Fresh water as far as the eye can see, sailboats, wooded islands by the hundreds: you would think you were at sea, and yet the ocean is hundreds of kilometres away. Manitoulin, set between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, is the largest freshwater island in the world, and Great Lakes cruise ships dock at Little Current, its northern gateway. For the Anishinaabe who have lived here for millennia, Mnidoo Mnising is the island of the Great Spirit; the day visitor quickly understands why.

Little Current, a Welcome by the Channel

The dock is at the foot of the main street, and the whole village can be explored on foot. Water Street lines up shops, galleries, snack bars and ice cream counters facing the North Channel, where pleasure boaters parade by. At the entrance to the village, the 1913 swing bridge, long the only road link to the mainland, still pivots to let sailboats through: a century-old feat of engineering that locals watch with undiminished affection.

The People of the Island

Manitoulin is home to several First Nations communities, and Anishinaabe culture is not a memory here: it is lived every day. In M'Chigeeng, in the centre of the island, the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation brings together a museum, an art gallery, an amphitheatre and a resource centre on the Ojibwe language. Excursions offered during port calls often lead there, sometimes enriched with powwow dances, traditional storytelling or craft workshops. Works by local artists, heirs to the Woodland school, can also be found in the galleries of Little Current. Powwows bring the communities together during the summer, and a port call sometimes coincides with these celebrations, which are open to respectful visitors.

The Cup and Saucer Trail

About fifteen minutes by road from the dock, the Cup and Saucer Trail climbs to the finest viewpoints in the area. The limestone cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment, which crosses Lake Huron here, drop about 70 metres above a mosaic of forests, farms and bodies of water. The main trail requires moderate effort and good shoes; the reward, on a clear day, extends all the way to the La Cloche hills on the north shore.

An Island to Savour Slowly

The island pace is part of the experience. You linger by the fishing docks, taste local whitefish or trout in a village restaurant, leave with a cone from the local creamery to enjoy on the dock, feet dangling above the channel's clear water, and browse the craft stalls in search of a pair of moccasins or a dreamcatcher made on site. Country roads lead to farms, lighthouses and tiny villages where time seems to have slowed down of its own accord. In Kagawong, half an hour's drive away, Bridal Veil Falls tumbles in an even veil into a pool where hikers come to cool their feet after the walk.

Suggestions Based on the Length of Your Stop

• Two hours: Water Street, the waterfront and the swing bridge, no transportation needed.
• Half a day: excursion to M'Chigeeng and the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation.
• Full day: add the Cup and Saucer Trail or a drive along the island's roads.

The Island of the Great Spirit

On departure, the channel gently closes behind the ship and the island becomes a long green line between two blues again. Manitoulin doesn't seek the spectacular; it offers something else: endless fresh water, a living culture and a peace that comes over passengers without their noticing. Many jot down its name to come back by road one summer, just to make sure all of this really existed.