There’s much to see and do in the Province of Ontario. Many things that can be seen in other provinces and countries can be found here, but there are also some very unusual places to visit. Northern Ontario has its share of these wondrous sights. Let’s take a look at some unique places to visit in Ontario’s northland.

North America’s Longest Wooden Bridge

Sioux Narrows is located eighty kilometers southeast of Kenora. This tiny hamlet with a population of approximately 400 is a most unlikely place to find an unusual sight. It straddles both Highway 71 and Sioux Narrows, which is a unique channel of water on the eastern shore of Lake of the Woods.

Though the area was traditionally Cree territory, it was often raided by tribes of the western Sioux. Sioux Narrows was a strategic defense point that adapted the name of the attacking tribes.

During the 1920s, the area’s lumber camps attracted settlers from Europe. No railway ran through the area and settlers relied on dirt trails and Lake of the Woods for their transportation needs.

In 1936, during the Great Depression, government road building projects brought the highway to area. The Sioux Narrows channel prohibited a through route and the highway engineers bridged the gap by building the longest single spanned bridge on the North American continent, using Douglas fir imported from British Columbia and treated with creosote.

The total span of the bridge is 110 meters while the main span covers 6.4 meters. The bridge has been designated a heritage site by the Province of Ontario.

The bridge is surrounded by rugged granite cliffs that tower over the Narrows and forests of pines that whisper a lament as the wind sighs through their boughs. Sioux Narrows and North America’s longest wooden bridge creates a beautiful, picturesque panorama in this part of northern Ontario. It’s a sight that shouldn’t be missed.