An avid motorcyclist once explained to a non-rider the difference between touring in a motorcycle verses in a car. On a motorbike, its comparable to sitting on your deck and enjoying nature as it happens around you with all the sights, sounds and smells. From a car, it is like watching it from your kitchen window

For the touring motorcyclist who is looking to ‘get out of the kitchen,' Highway 17 north of Sault Ste. Marie to Wawa is a great sampler of all things ‘Algoma.' Experience changing forest types, dizzying heights of land and rockfaces along with big water views from a highway that hugs a veritable inland ocean - Lake Superior. This stretch of roadway could be where the ‘wow' factor originated. Once you've ridden it, you certainly won't question its rating as one of the ‘top ten drives' in Canada.

This stretch of highway is like touring a panoramic postcard where one turn reveals a sheer-drop view of Lake Superior while the next turn features a wall of Cambrian Shield rock that rises up beside you beyond your range of vision. The changing light of day, from dusk through dawn, presents a new view everyday and, depending on the weather, sometimes every few hours. After dark, it is a cautionary ride due to wildlife in the area, namely moose and deer that idle by roadside and, on occasion, saunter across. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not so successfully. For the motorcyclist, you want to be off the road before they start to wander at dusk or early dawn.

And although you can do this route in less than a day, you'll find yourself taking advantage of ‘leg stretch' breaks to get off your bike so you can get that little bit closer to the view or take in another round of local hospitality.

In order to get the maximum view, you'll want to travel from Sault Ste. Marie to Wawa. With the sharp turns and dips along this stretch, you don't want to be doing any over-the-shoulder viewing! And, you're guaranteed to experience the ‘wow' factor time and time again as the road grades up to seven percent and vistas with waterfront views of 30 miles or more across the lake. At times you may feel as if you're going to drive right off the edge of the highway into Old Woman Bay, Alona Bay or Catherine's Cove, just to name a few classic favourites.

Over the past five years, motorcycle traffic along this stretch of highway has increased. Word of mouth has been one of the best advertisers as more and more motorcycle touring groups take on the route.

For Mike, of Saginaw, Michigan, this northern stretch of highway is an ‘old friend' having first travelled the area in the 1970s. He and his biking partner, Dennis from Spawling, Michigan, recently enjoyed a leisurely ride from the Sault to Wawa, over to Chapleau and then down Highway 129 to the Mississaugi Valley. This route is called the Grand Circle Tour of Algoma which includes Highway 129 to Highway 101 and includes a mix of farmland.

Dennis jokes that he comes for the peameal bacon but, truth be told, he says it is also about the people. He says you couldn't meet finer people anywhere.

"I set out on a trip but often get hung up with the locals talking about the area and, as for the food, there is no such thing as bad food here," he says, adding that the view simply can't be compared to anywhere else he's toured.

For another rider, Marv, of King City, Ontario, this northern stretch was part of a package tour he recently participated in through Trillium Tours of Orangeville, Ontario. Although in his senior years, Marv took up the motorcycle touring only five years ago and hasn't looked back. In fact, he's continually on the lookout for a route that is no less than ‘thrilling' and he found it this past summer on Highway 17.

"It was an exciting trip anyway but then Liz (Jansen of Trillium Tours) goes out of her way to find those interesting off-the-beaten-path experiences that include food, lodging and side trips," he explains.

Marv was part of an entourage accompanied by a chase vehicle. The car is not only there to carry supplies but also to provide ‘safety' of the group by ensuring no other vehicles could cut in on them. The package tour offered is by no means for the novice rider as there are some side road excursions that require a level of experience but, then again, not so remote that the chase vehicle can't get in, as well.

One stop that is always listed as a favourite, by participants, says Liz, is the pre-arranged side trip onto the Michipicoten First Nations Reserve.
"People really enjoy going into there because the people are so welcoming and the setting becomes extra special when you realize that they've been settled here for 7,000 years...where else can you get that experience?" asks Liz.

And the other upside of travelling this portion of the TransCanada highway is the traffic. Or lack of it. Certainly summer can bring the occasional steady stretch of vehicles but certainly not in the same category of anything you'd experience in southern Ontario. And we can guarantee you will not see the view anywhere else, either.

Story written by Cindy Ellen Crawford