Saul Ste. Marie Trip, Advice Please

[speedster]

If you're into 'riding the rails', the Agawa Canyon Train is a good bet (Algoma Central Railway). Very scenic. Kinda pricey though..

Two of us are taking a 5 day trip from GTA to north of Sault Ste. Marie next weekend. We have the route pretty well planned. We are heading up via Tobermory and taking the ferry to Manitoulan Island. When we get to the Sault, will be taking, what they call the “Grand Circle Tour” which goes from Sault Ste. Marie, up to Wawa, over to Chapleau, and back to Thessalon. From there we will head over to Sudbury and then home.

Can anyone advise on any points of interest that we should not miss while on this trip? Also, does anyone have any idea of an interesting route to make it back from the Sault that won’t take more than a day?

 

[7up]

I got back from my trip to Sault Ste. Marie & Wawa earlier this week. The run between 17 to Seachmont was worth it (managed to squeeze in 2 runs while staying in town.) I would recommend jumping off the 17 at Bruce Station and taking the 638 up to Echo Bay. Gorgeous ride and breaks up the ride on the 17 nicely.
We ended up taking the 101 from Wawa to Chapleau and the 129 down to the 556. Big mistake. 556 is gravel from the 129 past Ranger Lake all the way to Searchmont. 3 of the 4 bikes had GPS and all were sending us down goat paths/ATV trails up to an uncrossable bridge, best time of the trip seeing a V-Strom and a GS1200 leading a 1050 Tiger and 1200 Bandit down washed out roads and banks with boulders the size of my head. haha..adventure is when the best laid plans go wrong.
I enjoyed the Chi-Cheemaun Ferry ride and the break it provided. I would recommend it. Plus there is some nice riding on Manitoulin Island and even nice B&B's.

 

[shanekingsley]

lol I loved the 556.

 

[CruisnGrrl]

when i rode along six from 17 to the ferry it was under construction frequently and it was below the speed the gps expected me to travel. I just barely made it on time. bikes go to the front of the line, i didn't have a reservation. I didn't take the ferry to save time, i took the ferry for the sake of taking the ferry. be warned of the fine print. you pay for the bike and you pay for your passage as well. they serve a meal on the ferry and have a souvenir shop (I didn't buy any of the stuff because they looked like off the shelf items from china, all the cool stuff that would make nice gifts like the ferry boats etc were made in china). On my ride (it was a wednesday) I saw 2 opp from 17 to the ferry (no performance awards for the trip so i consider that a success).

 

[shanekingsley]

when i rode along six from 17 to the ferry it was under construction frequently and it was below the speed the gps expected me to travel.

Good point. Lot's of bridge construction in what felt like every bridge was being worked on. Turned a very enjoyable run between Espanola and Whitefish Falls into a really slow trip with no chance to enjoy the curves. And ferry was $34.75 for bike and rider combined.