Great Lakes Circle Tours

The Great Lakes Circle Tours are a total of four routes circling each Great Lake, with the exception of Lake Ontario. The Province of Ontario has signed each of the circle tours for the Great Lakes the province touches: the Lake Superior, Lake Huron and Lake Erie Circle Tours. These tours were originally conceived as an aid for travellers who wished to stick close to the shorelines of the lakes in their journeys. The Lake Michigan Circle Tour, completely in the U.S., was the first route established in the late-1980s, with Superior and the others following in the early 1990s.

The links below lead to specific information and precise routings for each of the Circle Tours:

Lake Erie Circle Tour

The southernmost of the official Circle Tours, the Lake Erie Circle Tour runs the entire length of southwestern Ontario's southern shore. The LECT is also the shortest of the the Circle Tour routes within Ontario.

Lake Huron Circle Tour

Sharing it only with the State of Michigan, the Lake Huron Circle Tour is also the most complex of the Circle Tour routes in Ontario. The LHCT not only utilizes the M.V. Chi-Cheemaun ferry between Tobermory and South Baymouth but also crosses Manitoulin Island and the one-lane swing bridge at Little Current.

Lake Superior Circle Tour

Although not the first official Great Lake Circle Tour, the Lake Superior Circle Tour has roots which stretch back decades when tourism associations in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ontario promoted the route.

 

Additional Information

  • Great Lakes Circle Tour - information from the Great Lakes Commission. It was the GLC who originally established the Great Lakes Circle Tours and continues to provide information on many aspects of the Great Lakes region.
  • Great Lakes Circle Tour - from the Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN), which "is a partnership that provides one place online for people to find information relating to the binational Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region of North America."