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With a surface area of 82,000 square kilometres, Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world, and one of the wildest. Its northern shore between Sault Ste Marie and Sleeping Giant Provincial Park is a windswept rugged region formed by volcanoes, earthquakes and glaciers, its steep, forested valleys often overhung by a steely canopy of grey sky. In 1872 Reverend George Grant wrote of Superior: "It breeds storms and rain and fog, like a sea. It is cold ?wild, masterful and dreaded." The native Ojibwa lived in fear of the storms that would suddenly break on the lake they knew as Gitche Gumee, the Big-Sea-Water, and white sailors were inordinately suspicious of a lake whose icy waters caused its victims to sink like stones: Lake Superior never gives up its dead. For the most part, Hwy 17 sticks close to the shore of Lake Superior between Saulte Ste Marie and Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, but a screen of trees almost always keeps the lake out of view. This stretch of road is about 660 kilometres long so, unless you're up for a gruelling thrash or have to reach Thunder Bay or bust, it's much better to dawdle. Along the way are three magnificent parks Lake Superior Provincial Park , Pukaskwa National Park and Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, where there's camping and hiking - though the insects can be unbearable from May to August, sometimes longer. The small towns dotted along the highway mostly fail to inspire, but low-key Wawa , about a third of the way along, has several good places to stay, while dinky Rossport , a further 300km west, is easily the prettiest settlement hereabouts. As for public transport, Greyhound buses regularly travel Hwy 17 between Toronto and Winnipeg, but don't expect them to drop you exactly where you want. If you are aiming for a specific motel or campsite check how far you'll have to walk.
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