Pancake Bay Provincial Park

Pancake Bay Provincial Park is located 75 km north of Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario.

Pancake Bay Provincial Park was established in 1968. It is part of the Ontario Parks collection of recreation parks. There are 325 sites, approximately 160 of which have electrical hook-up. The overall area of the park is fairly large. The campground portion, however, is located on a narrow strip of land between the Trans Canada Highway (Highway 17) and Lake Superior. Most of the land protected by the park is not publicly accessible.

Site Review:

We had site #362 in the West Central campground. It is a premium site because of its proximity to the beach. You pay about $5 more a night for a site like this. In this photo, you can see that even though the description for this site states that it is adjacent to the beach you don’t have access from the site, or in this case much of a view.

The sites are fairly large and many are pull-thru. Most can accommodate RVs and larger equipment. The campground roads are paved and fairly easy to navigate even for the bigger rigs. Most sites afford some visual privacy with trees and bush separating the sites.

Noise, however, is another matter entirely. You can hear traffic noise from virtually every site within the park. It is unavoidable given how the sites are sandwiched between the highway and the lake.  A chain-link fence is all that separates some sites from the road.

There are 3 comfort stations within the park with flush toilets and showers. Laundry facilities are located at 2 of them. Numerous vault toilets are located throughout the park as well. I would suggest consulting the Ontario Parks reservation map prior to booking to ensure that you do not choose a site too close to one of them. Odour is often noticeable, especially in the heat of the summer.

Activities:

It is all about the beach at Pancake Bay Provincial Park. The beach is the result of generations of wind and wave action that has piled the sand into the bay creating an excellent fine grain sugar sand beach. The beach is about 5.5 km in length with approximately 3.2  km within the boundaries of the park. It is the longest beach on Lake Superior.

Swimming:

The water is shallow and protected by the bay. It warms up comfortably to swim in during July and August.

Canoeing/kayaking:

It is possible to carry and launch your own canoes, kayaks and SUP boards directly from the beach to enjoy the bay. Rentals are NOT available.

While the bay is fairly protected, this is still Lake Superior and caution should be exercised as sudden weather changes occur frequently and can be hazardous.

Boating:

There is NO boat Launch at Pancake Bay Provincial Park. There is a launch 11 km south at Batchawana River.

Biking:

The Lookout trail is accessed from the other side of the highway. It is approximately 14 km and is a rugged backcountry trail suitable for experienced mountain biking.

You can also cycle the flat paved campground roads.

Hiking:

There are 2 hiking trails:

The Pancake Bay Nature Trail:

This 3.5 km trail basically takes you through a wetlandand meanders along a creek. The mosquitoes here are fierce. I would not venture out without first adequately dousing myself in bug repellent. 

The Lookout Trail:

This trail is a hiking as well as biking trail. It is accessed from the other side of the highway. Along this trail, you will be afforded the best views of Pancake Bay. You will observe the stretch of Lake Superior known as the “graveyard of the Great Lakes”. You will see where the American freighter the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank during a November gale in 1975.

Things to Know:

1. All campsites in the main campground area are within an easy walking distance of the beach.
2. Firewood is available for purchase at the gatehouse.
3. Lake Superior Provincial Park is less than a 45-minute drive away and Batchawana Bay Provincial Park is about 15 minutes. Your Pancake Bay Provincial Park pass allows you entry into these other Ontario parks as well.
4. Leashed pets are permitted.
5. Should you decide to fish, you will require an Ontario Fishing Licence that must be obtained prior to entering the park. Ontario provincial parks do not issue fishing licences.

IMO:

The beach is beautiful and the clear Caribbean blue waters of the bay are inviting. I enjoyed paddling around in our kayaks for an afternoon. It was a treat to experience this type of a beach so far north. I, however, was less than impressed with the camping experience. 

In my opinion, there are too many sites in too narrow of a space. And while that means that no site is really that far from the beach it also means that no site is really that far from the Trans Canada Highway either. I guess it depends how you look at it. I liked Pancake Bay Provincial Park for a short stay, and the beach really is lovely, but for a longer stay I would probably travel up the road to Lake Superior Provincial Park and stay there.