Wawa Off The Beaten Path

We expected Magpie Scenic High Falls to be an impressive sight, and it even exceeded our expectations. These roaring falls, 75 feet high and 125 feet wide, plunge into a rugged gorge that slices at an angle from the base of the falls. The scene is an enormous display of power and beauty. The spray is so great that it shoots out for a long distance into the adjacent park.

In front of the falls is an open-sided shelter, picnic tables, BBQ grill, accessible restrooms, and a large parking area. A short walking trail climbs to a viewing platform at the top of the falls, and a longer hiking trail traces the path of the river. There are also displays which provide an informative look at the history of power generation in the Michipicoten area.

Magpie Scenic High Falls are about 2.5 km (1.5 miles) south of Wawa. On the west side of Hwy. 17 is a small sign pointing down a gravel road which leads another 1.5 miles to the falls.

The season for viewing the falls is from Canada's Victoria Day Weekend to Thanksgiving.

Silver Falls is located a few miles south of Scenic High Falls on the Magpie River. A wooden bridge crosses the river on Michipicoten Harbor Road at the end of a small natural lake below the falls. An easy 100m trail leads around the lake to the edge of Silver Falls along the Magpie River.

Michipicoten River Village (First Nation) is south of Wawa off Michipicoten River Village Road. Turn right at the fork and follow the road over the bridge to a park and turn left. Follow to the wooden bridge overlooking the falls. There is a small parking area just before the bridge.

There is an old joke; "How did Wawa get it's name? Because of all of the hitchhikers crying in the forest."

Wawa is the black hole of hitchhikers.

Wawa is on the north shore of Lake Superior. Wawa has an airport, downtown center and all of the modern conveniences. However, Wawa is relatively remote from other communities and a little ways off of the highway too.

Wawa is about half way between Thunder Bay and Sault Ste Marie. And Wawa is on a very lonely stretch of the Trans-Canada highway. For a driver or a hitchhiker driving across Canada Wawa is a place to get out of quick.

Most hitchhikers have some sort of Wawa horror story; being stuck for hours, days, even longer - in the elements- waiting for a lift out of Northern Ontario.

There is a tale of a hitchhiker; he could not hitch out of Wawa so he went to the local bar. The histchiker spent all of his money before he could not get a lift out. So he started a tab at the bar. But he still got no lift.

In desperation, he got a job at that bar to pay off his tab. He started dating the bar owners daughter. He married her. His father in law died. Now he inherited the bar anbd half thye town; He is the hitchhiker who never did escape.

When passing through the forests and bush of Northern Ontario, please thing twice whenb you see a poor hitchhiker at the side of the road; Help him out of Wawa.