Michigan's Oldest City Has An Intriguing Tourist Trademark That Connects Two Great Lakes

The St. Mary's River divides the U.S. from Canada and Lake Superior from Lake Ontario. Along its shores, the city of Sault Ste. Marie has been a place where Native Americans gathered, fished, and hunted for centuries. By the time French settler Father Jacques Marquette founded the city in 1668, Native Americans had established a thriving community along the river, spread out along both sides of the water. Today, the city — which belongs to Ontario on its north shore and Michigan on its south shore — is famed for the Soo Locks, a system that moves boats from the deep water of Lake Superior to the shallower water of Lake Huron by raising and lowering water levels in the river within several connected chambers.

The part of Sault Ste. Marie that sits on Michigan's Upper Peninsula became a separate town, and part of the United States, in 1797, making it not only Michigan's oldest city, but even older than the state. And since it's located between the wilds of Lake Superior, with its adventure-filled remote national park, and Lake Huron, with its romantic lakeside getaways, it makes for a perfect place to explore all that Michigan's Upper Peninsula has to offer.

You can reach Sault Ste. Marie via flights into Chippewa County International Airport, located 20 miles south of Sault Ste. Marie in Kincheloe, Michigan. On the Canadian side of the border, Ontario's Sault Ste. Marie Airport is located about 13 miles and one international border away from the Michigan city.

St. Mary's River used to be home to natural rapids used by native Ojibway tribes for fishing, but as freight ships began traversing the lower Great Lakes, it became an essential inland waterway connecting through rivers on Canada's St. Lawrence Seaway to the Atlantic Ocean. Lake Superior, one of the Midwest's most stunning lakes for a scenic tour, has a water level 21 feet higher than the lower Great Lakes, and it needed to find a way into the system. The locks seal a freighter or boat between the upper (Lake Superior) gate and the lower (Lake Huron) gate and then open a series of bedrock-level chambers to empty millions of gallons of water out below the lower gate to lower the ship to the water level of the lower gate. Then, the lower gate opens and the ship continues on its journey.

There are currently two canals and four locks in Sault Ste. Marie, but only two locks are in operation. Over 500,000 visitors, including families, history buffs, boat lovers, and engineers, come to see this marvel of natural engineering annually. The Soo Locks Visitor Center, which has displays on the construction of the locks and a maritime history of the waterway, is located on Portage Avenue and is open from Mother's Day until Halloween from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free. You can park for free at the Depot Lot on the corner of Portage Avenue and Magazine Street.

Observe boats pass through the locks at the Soo Locks Park and Observation Deck. The locks close for repairs from January 15 until March 25 every year. And on Engineers Day, which takes place annually on the last Friday in June, visitors are invited to walk the length of the gates and see the locks in more detail. This event honors the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates and maintains the locks.

You can get even closer when you take a Famous Soo Locks Boat Tour, which takes you on a two-hour boat ride with live narration through the locks. You'll experience both an upward and a downward voyage, while learning the history and mechanics of the locks and traveling alongside the regular freighters. The boat tours, which meet at 515 East Portage Avenue at the blue and yellow vessel, are offered daily from May 10 through October 15. A longer four-and-a-half-hour cruise offered by Famous Soo Locks Boat Tours, called the Lighthouse Cruise, includes views and history of local lighthouses along with a ride through the locks.