Directions
Take the last exit off I-75 before entering Canada and turn west (left) onto Easterday Ave. At the four way stop turn north (right) onto Portage Street. Go 0.6 mile and pass underneath the international bridge. The entrance to Ashmun Bay Park is directly across from Peck Street before you reach the bridge over the canal. It is an unmarked dirt road. You will go over a set of train tracks and pass by a dam on the canal. The road then splits and both directions reach the boat launch at the end of the road. This parking lot also serves as a multi-use pathway connecting to the old Soo Line rail trail.
Ashmun Bay Park
Sault Ste Marie Area
Birding Information
This urban park is a great place to walk along the two tracks in the spring, summer and fall. Scan the woods and open meadows for species like American redstarts, black-and-white warblers, chestnut-sided warbler, warbling vireos, red-eyed vireos, northern flickers, pileated woodpeckers and cedar waxwings. During the spring and fall migration you can also often find ruby-crowned kinglets, Tennessee warblers, northern parula and several flycatcher species. The open waters of the bay and the grassy marshland along the back end of the bay are great places to bird watch as well. Great egrets are uncommon this far north but can be seen here in the spring and fall. Caspian terns, common terns and American black ducks can be seen throughout the spring and summer feeding in the bay. Migrating waterfowl like buffleheads, common mergansers and common goldeneye also common.
Area Information
Ashmun bay is a small bay that is part of the St. Mary's River named for an early prominent citizen of Sault Ste. Marie, Samuel Ashmun, who began as a fur trader with the American Fur Company in the 1830s. He later became a state representative and one of the first judges in the area. Sightseeing opportunities in nearby Sault Saint Marie include the Soo Locks which allow free travel of freighters over 1000 ft in length along the St. Mary's River from Duluth, Minnesota to the Atlantic Ocean. Approximately 7,000 vessels pass through the locks each year hauling 86 million tons of cargo.
Bathrooms
Pit Toilet
Parking
Yes
Road Birding
Yes
Hiking Trails
Yes
Viewing Platform
No
Winter Access
Yes