North Bay (pop. 55,000; “Gateway to Opportunity”) was originally a fur-trading post that boomed after the 1882 arrival of the railway. These days North Bay is still a trade and transportation center, and its fur auctions are among the largest in the world. Many tourists use the city as a jumping-off point for wilderness expeditions.
Just southeast of town, Hwy-17 joins Hwy-11, which runs south to Toronto. Near the junction there’s a visitors center and the Dionne Quintuplets Museum (daily in summer only; $C3), housed in the cabin that was their 1934 birthplace.
Apart from the Dionne Quintuplets, the main attractions of North Bay line up along the Lake Nippising waterfront park; from here, the Chief Commanda II cruises (705/494-8167) follow the old voyageurs’ route across the water. In midsummer, the guided tour will likely tell you all about the locally famous shad flies, mouthless, fish-smelly bugs that swarm out of the water and make a nuisance of themselves on North Bay sidewalks in their short, 24-hour lives.
Many motels are along Lakeshore Drive, such as a Comfort Inn (705/494-8461) and the moderate Lincoln Motel (705/472-3231). The fancy restaurant in town is Churchill’s Prime Rib House (705/476-7777) at 631 Lakeshore Drive.
