By Sault Tourism
Sault Ste. Marie is a true winter paradise with so many outdoor activities to choose from. We have one of the highest vertical downhill ski hills in Ontario, over 150km of incredible cross-country Skiing, an abundance of stunning snowshoe trails… Plus we have beautiful woodland skating trails, a new snowmobiling day loop, groomed fat biking trails and Sault Ste. Marie has some iconic, and awe-inspiring ice caves. This winter visit Sault Ste. Marie for your true winter experience.
Getting to Sault Ste. Marie is easy too with several flights a day from Toronto, Sudbury and Thunder Bay and rental cars waiting at the airport. And course you can drive on the Trans-Canada highway, which is well maintained over the winter months.
Big vertical, rugged terrain, Searchmont Resort has some of the best downhill skiing in Ontario. And… new snowmaking equipment means a planned November opening day – one of the earliest in the region!
On top of the 703 feet of vertical, 26 runs, 100 acres of rolling mountain, terrain park, 4 lifts, snow school, Searchmont is also a fully equipped resort with a restaurant, bar, shop, ski and snowboard rentals and accommodations. Escape the crowds and the lift queues of jam-packed southern Ontario ski hills and get away to this stunning, adventure-packed mountain.
If you like your vertical off the beaten track, check out the incredible backcountry skiing at Bellevue Valley Lodge.
Sault Ste. Marie offers some of the best cross country skiing in North America. Stokely Creek Lodge has 100km of trails, groomed for both classic and skate skiing and spread over 12,000 spectacular acres of the Algoma Highlands.
Breathtaking scenery including frozen lakes and waterfalls, endless forests, and amazing vistas like the one at the top of King Mountain, make Stokely a bucket-list destination for nordic skiers. Enjoy Scandinavian lodging and stay warm in one of the six warming huts along the way; it’s an experience that will bring you back year after year.
Situated just 10 minutes from downtown, Hiawatha Highlands offers more than 50km of beautiful skiing in towering Pine forests. Click here for a link to all trail and maps or read more about all that Hiawatha Highlands has to offer! Top-tip: enjoy a nighttime lantern ski, which happens a few times a season!
The Bon Soo winter carnival is back for its 62nd edition! Join from February 7th to 15th for this iconic Sault Ste. Marie event!
Check back for details on the 2025 program soon!
Sault Ste. Marie is on its way to becoming an epicentre for Fat Biking, one of the fastest growing winter sports, and has perfectly groomed trails at Hiawatha Highlands and Crimson Ridge.
We also have some awesome fat bike races! The Frozen Toe race happens on February 8th, and the Beaver Freezer happens March 8th.
Ice Climbing is a truly unique winter experience and one that you can do just outside of Sault Ste. Marie. Shaun Parent (Superior Exploration) and Steve Foster (Steve Foster Adventure Instruction) are certified, highly experienced, expert ice climbers who will help you have the best possible adventure. Visit their websites for details on how to enjoy these beautifully frozen ice structures.
Sault Ste. Marie has a number of some skating rinks and trails, all within a walk or drive of downtown. Check out our new downtown plaza and it’s brand new skating rink (pictured)!
The City also maintains five over outdoor rinks including the popular waterfront Clergue trail.
Sault Ste. Marie has a new day loop for riders! The Soo Highlands Loop starts in the city and goes north to Searchmont and the surrounding area. Sledders can explore the natural beauty of Algoma Highlands, and its rugged landscapes just north of Sault Ste. Marie, in this 169 km loop.
For inspiration watch Cristy Lee enjoy her recent sledding experience in the Soo here!
Sometimes you just need a break from the snow and cold. Well, have you ever tried axe throwing? Check out one of our newest and most fun indoor activities!
Missing golf and still need a fix? The Up and Down Lounge has state of the art golf simulators, which can be booked by the hour. You can also grab a drink and some food to be able to make an evening of this fun winter activity!
Snowshoeing is one of the best ways to experience winter in Sault Ste. Marie. We have well-marked and beautifully scenic trails all over the city, including at Hiawatha, Crimson Ridge and Stokely Creek.
We also have some expert tour guides who can not only show you the way, but can also provide information about the area and its cultural significance… you may even be treated to a cup of hot chocolate 😉
Check out our Tours & Guide page for all the info!
After a day in the snow and ice you’ll want to refuel and recharge, and we have some great restaurants serving some fantastic food to warm you right up!
From Syrian Shawarma to spicy Indian, delicious Italian or sizzling steak, the Sault has so many great restaurants.
By Sault Tourism
Introducing The Miss Marie Sault Lock Tours Boat, which last year officially launched for its first full year and is back in 2024!
The Miss Marie takes passengers on a 90-minute cruise up and down the picturesque St Marys River. Enjoy the downtown sights of both Canadian and US Sault Ste. Marie, then pass through both set of historic locks and underneath the spectacular International bridge. Wave to Lake Superior ‘lakers’ as well as pleasure boat riders on this famous waterway, or just can sit back and relax and take in the many sights of this beautiful boat ride.
The Agawa Canyon Tour Train is one of North America’s iconic train rides. See the boreal forests, rivers, and waterfalls that inspired Canada’s most iconic artists – the Group of Seven. If traveling in latter part of summer, witness some of the most incredible colours as the maple forests create a stunning palette of reds, oranges and yellows.
This year’s tour season will be from Aug. 1 through Oct. 13. More details on pricing and purchasing tickets can be found on the Agawa train website.
Sault Ste. Marie is the best destination for mountain biking in Ontario. Discover trails for every age, ability or style from jump and flow trails to enduro-style trails carved out of the Canadian Shield. Come and see why Sault Ste. Marie is being called Ontario’s new bike town.
Visit the Hiawatha Highlands, with over 55km of trails including 12km of newly built world-class trails — just a short ride from downtown. Visit out new Mountain Bike page for more info or check our out post on spending a weekend mountain biking in the city. For mountain biking events, read more here!
Sault Ste. Marie has some of the best sandy beaches in Ontario. Our beaches are incredible! All around our city you’ll find perfectly beautiful, long sandy beaches with crystal clear water that are perfect for a swim, a play in the sand or just to relax and soak up the sun. Great beaches are just one reason Sault Ste. Marie is the perfect place for a summer vacation.
Click here to check out 6 of the best sandy beaches in Ontario, all just a short drive from Sault Ste. Marie.
Sault Ste. Marie has so many fun events happening all through the summer. From the three mountain biking races to Rotary Fest and the much-loved Queen Street Cruise. Looking for a show or musical performance? Check out all the events listed at the Sault Community Theatre website.
As well as three biking races, we also have a number of running events happening in June; Run The Great Lakes as well as the Community Strong Festival – a series of races over a weekend in June, including a Boston Marathon qualifier!
We also have the Fringe North Festival and an Italian Festival, which are very popular with locals and visitors alike. Stay up to date by visiting our Events page here!
Lake Superior is wild, rugged and beautiful. It can be angry and violent, it can be calm with glassy water reflecting a perfectly clear blue sky. The sunsets can be some of most beautiful anywhere, and the maple forests that hug the coastline put on a fall colour display of bright reds, oranges and yellows so spectacular you’ll be telling your friends for years.
A drive along the coastline from Sault Ste. Marie will let you experience all of this. Get out of your car, RV or motorbike at any of the many stops along the way. Fill your camera up with countless shots of this beautiful coast. Visit in spring, summer, fall or winter for a different experience each season. Be inspired by the incredible Lake Superior coastal drive from Sault Ste. Marie.
The Bushplane Museum, or the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre to give its full name, is one of Sault Ste. Marie’s top attractions. Perfect for kids to learn about bushplanes, women in aviation, forest fire prevention, plus, kids can run around, climb into planes and have fun exploring. For adults, it’s a museum full of beautiful and fascinating aircraft that shows the important history of bushplanes in Ontario.
Check out Entomica while inside the museum; a wonderful Insectarium where you can meet and hold some pretty interesting creatures!
Other cultural attractions include: Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site, The Sault Ste. Marie Museum, Art Gallery of Algoma and Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site
Traditionally known as Bawating (“the place of the rapids”), Sault Ste. Marie is a place of cultural importance. Follow this long weekend itinerary to experience and learn about Anishinaabe culture in our city.
Thrive Tours offer interpretive eco-tours offering a guided experience of vibrant celebrations of Indigenous life. Metis Tours offer walking and paddling tours that connects historic and community points of interest between the Sault Ste. Marie and and the St. Marys River. Walk Among The Trees specializes in simple, 3 hour walking tours Through an Anishinaabe cultural lens, participants will learn about the natural and cultural history, experience ceremony, storytelling, teachings and cuisine for creating important long-lasting memories
Visit our Indigenous Tourism page for more info.
After a day of adventuring you’ll want to refuel and recharge, and we have some great restaurants serving some fantastic food for any taste. From Syrian Shawarma to spicy Indian, delicious Italian or sizzling steak, the Sault has so many great restaurants.
We also brew our own beer! Northern Superior and Outspoken offer craft beers with names including ‘Rabbit’s Foot’, ‘Maglia Rosa’ and ‘Gitche Gumee’. Great beers, great atmosphere equals great times.
By Sault Tourism
From maple syrup events to historical reenactments, culture days to family fun days and even an Oktoberfest! Experience various events this fall in Sault Ste. Marie, all against a beautiful backdrop of autumn colours. Here are some of the fun things coming up in September and October. As always, stay up to date with all the happenings in Sault Ste. Marie by visiting our events page.
The Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site hosts it’s annual Fall Rendezvous and Culture Days event. Demonstrations of drumming, quill work, cannon, militia and voyageurs. Read more here…
Confection demonstration, syrup sampling, operation tours, sugar bush hikes, ‘sweet marketplace’ and more.
This two day event is open to every maple lover. Bring your friends, your family and yourself for this two day event of local shopping, maple activities and so much more! 10am – 4pm both days at Hogan’s Homestead in Goulais.
Film screening and talks, ‘Meet the Author’, feather wrapping workshops and much, much more. Join us as we celebrate Culture Days 2022 in Sault Ste. Marie. This event highlights our diverse cultures, arts and heritage within a collective hub known as “The Sault Ste. Marie Cultural Corridor”. Read more here…
The two-day event offers a free, family-oriented showcase of Indigenous arts, culture, and heritage as well as key educational opportunities surrounding Indigenous history and ongoing reconciliation efforts. Attendees are invited to spend the entire weekend in Baawaating with exclusive coupons and promotions provided by participating partners.
Don’t miss a spectacular drone show on Friday night about Truth and Reconciliation that will be illustrated with over 200 drones over the night sky. Read more here…
Come and explore many of Sault Ste. Marie’s historical and landmark buildings live and in person for Doors Open Sault Ste. Marie! Attractions include the Algoma Conservancy of Music, Art Gallery of Algoma, Ermatinger Clerque Blockhouse and Old Stone House and more! Read more here…
During pumpkin season Thomson Farms hosts activities for everyone in the family to enjoy. Come out and enjoy a tractor wagon ride to the Pumpkin Patch to pick out your pumpkin. There is the Corn Maze and Corn Cannon, as well as fall berry picking. Click here for all the info…
Run up the Algoma Highland Conservancy Robertson Cliff’s. Bear in Mind Running have the toughest 5km hike in all of Algoma, a virtual race over the first 2 weeks in October! Attempt The RCC as many times as you want over the two weeks. Each participant receives an AHC trucker cap! Proceeds contributed to the silent sport recreation initiative of the conservancy. All the details can be found here!
The festival maintains a range of programming that includes music, theatre, dance and the visual arts. This year eight events are planned including Broadsway on Oct 6th and The Family Crow on Oct 7th. For the full range of programming click here!
The biggest and best Oktoberfest in Northern Ontario. Locally brewed craft beer, live music and a Munich style Biergarten! Tickets sell out fast so book soon! Click here for all the info.
By Sault Tourism
Sault Ste. Marie has just experienced a fantastic winter with plenty of snow meaning our ski hills and trails will be open well into April!
So come and enjoy Searchmont Resort, one of the biggest vertical downhill ski hills in Ontario, all the way through Easter! Or cross-country ski over 150km of incredible cross-country Skiing at Hiawatha Highlands and Stokely Creek Lodge. Visit on April 1st or 2nd and enjoy Hogan’s Homestead’s Maple Syrup Weekend! Or, weather and ice cover permitting, enjoy a one of a kind experience with an ice caves tour with Forest The Canoe.
Keep reading to help plan your Spring skiing and other things adventure!
Big vertical, rugged terrain, Searchmont Resort has some of the best downhill skiing in Ontario. And… new snowmaking equipment means more snow and staying open later in the year.
On top of the 703 feet of vertical, 26 runs, 100 acres of rolling mountain, terrain park, 4 lifts, snow school, Searchmont is also a fully equipped resort with a restaurant, bar, shop, ski and snowboard rentals and accommodations. Escape the crowds and the lift queues of jam-packed southern Ontario ski hills and get away to this stunning, adventure-packed mountain.
Sault Ste. Marie offers some of the best cross country skiing in North America. Stokely Creek Lodge has 100km of trails, groomed for both classic and skate skiing and spread over 12,000 spectacular acres of the Algoma Highlands.
Breathtaking scenery including frozen lakes and waterfalls, endless forests, and amazing vistas like the one at the top of King Mountain, make Stokely a bucket-list destination for nordic skiers. Enjoy Scandinavian lodging and stay warm in one of the six warming huts along the way; it’s an experience that will bring you back year after year.
Situated just 10 minutes from downtown, Hiawatha Highlands offers more than 50km of beautiful skiing in towering Pine forests. Click here for a link to all trail and maps or read more about all that Hiawatha Highlands has to offer!
On the weekend of April 1st and 2nd, Hogan’s Homestead, one of Ontario’s best maple syrup producers, hosts a Maple Weekend. The ‘Everything Maple Festival’ includes a local market, operational tours, food + drinks and maple activities. Stay tuned and visit their website here as more details become available!
Lake Superior’s phenomenal ice caves are a sight to behold. Enigmatic, unpredictable, subject to nature’s whims, but wholly worth it, these incredible structures will leave you speechless. They form in mid-winter when wavy conditions followed by a deep-freeze sculpts the rugged Lake Superior coastline into caves and chasms of blue ice.
Weather and ice-cover permitting, Forest The Canoe offers guided day trips to the best ice caves, including crampon-equipped snowshoes and a snack. We do recommend you use a local guide with experience of the conditions as walking on ice can be dangerous.
Steve Foster, from Sault Ste. Marie, is a certified, highly experienced, expert ice climber who will help you have the best possible adventure. His company, Steve Foster Adventure Instruction, offers half day experiences for all abilities, to enjoy these beautifully frozen ice structures.
Sault Ste. Marie has a new day loop for riders! The Soo Highlands Loop starts in the city and goes north to Searchmont and the surrounding area. Sledders can explore the natural beauty of Algoma Highlands, and its rugged landscapes just north of Sault Ste. Marie, in this 169 km loop.
For inspiration watch Cristy Lee enjoy her recent sledding experience in the Soo here!
Sault Ste. Marie is on its way to becoming an epicentre for Fat Biking, one of the fastest growing winter sports.
The Soo has perfectly groomed trails to the north of the city at Hiawatha Highlands and Crimson Ridge. Enjoy some challenging elevation in the beautiful Hiawatha forests as well as the picturesque trails at Crimson Ridge.
Downtown, the Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site has easy fatbike trails for use on St. Marys and Whitefish islands, adjacent to the St. Marys Rapids. In addition, the St. Kateri Outdoor Learning Centre has around 3.5 km of fat biking trails.
Sault Ste. Marie is hosting a variety of events all spring, from comedy acts to conservatory music and of course the dramatic conclusion to the Soo Greyhounds season.
Stay up to date with all the events via our Events page!
After a day in the snow and ice you’ll want to refuel and recharge, and we have some great restaurants serving some fantastic food to warm you right up!
From Syrian Shawarma to spicy Indian, delicious Italian or sizzling steak, the Sault has so many great restaurants.
For a ‘hot’ new tip check out Gino’s Fired Up, one of the latest new restaurants in town.
Getting to Sault Ste. Marie is easy with several flights from Air Canada, Bearskin and Porter a day from Toronto, Sudbury and Thunder Bay and rental cars waiting at the airport. And course you can drive on the Trans-Canada highway, which is well maintained all year.
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