjoy an illustrious Canadian heritage of adventure and heroic firefighting service. Flying to wilderness lakes and fishing camps made them an early form of adventure travel. It all started right here on the Sault Ste. Marie waterfront. The Ontario Provincial Air Service was started here in 1924. Its mission was to send out planes to patrol and report forest fires via radio. Planes also surveyed timberlands, and occasionally brought food to parties in the bush who hadn't planned for adequate supplies. Later, the air service devised the water-bombing technique, and in 1947 sent out the first planes to fight fires. Later seaplanes were used to reach lumber, mining, and hunting camps.
When the planes became amphibious and land-based, float plane veterans took over this impressive 1940s waterfront hangar as their museum. Here they work restoring planes and organizing bushplane history materials and historical displays. They're the guides, too, and able to speak from experience.
The introductory slide show is excellent. Exhibits include a life-size scene from a firefighters' bush camp, a hands-on engine test cell, a radio lab, a fire station, and vintage survival gear. Dr. Roberta Bondar, Canada's first woman in space and a native of Sault Ste. Marie, is commemorated in a display here.
There's a big aviation gift shop, too. The extensive website, www.bushplane.com , is replete with many historic photos and stories, floatplane events, and links with related sites.
On Pim St. at the water, reached via Bay St. about half a mile east of Station Mall downtown. (705) 945-6242. Open daily year-round. From June through Sept. open 9-6. Otherwise open 10-4. $10.50/adult ($8:40 U.S.), $5/student, $2/child, under 5 free. Wheelchair-accessible.
Return to Sault Ste. Marie Canada
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