Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park
The hike to the Top of the Sleeping Giant was the hike we were most looking forward to on our way around Lake Superior. As it turned out, not only was it our favorite hike, but we met two fantastic people at the trailhead with whom we did the hike. The route to the top and across to the viewpoints is 23km but our counter had us at 17+ miles (approx. 28km); there is also 750 feet quick elevation gain at about the 7km mark and then another 200 feet of gradual elevation gain as you cross the ridge to the west side which overlooks Thunder Bay.
We began on the flat Kabeyun Trail which skirts the peninsula shoreline, stopping at a particularly pretty cove, then connected with a 1km segment of the Talus Lake Trail which brought us to the inland start of the Top of the Giant Trail. Once we made the ascent to the top we were treated to multiple views of Lake Superior, the smaller anchor-shaped peninsula that contains the community of Silver Islet, and the majestic Thunder Bay. The finale however was looking down through a fracture in the columnar basalt cliffs, a gash in the side of the mountain that was 950 feet straight down, reaching all the way to the water level.
Lake Superior along the Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
Abby sampling the water, Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
View from the top, Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
Teri on Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
Blue water and fog below, Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
Looking across Thunder Bay from Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
Looking down the crack, Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
Tom and Abby checking it out, Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
Out on the end, Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
Teri and I looking between the cracks, Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
Really large tripartite birch tree, Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
Green, Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
Wetlands near trailhead, Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
Top of the Giant Trail, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
All these posts about Lake Superior are wonderful. I really never knew how beautiful the north side was, and am now daydreaming about future visits!
Thank you so much, ErinJoelle! The north side was much more untamed but we both thought the US side (Minnesota, Wisconsin, upper peninsula of Michigan) was just as, if not more, beautiful! But the whole coast is really nice.