The Amazing Soo Locks, Sault Ste. Marie MI [St. Mary’s River] (July 18-20, 2014)

1000 foot Freighter and a Locks Tour Boat (to left)

The Place

Lake Superior connects to Lake Huron along the 63 mile long St. Mary’s River.  Over the course of the trip, the river drops 21 feet, particularly at the treacherous rapids at Sault (pronounced “Soo”) Ste. Marie.  [French friends – the word “sault” has been traced to the early French word for jump – modern French “sauter”.  Could this be that this is a place where you would have to jump out of your canoe to get around the falls?] 

Downstream Hydroelectric Plant

In olden days, the Voyageurs portaged their canoes around the falls.  As ships got larger bringing valuable metal ores and other products from Lake Superior, the ships were taken out of the water and dragged on sleds along the shoreline.  This could take as long as 3 months.

The Falls

Eventually, locks were built that allowed ships to move from one water height to another.  Currently, there are US locks and Canadian locks.  The US locks are called the “Soo Locks”.  In between the US and Canadian locks there is a section of river where the falls are intact.  However, the water is regulated to these falls, controlling the amount of water that goes over the falls.  Interestingly, they have diverted a part of the water upstream from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, through a canal that rushes through town to a hydroelectric plant downstream from the locks.  There is also another hydroelectric plant next to the locks in the middle of the river.

The Adventure

Entering the Locks Headed toward Lake Superior

Mighty freighters glide along the St. Mary’s River, passing through the locks.  Mostly they carry iron or copper ore downstream from Lake Superior or limestone upstream to Lake Superior.  The freighters range from 600+ feet long to 1000 feet long.  These are really big freighters.

We stayed in the Soo Locks Campground along the St. Mary’s River just downstream from the locks.  We saw freighters as they were leaving the locks coming downstream and also as they were approaching the locks coming upstream.  There are about 10 freighters a day.  You can get the schedule of which ships will be coming that day from the locks Visitors Center.  We and our neighbors would go out on the riverfront and watch the ships go by.

In the Lock

The Lock Fills and the Boat Rises

We took the Soo Locks Boat Tour where we actually went through the locks.  We started downstream from the locks and traveled upstream.  The lock that we used filled in about 8 minutes to take us to the level of Lake Superior  The neighboring lock for the 1000 foot freighters takes about 15 minutes.  There was a freighter in the other lock while we were there.  Then we traveled on upstream, passing several ships coming downstream.  We went into the wharf of a Canadian steel mill just upstream from the locks.  Then we turned around and traveled downstream to pass through the locks again.  We went along the Canadian side of the River.  Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario has a lovely waterfront.  Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan has a more industrial waterfront.

 Later that day, we rode our bicycles to the locks and stood in the observation platform and watched another tour boat go through the locks.  They have a very nice visitor center there that, in addition to announcing the schedule for the freighters, also gives a nice history of the locks and explanation of how the locks work.
 

The Lock Opens, We are Now 21 Feet Higher

Sunset Over the Locks on the St. Mary's River

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