[AUTUMN 2024, Ontario] I’ve always dismissed this park due to its proximity to busy Hwy 17 and my aversion to sounds of civilization while camping in nature. But its ideal location on the way to Algoma country, swayed me to give it a try… and I ended up returning because it has more to offer than just location.

Perfect Location

Chutes PP is a bit over an hour west of Sudbury, or a bit under 2 hours from the South Baymouth ferry terminal on Manitoulin Island. Sault Ste Marie is 2½ hours west of the park, so the campground makes an ideal location to break up what is a long trip from southern Ontario to the Lake Superior coast.

The past 3 Septembers I have done multi-week road trips around various parts of the Superior coast, as well as inland from it. The first two years, I overnighted at private campgrounds just east of The Sault along my trek northward. But even just for a one-nighter, frankly they were both horrible, with crappo sites for transient campers plus enormous and sometimes trashy seasonal trailers all in close proximity. Especially in a little teardrop trailer where only your “bedroom” is inside you have zero privacy all around.

So the notion of a more pleasant stopover—even if a bit further from my eventual destination—was what lead me to try Chutes. But take note that the park’s location would also make it a nice spot to stay for a few nights and use as a base to explore the Sudbury area, or the LaCloche area south of Espanola, and perhaps even further into Manitoulin Island itself.

Awesome Scenery

Driving toward the park just beyond the village of Massey, and even once you’re through the gates and driving around at a pretty typical looking Ontario Parks campground, there is no hint of the rugged, stunning beauty the park has to offer.

Chutes takes its name from the log flumes which were built to bypass the waterfalls and rapids along this section of the Aux Sables River known as the Seven Sisters Cataracts. Water crashes through a gorge creating a series of cascade waterfalls and large rapids. In some places the water has a powerful roar which seems to penetrate your body, and in others there is a gentle swish which can easily lull you into a nap.

There is a superb hiking trail accessible by foot from your campsite in Red Pine, Seven Sisters or Big Chute loops. Within just 5-10 minutes you will get to the first of many lookout points and sit-spots, and it is worthwhile to at least get as far as the bridges over the river if not do the whole trail. If using Chutes as a one-night stay before heading onward, I highly recommend planning to arrive early afternoon to have time to stretch your legs and fill your soul with truly awe-some scenery and a delight of sensory inputs.

Park exceeded expectations, and then some!

I go teardrop camping at lots of Provincial Parks, and find it interesting how though they’re all part of the same government agency each has its particular vibe. Some appear to be quite enforcement-oriented when it comes to rules & regulations, while others are fairly laid back. Some have friendly staff, while others are very transactional. Some parks would surely benefit from more oversight on daily cleaning and maintenance routines, then occasionally there’s a Provincial Park which stands out as exemplary and Chutes is one of them.

I find that Provincial Park Comfort Stations (usually include flush toilets, showers and laundry) as well as waste & recycling management, tend to be indicative of how the park is looked after more broadly. At Chutes, these are well maintained and so are the pit privies—about as clean as I have come across in my teardrop travels, aided by local signage guiding campers on how to keep them that way.

It appears as though they like devising their own signage to keep things working smoothly at Chutes. Water taps have reminders for campers which should be common sense and help keep things sanitary. And I was impressed that some staffer takes the trouble to go around each day and put an “R” sign on each site reserved for that night, which is nice courtesy for late arrivals not getting in to find someone inadvertently set-up on their booked site.

Even more impressive, I arrived at my site to find the campfire had been shovelled out and the pad area where one might set up a tent had even been raked! My site, and those I walked through, were consistently clear of litter. I can’t guarantee everything will be perfect at your camp site but I can say that the overall impression is that someone cares about the place, which I suspect is a reflection of both the staff and management.

Camp Site Recommendations

For teardrop trailer camping, you can’t go too wrong with almost any site in the Big Chute Crescent. Most sites in that loop have good or reasonable privacy but the best ones in my opinion are 91, 92, 95, 97, 100, 102, 103.  Parks staff I spoke with said it is permissible (though not necessarily policy) to use a site listed for 2 or 3 tents with a tiny teardrop trailer assuming it can be manoeuvred into place without any damage or degradation to the site.

The Big Chute Crescent loop is closest to the waterfall, which can be heard from sites 90-95 and helps overshadow road noise from Hwy 17. It is also “radio free” which is always a bonus, for my likes anyhow. I guess that’s becoming an outed term now and needs updating to something like “amplified audio device free”. That said, road noise can be heard at various times of day from almost any camp site in this park (lighter in Red Pine, Seven Sisters and Big Chute loops and worst in Trillium Trail loop) though nowhere near as bad a parks like Pancake Bay or MacLeod which border right onto a busy thoroughfare.

The good news on road noise is that once you are heading beyond the campground area on that scenic hiking trail along the Seven Sisters Cataracts all you hear is the flow of water rapids and you feel like you’re deep in the backcountry.

How About a Coffee and Pastry?

I tried out Chutes on way to a 3-week trip in the north. I was pleased enough that I stayed again near the end of September on my way back home. A surprise… and I mean a “WOW” surprise… find on my second visit was the Little Brew Café, just south of Hwy 17 in Massey, barely a 5 minute drive from the park.

You will know from other blog posts (listed here, coffee lover) that I do take coffee seriously while on teardrop trailer road trips. But, still, there’s only so much you can do with the equipment on hand and so after three weeks of French press style coffee the prospect of a latte or flat white seemed awfully tempting.

Not only did Little Brew deliver 100% on the coffee front, oh my goodness, there were pastries. I mean *real* pastries, all flakey and French like made from scratch by someone who knows what they’re doing not scooping some prepared goop from a bucket and baking it. Heavenly. And even a little porch out front to sit with your dog.

Also to be found at Little Brew was a great variety of prepared lunch items for take-away as well as coffee beans and coffee equipment in case something has broken or gone missing.

“Secret” Back Route from Espanola to Massey

Another surprise, after departing the best coffee & bakery for hundreds of miles around, was finding the back way from Massey to Espanola. A super-scenic, peaceful, verdant, bucolic alternative to Hwy 6+17 if you’re going to or coming from Manitoulin. There’s a bridge over the Spanish River just south of Massey and then basically follow Lee Valley Rd, which turns into Barber St as you get into Espanola.