We visited Manitoulin as part of Big Trip #5 in September 2026. 

Manitoulin Island is the world’s largest freshwater island, and it’s home to Treasure Island, the world’s largest island in a lake on an island in a lake. (Treasure Island is also called Mindemoya Island, and mindemoya means “old lady’s bottom.”) Manitoulin is surrounded by Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, and sits just across the North Channel (and a historic swing bridge) from northern Ontario. We arrived from the south on the ferry from Tobermory, a fun adventure I wrote about in our last post.

We stayed near Mindemoya, a tiny village in the middle of the island, about a 20-minute drive from the ferry dock in the south. The slightly larger town of Little Current lies about 40 minutes north of Mindemoya, and Gore Bay (which we didn’t make it to), with the lone brewery on the island, is about 40 minutes northwest.

Campground

We chose Mindemoya Court Cottages & Campground for its central location, proximity to water (Mindemoya Lake, home of the famous and aforementioned Treasure Island–something I was (weirdly?) excited about), and full hookups. It’s a huge, beautiful campground: there’s a big field up top with play areas for kids and badminton/horseshoes/cornhole type activities for adults, a nature trail through the woods, and a dock down by the lake with chairs and rental boats and a view of Treasure Island.

The park seems to have a bunch of seasonal residents, and everyone we met, including the proprietor who winters in Florida, was delightful. Tilly especially loved one neighbor who would rush over with treats anytime she caught us outside. Another neighbor had good tips for our travels, and said Pancake Bay Provincial Park was her favorite park–we’re noting that for the future.

We loved our time there but wish we’d been able to land one of the campsites with a water view!

Hiking

The must-do hike on Manitoulin is Cup and Saucer. It’s about 8km long, with a climb up to a ridge, a walk along a cliff, then a meander through the forest back to the (not huge and quite busy) parking lot. It’s a wonderful hike with stunning views from the ridge and beautiful deciduous trees, but be prepared for loud quarry noise for the first third or so of the hike.

There’s also an “adventure trail” option on the loop that we didn’t take because it’s supposedly not dog-friendly–there’s ladders or ropes or something that even our athletic mountain goat beastie can’t navigate–but if you’re dog- and small child-free, apparently that trail is super fun.

The morning we left we did an early hike in Wagg’s Woods, an off-leash paradise for dogs (at least it was in the early morning) in the forest near the center of Mindemoya. We did this two-mile loopy hike and especially loved the geology: small clearings here and there in the woods with expanses of cracked quartz and limestone (called “alvars”), fractured by flowing water dissolving channels in the soft carbonite rocks.

Exploring Manitoulin

Mindemoya has basic shopping: groceries, beer, hardware store, diner, bakery (!).

After hiking Cup and Saucer, we continued north to check out Little Current. The little downtown strip is cute, but there’s not much there. Dockside Social looked like a great place to grab a bite on the water, but we weren’t ready for lunch yet when we drove by. Manitoulin Brewing down the road had just closed permanently; too bad!

We decided not to drive all the way to Gore Bay to check out Split Rail Brewing, can you believe it? Maybe we should have gone to Gore Bay rather than Little Current, as J has enjoyed the Split Rail beers elsewhere.

My favorite (non-hiking) stop on Manitoulin by a long stretch was New Grain Artisan Bakery not far from our campground in Mindemoya. My notes sum it up: “holy moly I want everything.” We bought some pastries and focaccia and a cookie and a loaf of sourdough and a maple seltzer (from Split Rail!) and it was all to die for. Other patrons out front were raving about the lattes, and the premade sandwiches sounded heavenly. They also sell local crafty items and meat, eggs, fish, cheese, jams, pickled things, and I’m sure there’s more that I missed. We wanted to go back the next morning on our way out of town, but unlike every other bakery in the world, they don’t open until 11am… good for them, I guess, but bad for us!

In preparation for a stretch of no hookups, we emptied gray and black tanks, filled our fresh water tank, got a final treat from the neighbor for Tily, and started the three-hour drive to Killarney–which is bananas because as the crow flies it’s a short distance. Bonus: on the drive out, we were suprised to see a couple Sandhill cranes–which are apparently a nuisance on Manitoulin, and a short Sandhill crane hunting season is about to start!