Great Dog Portage

Photo by 'Ontario Parks' - March 31, 2006

Plaque Location

The District of Thunder Bay
The Township of Fowler
At the south end of Dog Lake, in Silver Falls Provincial Park on Silver Falls Road north off Highway 102

Plaque Text

This portage was one of the steepest on the Kaministiquia canoe route between Lake Superior and the West. First recorded in 1688 by the French explorer Jacques de Noyon, it was abandoned after 1732 in favour of the shorter and easier Grand Portage-Pigeon River route. The latter came under American control following the treaty of 1783, and about 1803 traffic was resumed on the older route. Over 3 km in length and involving an ascent of nearly 150 metres northbound, Great Dog Portage connected Dog Lake and Little Dog Lake. It was one of the major obstacles bypassed by a road built 1868-70 from Fort William to Lake Shebandowan as part of the "Dawson Trail".