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River

Little Thessalon River

Class

Cascade

Size

Small

Visitability

Average

Accessibility

Free

Activity

Fairly busy

Walk Time

1min

Trail

Easy

Gorge Access

Moderate

Other Trails

County

Algoma

From Sault Ste Marie, drive east on Hwy 17 (Trans-Canada Hwy) to Thessalon. Turn left (north) on Hwy 129 and drive for about 3.5 km north to where the Hwy bends to the right. You want to keep going straight by turning on to the road that takes you into the village. Follow the road for about a kilometre until you see a sign on the left side of the road. Drive down the gravel road to the fish hatchery.

Settlement

Little Rapids

NTS Map

41J/5

Easting

303565

Northing

5130821

UTM Zone

A pretty little waterfall, that is easily accessed. This is a low, wide cascade with a relatively "smooth" profile, giving a pleasant atmosphere. It is about 10 m wide, 4 m high and perhaps 20 m long. A dam at the upper end of the falls helps to maintain water levels, but it is not visible from the photo location shown above. There are weakly marked trails leading upstream and downstream from the falls. The one leading upstream is about 100 m long at most, leading to the dam. You will pass some picnic tables hidden in the woods, but I would imagine that that mosquitos would be pretty thick here at times.

The waterfall is immediately adjacent to the charming stone building associated with the Ken McColman Fish Hatchery. This was originally a hydroelectric generating station built by the town of Thessalon. The concrete ruins of a penstock can be seen just Since 1985, it has raised over 800,000 Chinook Salmon and Pickeral.

The site is located about 5 km north of the Trans-Canada Hwy. While it is a nice little pit spot if you want to take a stretch, don't go out of your way to see this one. It's worth working this into a trip to see the much larger Bells Falls, on your way to see the larger still Aubrey Falls.