If you’ve ever wanted to disappear into the Canadian Shield in Northern Ontario for two weeks. Campfires every night, lake water for a shower, and skies so dark the Milky Way actually shows up, this is that trip. This itinerary takes you from home through Grundy Lake Provincial Park and deep into the rugged, jaw-dropping coastline of Lake Superior Provincial Park, with stops at both Rabbit Blanket Lake and Agawa Bay before looping back home.
This is real Northern Ontario: granite shoreline, boreal forest, loon calls at dawn, and a whole lot of nothing but trees and water for hours at a time. Pack the cooler, double-check the tent stakes, and let’s get into it.
Quick Snapshot
- Duration: 14 Days
- Route: Toronto → Grundy Lake Provincial Park → Lake Superior PP (Rabbit Blanket) → Lake Superior PP (Agawa Bay) → Chutes Provincial Park → Toronto
- Total Driving Distance: approx. 1,750 km round trip
- Travel Style: Front-country car camping, scenic highway driving, hiking, swimming, paddling
- Best For: Families and couples who love a slower pace, campfires, and big Northern Ontario scenery
- Camping Style: Provincial park front-country campsites. Book early, these fill up fast in summer
Trip Highlights
- Four nights at Grundy Lake Provincial Park: swimming, cliff jumping, and quiet inland lakes
- The Nokomis Trail at Old Woman Bay: ranked among the best day hikes in Canada
- Canoeing and fishing on Rabbit Blanket Lake and the Fenton-Treeby lake system
- The sacred Agawa Rock Pictographs, painted in red ochre by the Ojibwe
- Sunsets over Lake Superior from the beach at Agawa Bay
- A photo with the famous Wawa Goose on the drive north
- Some of the darkest skies in Ontario for stargazing
- Beautiful sunsets on Lake Superior
The Itinerary: Day by Day
Grundy Lake Provincial Park (Days 1–4)
Day 1 → Grundy Lake Provincial Park
This is the perfect warm-up stop for a Northern Ontario trip. A beautiful mix of Canadian Shield granite, calm inland lakes, and sandy beaches, all just off Highway 69 between Parry Sound and Sudbury. Arrive in the early afternoon, set up camp at your White Birch campground site, and spend the rest of the day settling in. Take a walk down to the beach, get the campfire going, and let everyone stretch their legs after the drive.
Day 1 Highlights: Arrival & campsite setup at White Birch · First beach walk · Campfire evening
Day 2-3: Full Days at Grundy Lake
These two days are all about slowing down and making the most of the park. Grundy Lake is a paddler’s paradise, motorized boats aren’t allowed on any of its lakes, so the water stays calm and quiet for canoeing and kayaking. Rent canoes nearby and explore the connected inland lakes, or just enjoy a peaceful paddle on Grundy Lake itself.
For hiking, try the Swan Lake Trail (1.5 km loop, easy, crosses a floating boardwalk) or the longer Beaver Dams Trail (3.6 km, moderate, with a chance to spot a Great Blue Heron rookery). If anyone in the group is feeling brave, head to the jumping-off rocks on Gut Lake, accessed from the White Spruce campground, a Grundy Lake rite of passage with both small and big jumps.
Spend an afternoon at one of the six natural sand beaches, try your hand at fishing for pike, bass, or walleye, and check the activity board at the Visitor Centre for evening programs, guided night hikes, campfire talks, and naturalist programs run throughout the summer and are genuinely excellent for kids and adults alike.
Days 2 & 3 Highlights: Canoeing the inland lakes · Swan Lake & Beaver Dams Trails · Jumping-off rocks on Gut Lake · Evening naturalist programs at the amphitheatre
Day 4: Last Morning at Grundy / Drive North
Enjoy one last relaxed morning at Grundy Lake, a final swim, a slow breakfast, maybe one more hike before breaking camp. Today marks the start of the big push north toward Lake Superior.
Day 4 Highlights: Final morning at Grundy Lake · Pack up camp · Prepare for the long drive north
The Big Drive (Day 4)
Grundy Lake → Lake Superior Provincial Park (Rabbit Blanket Campground)
This is the longest haul of the trip: 572 km, roughly 6 hours, heading north through Sudbury and up toward Sault Ste. Marie before turning onto the legendary Highway 17 coastal stretch. Fill up on gas in Sudbury or Sault Ste. Marie before you go — services get sparse along the Lake Superior shoreline.
If you have any flexibility in your schedule, this drive is worth breaking up with a few classic roadside stops once you’re north of the Soo: Chippewa Falls (a quick scenic waterfall stop and the official midpoint of the Trans-Canada Highway), Batchawana Bay Provincial Park (a fantastic sandy beach to stretch your legs), and Pancake Bay (4 km of brilliant white sand, often called one of the best beaches in Ontario). By the time you reach the park boundary, the highway will already be hugging the rocky, dramatic Lake Superior coastline. Have your camera ready.
Arrive at Rabbit Blanket Lake Campground, the smaller and quieter of the park’s two campgrounds, set on a peaceful inland lake at the northern end of the park. With 60 sites and a more private, forested feel, it’s a great place to land after a long day on the road.
Day 4 Highlights: Drive north via Sudbury & Sault Ste. Marie · Chippewa Falls · Batchawana Bay or Pancake Bay beach stop · Arrival at Rabbit Blanket Lake Campground
Lake Superior Provincial Park: Rabbit Blanket (Day 5)
Days at Rabbit Blanket Lake
Rabbit Blanket is your basecamp for exploring the northern half of this massive, wild park. Right from the campground, cross the highway to pick up the South Old Woman River Trail (2.5 km loop, moderate). It’s an easy forest walk that criss-crosses the river over rocks and small bridges.
For a bigger day out, tackle the Peat Mountain Trail (11 km loop, demanding), accessible right from the campground near campsite #30. It climbs 150 metres through mixed forest to sweeping views over glacier-carved ridges and valleys. On a clear day you can see Michipicoten Island far out in Lake Superior. There’s a side trail to Foam Lake Lookout if you want to extend the hike.
A short drive away, the Nokomis Trail at Old Woman Bay (5 km loop, moderate) is considered one of the best day hikes in the country. It climbs through lichen-draped boreal forest to a series of lookouts atop a 200-metre cliff face, where local legend says you can spot the face of an old woman carved into the rock by Lake Superior itself.
Rabbit Blanket Lake and the connected Fenton-Treeby lake system are excellent for canoeing. Rentals are available right at the registration office and the lake is stocked with splake (a brook-lake trout hybrid) for anglers. In the evening, take advantage of the dark skies here; Lake Superior Provincial Park is a Dark Sky Reserve, and on a clear night the stargazing is some of the best in Ontario.
Days 5–8 Highlights: South Old Woman River Trail · Peat Mountain Trail · Nokomis Trail at Old Woman Bay · Canoeing Rabbit Blanket Lake & the Fenton-Treeby route · Dark-sky stargazing
Moving South (Day 8)
Rabbit Blanket → Agawa Bay Campground
A short, easy transfer day: 56 km, about 35 minutes south along Highway 17 to the Agawa Bay Campground, the larger of the park’s two campgrounds, set right along a long stretch of sand-and-pebble beach on Lake Superior itself. With 147 sites, many directly overlooking the water, and the park’s main Visitor Centre right on-site, this is the perfect basecamp for your second stretch in the park.
On the way down, take your time, there are some incredible scenic lookouts at Alona Bay and along the coast worth a quick pull-over.
Day 8 Highlights: Short scenic drive to Agawa Bay · Arrival & campsite setup right on the beach
Lake Superior Provincial Park: Agawa Bay (Days 9–12)
This stretch of the trip is all about the lake itself. Spend time at the Agawa Bay Visitor Centre, right next to the campground. It’s a genuinely well-done museum with exhibits on Lake Superior’s natural history, the region’s Indigenous and Voyageur heritage, and the film “Power of Lake Superior.” Check the activity board for naturalist talks, guided hikes, and evening programs.
The single most important stop in this part of the park is the Agawa Rock Pictographs (0.5 km loop, moderate). Generations of Ojibwe recorded their dreams and spirits in red ochre on a rock ledge right at the water’s edge. This is one of the most significant Indigenous archaeological sites in Canada, and the short trail down to it is genuinely special. Visit on a calm day, since the ledge can become dangerous in windy or rough-water conditions, and remember the paintings themselves are not to be touched.
For more hiking, sections of the famous Coastal Trail are accessible from Agawa Bay and make for excellent day hikes, rugged, rocky, and right along the cliffs and beaches of Lake Superior. If you’d rather stay closer to camp, the beach right at Agawa Bay is perfect for a long walk, a swim (the water runs cold even in summer), or simply watching the famously beautiful Lake Superior sunsets, many campers bring a chair right down to the shoreline for this.
Canoe and kayak rentals are available at the campground gatehouse if you’d like to get out on the water, and the Sand, Agawa, and Old Woman Rivers offer good trout and salmon fishing depending on the season.
Days 9–12 Highlights: Agawa Bay Visitor Centre · Agawa Rock Pictographs · Coastal Trail day hikes · Beach time & sunset watching · Canoeing & fishing on Lake Superior
Chutes Provincial Park (Day 13-14)
Agawa Bay → Chutes Provincial Park → Home
Time to point the car south. This is the second big driving day of the trip: 672 km, about 7 hours 20 minutes, retracing your route back down through Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, and Parry Sound to Toronto. Take the same approach as the trip up. Fuel up before you leave the Lake Superior region, and break up the drive with a stop if anyone needs to stretch their legs.
Day 14 Highlights: Chutes Provincial Park · Long drive south · Arrival back in Toronto
Why This Trip Works So Well for Campers
- The pace is realistic. Four nights at Grundy, four nights at Rabbit Blanket, four nights at Agawa Bay, long enough at each stop to actually settle in, rather than constantly breaking camp.
- Two very different sides of the same park. Rabbit Blanket gives you quiet inland lakes and forest hiking, while Agawa Bay puts you right on Lake Superior’s beach. Staying at both means you get the full range of what this park offers.
- The driving days are built to be big, on purpose. Front-loading the two long highway stretches (Grundy to Rabbit Blanket, and Agawa Bay home) means every other day in this itinerary is either a short transfer or no driving at all.
- There’s something for every energy level. Easy lakeside walks, demanding multi-hour hikes, canoeing, swimming, and sacred historical sites, everyone in the group has options every single day.
What to Pack: Keep It Simple
- A proper tent and sleeping bags rated for cool nights: Even in summer, nights along Lake Superior can get genuinely cold. Pack layers and a warm sleeping bag, not just a summer-weight one.
- Bug spray and a head net: Black flies and mosquitoes are part of the deal in Northern Ontario, especially in June and July. Don’t skip this.
- Sturdy hiking footwear: Many trails in both parks involve rock-hopping, roots, and uneven footing, proper hiking shoes or boots make a real difference.
- A water filter or extra water jugs: Useful for longer hikes and backcountry-style days, even while car camping.
- Firewood or a permit to buy some on-site: Both parks sell firewood at the campground office, check availability, especially mid-trip.
- A good cooler and a plan for ice: You’re a long way from a grocery store for stretches of this trip. Pack accordingly and plan ice top-ups in Sudbury or Sault Ste. Marie.
- Binoculars: For birdwatching at Grundy and wildlife spotting (moose, deer, fox) throughout the trip.
- A real paper map or downloaded offline maps: Cell service disappears for long stretches along Highway 17 north of Sault Ste. Marie.
Final Thoughts: The Trip That Reminds You Why You Camp
There’s a particular kind of quiet that exists in Northern Ontario that you simply cannot find anywhere else — the kind where the loudest sound at night is a loon calling across the lake, or wind moving through the pines, or nothing at all.
By the end of these two weeks, you’ll have paddled calm, motor-free lakes at Grundy, climbed to a clifftop view that’s been called one of the best hikes in the entire country, stood at a sacred rock ledge where Indigenous peoples painted their dreams centuries ago, and watched the sun go down over the biggest freshwater lake on Earth from a beach chair with sand still in your shoes.
This is the kind of trip that doesn’t need a five-star resort or a packed schedule to be unforgettable. It just needs good company, a solid tent, and two of Ontario’s best provincial parks — and you’ve already got all three lined up.
Happy camping.
Let’s Keep Exploring
If this itinerary has you ready to load up the car, save it for your own trip planning, share it with your camping crew, and follow along for more Northern Ontario adventures and provincial park guides.
- Save this post for your Northern Ontario trip planning
- Share it with your camping crew
- Follow along for more Ontario road trip and camping guides
Wander More
Visit other great low-key Ontario destinations:
Kingston with Kids: Small City Charm, Big History
3 Days in Prince Edward County: The Perfect Itinerary for Wineries, Beaches & Small-Town Charm