Naturally Superior Adventures in Wawa offers many kayaking packages. -- Photo by Paul Gamble, Special to Sun Media

You haven't seen the most spectacular part of Ontario until you've driven the Lake Superior shoreline, some 600 km of Hwy. 17. from Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay. It's an unforgettable experience that reveals the vast size and rugged majesty of North America's largest lake.

To get a more intimate close-up look, though, you have to get off the Trans-Canada Highway and close to the water at a place like Michipicoten Bay at the sandy mouth of the Michipicoten River.

Here, about 210 km from the Soo along Superior's coastline, you'll find a place called Rock Island Lodge and a professional forester named David Wells. He came to Superior as business manager for a First Nation community near Wawa and stayed to devote his life to exploring the lake and teaching people how to enjoy it in ocean kayaks and canoes.

Wells now has more than 40 kayaks, a three-metre voyageur canoe and a staff of certified instructors who specialize in teaching ocean kayaking, canoeing, first-aid, wilderness travel and survival. He offers kayak experiences from a half-day basic introduction ($75) to a week-long wilderness escape expedition along Superior's shore for $980. His lodge, originally built as a power company's guest house, provides three rooms with double beds and ensuite bathrooms.

FUR-TRADING POSTS

Every room is close to Michipicoten Bay, the historic location of two ancient fur-trading posts and the harbour where steel rails were landed in the late 1800s to build the Canadian Pacific Railway along the incredibly difficult Superior north shore.

You're welcome to drive about three km off the highway for a look at Dave Wells' lodge and his Naturally Superior Paddling Centre. A brochure lists many trips and special events all summer. For information, visit naturallysuperior.com or phone 1-800-203-9092.

On the way to Michipicoten, you'll drive 80 km through Lake Superior Provincial Park and some of the most exciting scenery on the continent. Within the 1,346-square-km park are 11 canoe routes and many hiking trails. Along the wave-lashed shoreline at Agawa Rock is a famous pictograph site of native paintings. For information about the park, call 705-856- 2284.

Before starting through the park, be sure to fill your gas tank. I found an interesting place to get gas and information about 70 km from the Soo at a place called the Canadian Carver. As soon as my son Bob and I pulled in, a friendly student offered us a free coffee and a trash bag, and pointed the way to a pet-walking area and sparkling-clean washrooms.

We also found a shop jammed full of wildlife carvings collected from across Canada by Jerry Demers. His daughter, Laura, provided us with brochures about Lake Superior Park and told us about things to see within the park.

Our eventual destination, Michipicoten Bay, proved to be about 200 km west of the Soo, about 890 km from Toronto and a few kilometres east of Wawa.