Road trip review: Aune Osborn, Sault Ste. Marie, MI
- Ginni Schenck
- Aug 26
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 15
The Aune Osborn campground is one of the stops a lot of campers make when doing the Lake Superior Circle Tour as I did, but even if this is a destination in and of itself, it is still quite interesting.
My site was number 70 and initially I was disappointed that it was not directly on the water, but I was happy to have a tree. And actually the water was not far away. This is a destination campground so don’t expect it to be like a State Park! However, there is electric and the restrooms and laundry were very nice. There is also a dump station but I can’t comment on that since I didn’t need to use it.
The campground is right on the St. Mary’s River which connects Lake Superior to
Lake Huron. It is a busy thoroughfare for huge freighters traveling day and night. I
could have spent days there just watching them pass by, listening to their signals as
they passed. The evening and early morning traffic was especially amazing with the
sunrise and sunset adding to the beauty. There is actually an app you can download
which tells you which freighter is passing by and all of its statistics.
When you get tired of watching the freighters, (which may never happen), the Soo Locks are about 1/4 mile from the campground, easily walkable, but if you choose to drive, there is a large parking lot. Take the boat ride through the locks and prepare to be amazed by the feat of engineering that was required to build those locks!
The Valley Camp museum is also close to the campground and is a “must see”! It is in the retired freighter, Valley Camp. Prepare to spend a lot of time here because there is a lot to see. There is quite a lot of information on the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the freighter immortalized by Gordon Lightfoot.
Also, since it is an actual decommissioned freighter, you get to see its inner workings! Beware, though, there are a lot of steps. I didn’t eat anywhere, but others recommended Frank’s Place and Antlers. I usually ask the locals where they eat when I decide to eat out.
Even if you weren’t planning on doing the Circle Tour, a stop at Aune Osborne may just prompt you to keep on going.
Happy traveling and keep planning those adventures!
Ginni
Aune Osborn Campground
1225 Riverside Dr.
Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783
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