PASS LAKE -- Sleeping Giant Provincial Park is full of incredible trails with amazing views.
They are beautifully maintained and easy to access. Parking is available near the trail for a small fee - be sure to get your park permit.
Day-use vehicle permits can be purchased at the Joeboy Lake Fee Station which is located just 4.5km south of the northern park boundary on Highway 587. A second fee station is located near the Park Office in the Marie Louise Lake Campground, 19.5km south of the northern park boundary. Both fee stations have a pay-and-display machine that can process credit-card or coin payments. These rest stopes are well marked and easy to find along the road to the Middlebrun Bay trail.
Late summer is the perfect time to enjoy this area. The sun is still bright in the sky, cool breezes from the lake are refreshing and keep the mosquitos at bay. This trail is well marked and an easy walk, except for the tree roots which can be easy to trip over.
The forest is dappled with sunlight highlighting the lush moss and foliage. After a strong windstorm several trees have snapped and are scattered along the trail, only one obscures the path and we have to walk around.
There are several amazing rock formations along the path. Jutting out above as we walk past, orange, and cream coloured. They look like coral that one would see in a tropical ocean, but here we see them surrounded by birch trees and partially covered with moss.
This is a pet friendly and child friendly trail, but it does have some surprising ledges that display a steep drop and treetops below. So be sure to have your dogs on a leash and young people at arms length.
Some of the rock formations look like large castle bricks, it feels like an abandoned fortress lost amongst the moss and trees. The trail continues to wind through the forest, a well kept and easy stroll. The parking lot had several cars, but we seem to have the trail to ourselves.
The lake appears in the distance, as the forest gives way to a stoney beach that becomes a fine sand as it leads into the water. This is a lovely spot to stop for a picnic and a swim. A few other people have set up along the beach to enjoy the scenery and the clear, cool water.
We stop and enjoy skipping some of the smooth flat stones in to the crystal clear waters of Lake Superior. Large cedar trees lean over the water form the shore, curved from the wind and casting rippling refections.
We turn back the way we came, the entire hike from the parking lot to the beach takes a little over an hour, but the gorgeous scenery was so distracting it felt like twenty minutes.
This trail is also located close to historic Silver Islet, so after a big hike, be sure to walk or drive down ‘The Avenue’ to see the old miners homes now converted into picturesque summer camps along the shoreline of Superior. Stop at ‘The Store’ for some cinnamon buns, a coffee and to see the impressive Store interior, full of local art and history.
