Walking & Strolling.
The 14,000 sq ft Roberta Bondar Pavilion — named for Canada's first female astronaut — sits on the downtown waterfront beside a 38-slip marina, and a footbridge from the Sault Canal NHS lock walk leads onto Whitefish Island past reconstructed Anishinaabe longhouses and a fishing-weir overlook of the rapids. The walk threads two National Historic Sites and 2.4 km of asphalt loop at Bellevue Park inside the same downtown stretch.
The brief.
Everything here is flat, paved or boardwalked, and inside the city's central waterfront ribbon. The Sault Canal NHS lock walk is open year-round on the grounds (the visitor centre runs May–October), and Whitefish Island is reserve land — Batchewana First Nation manages access, and posted protocols apply around the longhouses and weir overlook.
Bellevue Park's 2.4 km asphalt walkway loops a 17 ha riverside park downstream and connects directly to the John Rowswell Hub Trail's downtown waterfront section. May through October is the easiest window — winter is walkable but exposed to St.
Marys River wind. The Hub Trail is non-motorized only across all seven of its sections.
4. places.
- 01
Sault Ste. Marie Canal NHS lock walk
Threads the 1895 lock, the red-sandstone superintendent's residence, and the powerhouse onto South St. Marys Island, with a footbridge to Whitefish Island.
Map ↗ - 02
John Rowswell Hub Trail waterfront
The 25 km Hub Trail's downtown waterfront and Historic District sections give you the central riverside walking experience tied to the canal grounds.
Map ↗ - 03
Bondar Park boardwalk
Waterfront pavilion grounds and the adjacent 38-slip marina anchor the central waterfront end of the Hub Trail.
Map ↗ - 04
Whitefish Island
22-acre Batchewana-co-managed island reached by footbridge from South St. Marys Island, with boardwalks past reconstructed birch-bark longhouses and a fishing-weir overlook.
Map ↗
Today's read.
Cold but firm — winter-ready conditions · light winds.
By the book.
- 01The Hub Trail is non-motorized only across all seven sections (Downtown Waterfront, Historic District, East Neighbourhood, Finn Hill, Northern Corridor, Fort Creek, Carmen's Way).Source ↗
- 02Sault Ste. Marie Canal NHS visitor centre is open seasonally May through October; the grounds (lock walk, Attikamek Trail) remain accessible year-round with seasonal variations.Source ↗
- 03Whitefish Island is reserve land under Batchewana First Nation management; visitors are guests and should follow posted protocols around the reconstructed cultural structures.Source ↗
