OT: Help needed from my neighbors to the north...

[Soupermom]

I'm hoping some kind Disers from the Ontario area can help me out. We'll be driving from our home in central Illinois to my parent's cabin in Rhinelander, WI sometime in the end of July of this year. We were going to stay for a few days and return home, but now I think we'll make it our summer vacation and do some exploring. We have never traveled through MI or been to Canada and this seems like a good time to do it. (We do have passports)

Best I can tell, it is about a 5 hour drive to Mackinac Island from Rhinelander. Is this correct? How far from the Island to Ontario?

Any suggestions for activities in the UP?

What would there be for us to do in Ontario?

I'm thinking of spending two days exploring the UP and then heading to Ontario for two days or so before beginning the journey home.

I'm getting ready to send for information from AAA, but I just don't know where to begin with the planning!

Thanks for your help!

 

[crashbb]

I'm hoping some kind Disers from the Ontario area can help me out. We'll be driving from our home in central Illinois to my parent's cabin in Rhinelander, WI sometime in the end of July of this year. We were going to stay for a few days and return home, but now I think we'll make it our summer vacation and do some exploring. We have never traveled through MI or been to Canada and this seems like a good time to do it. (We do have passports)

Best I can tell, it is about a 5 hour drive to Mackinac Island from Rhinelander. Is this correct? How far from the Island to Ontario?

Any suggestions for activities in the UP?

What would there be for us to do in Ontario?

I'm thinking of spending two days exploring the UP and then heading to Ontario for two days or so before beginning the journey home.

I'm getting ready to send for information from AAA, but I just don't know where to begin with the planning!

Thanks for your help!

First you need to figure out WHERE in Ontario you want to go. Asking how far the island is from Ontario is not really answerable since Ontario is about 415,600 sq. miles (for reference, Illinois is about 57,918).

I assume you'd like to stay near the UP, but I don't actually know where/what that is.

If you give more details, you'll probably get more help.

 

[YukiPhnx]

The closest city to MI I know of in Ontario is Thunderbay. I'm from the Golden Horseshoe so I don't know much about it at all....

Ontario is a province and each Canadian province is about the size of a handful of states in the US! And since you'll only be staying for 2 days, you probably won't be very far from the border, and most large cities aren't close to the border.

 

[alamode]

Reminds me of a story a high school friend told me a few years ago. He's a border guard in Niagara Falls, and one day some Americans pulled up in June with skis on a roof rack. They said they were here for the day and wondered which way to Banff.

Now consider:

a) It was June
b)They were "up for the day"
c) Banff is over 1750 miles away (http://www.mapcrow.info/Distance_between_Banff_CA_and_Niagara_Falls_CA.html)

His response? "Turn left."

 

[aanderson5]

I looked up Mackinac Island and I think the closest, largish city is Sault Ste Marie. I have never been there or even close to that part of Ontario so I am not much help. I could give you 100's of interesting things to do/places to see in Southern Ontario but know nothing about that area. As PP mentioned Ontario is huge. We live about 500 miles away from Sault Ste Marie. You are probably almost as close in Danville as we are here. LOL

Here is a tourism site that I found that might be helpful. http://www.saulttourism.com/tourism/?flash=true

 

[rjan67]

There isn't much to do in the Soo. The drive to Thunder Bay is beautiful but would take you 1-2 days to get there. Great for camping. There are amethyst mines, Fort William and the Ouimet Canyon. You could circle round through Minnesota, but would take a total of 2-3 days. It doesn't look as far on the map but is all 2 lane highway. If you go east to Sudbury, there is the Nickel mines and Science North if you have kids. It is really beautiful around Lake Superior, but there is also a lot to do in the UP of Michigan. You may want to stay there unless you can spend more time.

 

[ccudmore]

My wife is from Sault Ste. Marie and we've been to Mackinac Island many times so I have some answers for you...

For those who are looking in, UP is the Upper Peninsula portion of Michigan. I agree that other than Mackinac Island (which is definitely worth the trip to see) there's not a whole lot else to do around there in the UP. There are a few things nearby though:
- The Keewadin Casino (if you don't have kids with you) has lot of entertainment.
- Sault Ste. Marie is a about an hour away. It's a beautiful drive. The one "Don't Miss" attraction is the Agawa Canyon tour train. it's a full day journey that leaves from Sault Ste. Marie. in the morning and travels through the wilderness until you get to the Agawa Canyon, where you can climb the hills, walk through the forest, or just have a picnic. The scenery is amazing.
- The Bushplane museum in Sault Ste Marie is also really good. It's worth visiting for a few hours to see all of the aircraft that opened up the north.

Don't forget that if you go into Canada, you need a passport now (actually you don't need one to get into Canada, you just need it to get back into the U.S.)

If you're going to be in Wisconsin, another thought would be to go to the Wisconsin Dells. I've never been there but I've been told by those who have that it's well worth the trip. You can look it up for details.

Hope this helps.

 

[irisesareblue]

I agree with the PP, the Wisconsin Dells are amazing! Very pretty and lots of things to do - lots of lakes and water parks for the kids.

 

[irisesareblue]

Reminds me of a story a high school friend told me a few years ago. He's a border guard in Niagara Falls, and one day some Americans pulled up in June with skis on a roof rack. They said they were here for the day and wondered which way to Banff.

Now consider:

a) It was June
b)They were "up for the day"
c) Banff is over 1750 miles away (http://www.mapcrow.info/Distance_between_Banff_CA_and_Niagara_Falls_CA.html)

His response? "Turn left."

OMG - hilarious!!!

 

[crashbb]

OMG - hilarious!!!

Heard that story (in various forms) a few times

 

[Soupermom]

I'm sorry, I should have been more specific. I DO realize the size of Ontario, I just figured (assumed--which I know is a no-no ) people would know I meant the Sault Ste. Marie area since I mentioned the UP of Michigan (again, assuming that was a common term on both sides of the border ).

I was thinking of spending 2 days/nights in this area, but maybe there isn't much to do? I just thought it would be neat to visit your country and this might be the only chance we have for a while. It sound like Mackinac Island will be rather crowded the end of July, so I'm not sure if we'll work that in or just stay to the northern coastline and head to Canada. I think we'll return home through lower Michigan, taking the ferry across Lake Michingan into Wisconsin and then heading south to home.

Maybe my thinking is way off target???

 

[Soupermom]

- Sault Ste. Marie is a about an hour away. It's a beautiful drive. The one "Don't Miss" attraction is the Agawa Canyon tour train. it's a full day journey that leaves from Sault Ste. Marie. in the morning and travels through the wilderness until you get to the Agawa Canyon, where you can climb the hills, walk through the forest, or just have a picnic. The scenery is amazing.

Don't forget that if you go into Canada, you need a passport now (actually you don't need one to get into Canada, you just need it to get back into the U.S.).

Is the Agawa Canyon on the US or Canadian side?
We do have passports,

We've been to the Dells and will be spending 3-4 days in northern WI before heading east/north again. I'm really looking for things to do in the UP and Sault Ste. Marie area, plus Mackinac--if I can make that work.


THANKS to everyone for your help!

 

[ccudmore]

Is the Agawa Canyon on the US or Canadian side?

It's on the Canadian side.