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David Crawford
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At the northernmost waters of Lake Superior, Nipigon, Ontario, features a beautiful harbour and this marina, one of the town’s major attractions. In the far distance you can see Red Rock.
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Clockwise from top left: The new Paddle-to-the-Sea Park and the lead character himself. A town scene appears in a mural. Lovable alpacas at Great Northern Pines Alpaca Ranch.
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Unique stone mushrooms and candleholders at Hole in the Rock Creations.
A town in the northernmost waters of Lake Superior, Nipigon, Ontario, is a paradise for sportfishing and boating at the top of the lake.
“Our claim to fame is we’re famous for big brook trout,” says Barry Laukkanen, who owns the year-round guide service Hardcore Fishing and Adventures and is also a member of the town council.
This is the site of the world record brook trout - 14 pounds, 8 ounces - caught in the Nipigon River below Rabbit Falls in 1915.
People come here to fish and 5-pound brook trout are common. Even 7 or 8 pounders are not uncommon, says Barry, who takes anglers on the Nipigon River and up to Lake Nipigon. There are other fish to snag here, too, like walleye, rainbow trout, salmon and steelhead.
The Crossroads of Canada, the town of Nipigon is at the junction of Highway 11 and Highway 17. It’s a great place to hike, kayak, sightsee and photograph the Big Lake, with thrilling scenic overlooks and panoramic views of Nipigon Bay.
Like many travelers here, you may be arriving from the west, coming from Thunder Bay on Highway 11/17. The Tourist Information Centre on the highway is a good place to start. Open all year, it has maps and details about the region.
Nipigon celebrated its centennial in 2009, but its roots go to the mid-1600s and the fur-trading era, making it one of the oldest communities on Ontario’s Lake Superior north shore. The Hudson’s Bay Company built Red Rock Post in 1859, with a wharf that allowed steamboats to make regular stops.
In recent years, Nipigon has worked to revitalize its downtown and bolster tourism after a decline in the forest products industry. With 4 million travelers passing by annually on the east-west Trans Canada Highway, civic leaders aim to encourage more travelers to stop and spend time in Nipigon.
When you ask locals about sites you shouldn’t miss, the new Paddle-to-the-Sea Park often comes up first. You can read about it in the side story.
To the rear of the Tourist Information Centre is Great Northern Pines Alpaca Ranch, where “the boys” - as affectionately nicknamed by owners Beth Banning and Ralph Chaboyer - curiously peer through the fence. Travelers will see these cute guys from the road and stop. “The kids love them,” Beth says of her boys’ appeal.
Beth and Ralph have raised 17 male alpacas and use their fibre for knitwear and other items. Visitors can stop for a tour. Alpacas are one of four types of lama, along with llama (different spelling), guanaco and vicuna; all are in the camelidae family. Compared with wool, alpaca fibre and fleece “is not prickly … doesn’t give you allergies” and is warmer, Beth says.
On Highway 11/17, visitors pass several restaurants and motels, including Grey Rocks Inn & Bistro, across from the information centre. It’s owned by Beth Banning’s daughter, Megan St. Jean, and her husband Andrew. Megan says Grey Rocks offers “hometown cooking” with a “pub-style atmosphere.” Look for Italian dishes and burgers on the menu, and you can see her mother’s alpaca rugs on display. Grey Rocks Inn & Bistro houses the gift shop for Great Northern Pines Alpaca Ranch.
After passing the commercial strip on the highway, you can turn right onto First Street and quickly get into the main downtown area (or if you’re coming from the east, turn onto Railway Street). You’ll see restaurants and little shops before reaching the new Paddle-to-the-Sea Park on Front Street. The park is behind the new Township of Nipigon municipal office building, which itself is a replica of the original train station.
Mayor Richard Harvey, a sailor who spends free time on his 32-foot boat in the summer, recommends seeing the Nipigon Marina. “(It’s) one of the most picturesque marinas for boating, and one of the most secure marinas. It’s a great place for picnics.”
Nipigon: Population 1700
The Name: Nipigon is believed to mean "lake you cannot see the end of," possibly from the Ojibway "Annimibigon." Locally Nipigon is pronounced "Nipagin," (end rhymes with bin). Saying Nip-a-gun or Nip-a-gone quickly reveals you as a tourist.
The Location: Where Highway 11 from the north and Highway 17 from the east connect.
When you Go
Where to Eat: Locals suggest Nipigon Cafe for Greek fare such as gyros and Greek salads, and it’s also known for excellent pizza, 161 Railway St., 807-887-3206. Grey Rocks Inn & Bistro offers Italian dishes and burgers and has a coffee shop, west of downtown, Highway 11/17, 807-887-5435. Also for good burgers, try Nipigon Drive-Inn, Highway 11/17, 807-887-5430.
Where to Stay: Pinecrest Motel, Highway 11/17, 807-887-2813. Skandia House Bed & Breakfast, 17 Second St., 807-887-3133. Northland Motel, Highway 17, 866-899-9902. Stillwater Tent and Trailer Park, Highway 11/17, 4.8 kilometres (3 miles) west of the junction of Hwys. 11 and 17, 877-887-3701.
Events: Nipigon Fall Fishing Festival, September 2-6, annually since 1965, has fishing derbies, softball, euchre and entertainment, www.fallfishingfestival.ca. Nipigon Blueberry Blast, July 30-August 2, features berry picking, games, a parade, entertainment and food. Hike for Health, September 25, for hikers age 3 to 80 and older on Nipigon River Recreation Trail.
Where to shop: Great Northern Pines Alpaca Ranch has alpaca-fibre clothes and accessories on Maatta’s Road behind the Tourist Information Centre, 807-887-0252, www.northernalpaca.com. For jewelry, floral boutiques or gourmet gift baskets, try Pelletier’s Jewellers and Flowers, 155 Railway St., 807-887-0220, www.pelletiersjewellers.ca. Check out the stone mushrooms at Hole in the Rock Creations, 109 Railway St., 807-887-2718 (call or “take your chances” that it’s open).
Information: The Tourist Information Centre, Highway 11/17, 877-596-1359, or www.nipigon.net. The Nipigon Marina, Brennen Drive, 807-887-3135.
On the Nipigon River, the marina on Brennen Drive can accommodate vessels of all sizes and has overnight docking, pumpouts, groceries, RV parking and camping. As the most northerly freshwater port in North America, Nipigon is the only port on the Great Lakes where you can cross the 49th Parallel - on your own boat or by using a charter service - and get a certificate from the mayor. Just ask at the marina.
“People like to launch their boats into the Nipigon River for its fishing,” says Sarah Lewis, the town’s economic development officer. “If you’re just driving through and you want to make a pit stop, have your lunch at the marina - it’s something you shouldn’t miss.”
Other highlights include the building-sized murals by Dave Sawatzky that represent the town’s heritage, like one depicting the Zechner store. Another mural shows a log driver and “really speaks to the history of the community,” says Sarah. “We were a hub of the logging industry, and people still talk about the log drivers on the river.”
The town has a historic walking tour with Red Rock Post on the waterfront, several churches and Skandia House (now a bed-and-breakfast inn). Maps are found at Nipigon Historical Museum, 40 Front Street, where you can learn about the fur trade and the logging industry. It’s open daily during the summer.
For a shop with something different, try Hole in the Rock Creations just off the highway on the east side of town. Roland Choiselat uses local river rocks to fashion candleholders and his delightful signature stone mushrooms.
The Nipigon-Red Rock Hiking Trail, also called the Nipigon River Recreation Trail, runs 8.2 kilometres (5 miles) from the marina to the neighboring town of Red Rock. You can enjoy a 20-minute walk along the Nipigon Marina or devote two to three hours to the full hike to Red Rock Marina and take in scenic overlooks at Eagle’s Ridge, Nipigon Bay and Lloyd’s Lookout for views of Nipigon Bay and Red Rock.
The trail divides into several segments for easy walking. From the Nipigon Waterfront, there’s the 1.7-kilometre Wetlands Trail that may bring sightings of bald eagles, peregrine falcons, moose and other wildlife. At Sawmill Point is a scenic view of the bay, and on the opposite side of the river are aboriginal rock paintings that can only be seen from the water. The trail from Stillwater Creek to Red Rock takes about two hours to walk. Find trail maps at the Nipigon Marina, the Tourist Information Centre and at www.nipigon.net.
Nipigon and Red Rock are linked in many ways. Both towns’ paper mills closed, and now there’s more emphasis on tourism.
“We try to work together in promoting our areas,” says Lesley Zechner-Willan. She and her brothers, John and Jeff Zechner, own Nipigon’s only grocery, Zechner’s Food Market, which Lesley’s grandfather started in 1937. In Red Rock, the Zechners own the venerable Red Rock Inn and the Red Rock Quik Mart.
Some parts of the Nipigon River Recreation Trail are difficult, but “it has been worked on so much that we have an annual hike there,” says Lesley, “and we have people in their 80s and 90s who do the hike.”
At first glance, the town doesn’t seem to extend much beyond the curve in the highway. Restaurants, shops and attractions congregate along that strip. But visitors are really missing the boats, if they don’t travel to the waterfront to see the marina and sample the great parks.
Say Hello …
… to Levina Collins at Skandia House Bed & Breakfast
After nine years as Nipigon's economic development officer, Levina Collins retired in 2008. Last year, she was honored as Citizen of the Year for her work on countless committees and volunteer fundraising projects. Modest about such attention, one can tell that she is proud of the new Paddle-to-the-Sea Park; she played a major role in seeing it become a reality.
Today she and partners Patricia Dellacecca and Tasha Sutton own Skandia House Bed & Breakfast, a 100-year-old building (look for it on the town's historic walking tour) that features wood ceilings and old-fashioned decorations. She's also busy with the new Top of Superior Thrift Shop, 44 Front St., run by church volunteers to aid the churches involved.
Levina moved to Nipigon when she was 16, when her dad worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway. To her, Nipigon is special. "We're at the top of Lake Superior, and nobody else has what we have."