Words by William Ennis
Chutes Provincial Park is located in the town of Massey, Ontario, on the north side of Can-17, between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. Its small size of 108 hectares may not seem remarkable, but the stunning view of the falls and rapids make it well worth a visit.
The park has become popular as a stopover when driving Highway 17, especially for those on a drive across Canada. The 130-site campground has several electrical sites, with many sites suitable for longer rigs, but there are no drive-throughs. There is a radio free section zone that many people appreciate. Some of the camping loops are very close to the river, so you might be lucky enough to have the sound of flowing water lull you to sleep.
The trees around the campsites, which are on the west side of the river, are mainly red pine and jack pine. On the east side of the river there is a greater mixture of trees with poplar, sugar maple, pine and spruce. You can see these trees while you are on the Twin Bridge Hiking Trail.
Years ago, when the shore of Lake Huron was much higher, the campground location looked much different. It was a mostly flat forested plain with the Aux Sables River passing over it. As the level of Lake Huron fell, the river began cutting into the deposits of soil that formed the old lake bed. The river then exposed the rocks of the Canadian Shield and created the Seven Sisters Rapids and the falls. Below the falls, erosion has created a large open area where the river meanders across the sediments that fell out of the running water when the current slowed. This is a popular area for picnicking and swimming.
If you camp on Big Chute Crescent you will be close to the river. Nearby, you will find a long wooden stairway down to a path that will take you to a viewing stand above the falls, where you can see the river plunging into the gorge. You also can see the sandy bathing area below. You can get even closer to the river via another stairway, which also presents a majestic view of the rushing water from the falls. It can be a slippery area especially when the spray has soaked the rocks, so proceed with caution.
In the early 1900s the area around Massey was the heart of a large farming community, with the railroad running through it. There were mines to the north, but everywhere that the forest was standing, logging was taking place. The name of the park, "Chutes", comes from the days when logging was king.
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Every winter the north rang with the sounds of saws and axes felling the trees as fast as the men could work. When spring arrived it was log drive time - the logs were dumped into the river and floated south. Where the river narrowed, choke points caused the logs to jam into huge locked piles of timber, and men risked their lives walking the logs, prodding, pulling, and prying, trying to free the culprit log.
To direct the logs around the falls they built a 60 metre (197 foot) water trough, or the chute. Today, nothing remains of the chute, nor the many other chutes built in places upstream on the Aux Sables River.
If you want to walk and see more of the park, try the Twin Bridges Trail, which will show you most of everything the park has to offer, the falls, rapids, flowers, rocky ridges, and the bridges. This trail has two loops and if you turn back after the first loop it will take you about 3 kilometres (1.8 miles). Continuing onto the second loop adds about 3 kilometres more, and is a bit more strenous hike.
If you have extra time, taking a side trip south to Manitoulin Island is a good way to fill it. This is the world's largest fresh water island. It's a quiet, rural island that has over 100 small lakes on its surface. Some of these lakes have their own islands - so islands on top of an island.
Another nice sidetrip is to go north past Elliot Lake to Mississagi Provincial Park, then follow Ont-639 north to Ont-546, and then follow it southwest back to Iron Bridge on Can-17. There is excellent scenery on this route and not much traffic.
Small, but fully packed, is a good description of Chutes Provincial Park. When your fire is blazing, a full moon is riding high in the sky, and the waterfall is echoing through the trees, you won't find it small at all.
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