Scenic High Falls

During a recent trip to Lake Superior Provincial Park, we took one of our little field trips to go see Scenic High Falls, of the Magpie River.

Also known as High Falls, Magpie Falls, Magpie Scenic High Falls, and Scenic Magpie Falls (I think that covers all of the names I’ve seen, so far!), this is - as you may guess - a scenic waterfall, in the Wawa area.

While I wouldn’t quite call it a roadside park, it is easily accessible (around 3 km) from the Trans-Canada Highway, just south of the town of Wawa.

Saying this is an impressive waterfall almost feels trite, like we’re underselling it. There were loud gasps from the both of us, as we pulled into the parking!

You drive down this gravel road for a few km, turn into a parking spot, and BAM - the falls are just *right there*. It was nice to be able to view the falls from so close!

I knew how big they were in terms of height and length, but somehow even the numbers left me unprepared for how huge these falls were!

Beyond the falls themselves, it’s a nice viewing area in general.

Plenty of options for picnicking, a bunch of banner type signs giving an informative look at the area - especially historical figures from Wawa’s past, a couple different lookouts over the falls, etc.

Between Onaping Falls, Chippewa Falls, a hike on the Pinguisibi Trail (Sand River Falls!), AND stays at Chutes Provincial Park and Kakabeka Falls?

Our fall camping trip definitely ended up having a waterfall theme!

Anyway, let us tell you all about it!

The Basics:

Location Name: Scenic High Falls / Magpie Falls
Address: Wawa, Ontario, P0S 1K0 (Click for Google Map location)
Website: Municipality of Wawa - Scenic High Falls
Price Free!
Reservations: Not Applicable.

Logistics

Some information to help you plan your visit to Scenic High Falls / Magpie Falls:

Getting There

While I can’t seem to find an actual street address for it, “Scenic High Falls, Wawa”, will take you right to it, in Google Maps.

You’ll exit off Highway 17, just south of Wawa. Coming from Lake Superior Provincial Park, we turned left on Cemetery Road / Pinewood Drive, then turned left to stay on the same road.

After about ¼ km, we turned right onto Scenic High Falls Rd, the access road to the falls parking area.

This is a 2.8 km / ~ 1.5 mile gravel road, taking you through a large blueberry farm. On that subject:

1. You’re not allowed to pick the blueberries

2. Apparently the road to the falls is closed during the business’s off-season.

Maps and Signage

This is a very, very small “park”. There aren’t any maps - and what signage is there, is pretty much all educational - but you really don’t need much in the way of either.

The parking lot is at the end of the access road, and as soon as you pull in, the water fall is in FULL view. The viewing platforms are visible from the parking lot, as is the picnic shelter and washrooms.

It definitely would have been nice to have some kind of trail map, and/or signage about the same. We’d read about the trail going to the side of the falls, and could find NO information about that, once there.

Parking

Our original plan was to drive our RV and towed car there, as we had read that there was RV / trailer parking at the falls.

If you’ve also seen that information, I recommend taking it with a giant grain of salt.

The parking lot is relatively big, and smaller RVs or trailers COULD potentially park there - if it’s not busy.

The parking spots aren’t marked, so it’s a free-for all. Your ability to get in and/or out is 100% dependant on how busy it is on the day of your visit.

For us, I’m really glad we ended up making a separate trip, in the car.

Getting our RV in there would have been kind of unpleasant on the road TO the parking lot, and it would have been iffy to turn it around / park it. After we arrived, it got QUITE busy... so even if we had been able to park, we would have ended up stuck in the parking area.

If you’re not in a larger vehicle, though - there’s plenty of parking in general.

Also, people didn’t seem to spend all THAT long, there... so it’s easy enough to wait a few minutes for someone to leave.

Washrooms

There’s a small shack with two vault toilets, right at the edge of the parking lot.

Something may or may not be wrong with the door on the left, as I almost walked in on a guy with an unlocked door.

Thankfully, I was able to hear him call out over the roar of the waterfall, and avoided seeing anything I really didn’t want to see!

Picnic Area

Scenic High Falls is a great place for a picnic, and there are a few options for picnic spots:

Covered Picnic Shelter

This has a handful of picnic tables - I think 5 or 6 - well spaced out.

It’s definitely meant for sharing with other groups of visitors, rather than a “rent for your event” kind of thing.

Has a view of the falls, but kind of off to the side.

THE Picnic Table

If you don’t mind people crowding you while you eat, there’s a single picnic table at the main lookout.

AMAZING view of the falls!

The Lawn

The lawn is well maintained, so - especially in the summer months - you can always lay out a picnic blanket in the beautiful park area that sprawls in front of the parking lot.

There are definitely some great views right from the lawn - a benefit of it being such an easily accessible waterfall!

Accessibility

We didn’t see any designated accessible parking spots in the parking lot, but I may have just missed them if they’re there.

I had read online that there were accessible restrooms on site - take that with a bit of a grain of salt as well.

They’re vault toilets that are MARKED as being accessible.

There’s space around the toilet for a wheelchair, but I didn’t see any railings or anything to help anyone use it. They were tall and narrow, I couldn’t imagine getting onto and off it from a wheelchair, without help.

Also, it’s up a relatively steep incline of rocks, which I also couldn’t imagine being super easy to get up without help.

Beyond that, the sidewalk down to the lower viewing platform is wheelchair accessible, as is the view at the bottom.

Connectivity

Our cell phone coverage was a little spotty.

I had great signal up on the upper falls viewing platform - was able to upload a video of the falls to a friend with no issues - and a good signal down on the lower falls viewing platform.

We had some degree of signal by the parking lot, but it would fade out at points. I had very little signal slightly up the road, near where the boat launch splits off.

Pets

I didn’t see any signage - or information online - for or against allowing dogs in the area.

Kind of assuming they’re allowed - and we saw a few - just be sure to pick up after them.

Park Store

There is no gift shop or anything of the sort at the falls, but the blueberry farm - Algoma Highlands Wild Blueberry Farm - looks interesting.

They’ve got a winery in there!

Magpie Falls / Scenic High Falls Waterfall

Standing at 75 feet - and 125 feet across - Scenic High Falls is probably the highest waterfall we’ve seen in a while.

It’s fed by the Magpie River, and goes on to empty out into Lake Superior.

Note: While we saw information online that said you could access both the top of the falls and the base of the falls, that didn’t seem to be the case during our stay.

That said, you do have a pretty good view OF the bottom of the falls, from the lookout platforms.

Taking a vertical shot of the falls is challenging, but at least you can get the whole thing - top to bottom - in a photo, one way or the other!

As a word of warning - the strength of the falls can vary with the time of year, and - apparently - the time of day. I’ve seen mentions of it reduced right down to a trickle.

Thankfully, that was not the case during our trip!

Entertainment and Activity

Hiking

There are a couple options for walking and hiking near Scenic High Falls:

1. There’s a short walking trail from the parking lot to the viewing area in front of the falls - paved.

2. At some point, there was apparently a trail off to the right side of the falls. This was said to be a short but moderate walk, offering several great vantage points to view the falls.

When we visited, we saw what looked to have been an overgrown trail to the right of the falls, which was fenced off with signage about how dangerous the falls were.

We could see the viewing platform up beside the top of the falls, it had the same visitor signage up there. Not sure why it was gated off, but it did not look to be a new thing.

3. On the short path up to the wooden viewing platform, there’s a BARELY marked trail off to the left.

It says “High Falls - Silver Falls 3 km” - from what I can tell, this is part of the Voyageur Trail system.

We didn’t do that trail, though.

Biking

We saw a bike trail road sign next to the boat launch, but there didn’t seem to be much to it - it’s not very long.

Not sure if the whole road to Magpie Falls is considered part of the trail or what - there’s very little in the way of information at the site, AND online.

Birding, Wildlife, and Nature

We didn’t see or hear so much as a single bird during our stay!

A couple really big dragonflies, that’s about it.

That said, there have been bird sightings at the falls, according to the apps we use. In the past couple of weeks, people have seen American Crow, American Kestrel, Bald Eale, Blue Jay, Cape May Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, Dark-Eyed Junco, Golden-Crowned Kinglet, Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Sandhill Crane, Turkey Vulture, White-Throated Sparrow, White-Winged Crossill, and Yellow-Rumped Warbler.

Boating

There’s a short road to a boat launch off Scenic High Falls road, shortly before you get to the falls parking lot.

Fishing

Upstream, the Magpie River / Reservoir is a really popular spot for Walleye Fishing.

Niantic Games

There is a single Pokestop / Ingress Portal at High Falls.

Final Thoughts

What a fantastic rest stop on a road trip!

While some places on route are more of a “here’s a decent place to pull over for a few minutes” kind of thing, this is more of a *destination*, IMHO.

On future trips through Northern Ontario, we’ll probably plan our trip such that Scenic High Falls will fit in, ideally as a meal stop. A picnic lunch at that lower platform just sounds magical, you know?

Generally speaking, we’ll factor in the actual hassle of the trip into our views on the location. In this case, an hour drive from the campground actually turned into 2+, due to a truck rollover on the highway. (No injuries or fatalities, thankfully!).

Even with THAT, we found it totally worth the drive to see this particular waterfall.

Anyway, yeah - totally recommended for anyone traveling through the area, and we’ll definitely be back!

More Places to See

Looking for some nice sights to see and great places to visit while you're out on your camping adventures? Here are a few of our favourite day use parks, attractions, etc.

Batchawana Bay Provincial Park
Big Bay, Ontario
Bruce Peninsula National Park
Canada's Dinosaur Park
Chippewa Falls
Falls Reserve Conservation Area
Flowerpot Island
Gariepy Creek Falls
Menesetung Bridge
Onaping Falls
Petroglyphs Provincial Park
Point Pelee National Park
Provoking Falls
Scenic Caves Nature Adventures
Screaming Heads
Spirit Rock Conservation Area
Temagami Fire Tower