Sault Sainte Marie in the Upper Peninsula, MI

One of the many cargo ships transiting the Great Lakes route just offshore of Aune Osborn Campground.

Our campground was just below the Soo Locks on the St. Marys River.

We are staying at the Aune-Osborn Campground right on St. Marys River in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan. Across the river is Canada but we have no plans to cross over the border. There is plenty to see and do on the US side. Got in about 2 PM and set up at our campsite for the next two days then drove into the downtown area to get an ice cream and check out the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer Lock System.

The Soo Locks, located on the St. Marys River, allow freighters to navigate between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and international markets. This essential transportation link moves nearly 86 million tons of cargo annually, including 95% of the United States’ iron ore. Before the Soo Locks were built, the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie was characterized by a series of treacherous rapids and a 21-foot drop between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. This made it difficult for larger vessels to navigate. 

The locks operate by raising and lowering boats the 21 feet between the levels of Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes using a series of gates and chambers. Water and boats are moved solely by the force of gravity. The Soo Locks date back to the mid-1800s and are a popular tourist destination, attracting an estimated 500,000 visitors annually.

Entering the MacArthur Lock MUNTGRACHT is a General cargo vessel built in 2012 by ZHEJIANG OUHUA SHIPBUILDING - ZHOUSHAN, CHINA. Currently sailing under the flag of Netherlands; its gross tonnage is 9524 tons.

We got to the facility in time to see the MacArthur Lock raise a Dutch-flag vessel up to the Lake Superior level from the viewing platform adjacent to the lock. The lockage process itself takes about 15-20 minutes, and a vessel's passage through the St. Mary's River system can take around 9 hours. It costs nothing for freighters to pass through the Soo Locks. The United States Army Corps of Engineers, which owns and maintains the locks, provides free passage. This has been the case since the Corps took over the locks in 1881. The locks are funded by tax dollars. 

21 feet higher than where she started. Now just waiting for the gates to open before proceeding on to lake Superior.

Our metered parking for the truck had almost expired, so we didn't get a chance to explore the Soo lock Visitors Center. That would have to wait until tomorrow. We returned back to the RV park for dinner. While we are in camp we periodically will hear the sound of an approaching ship's horn as it transits the river..

The next day on the way into town we stopped to visit the Tower of History. Rising 210 feet above Sault Ste. Marie, the Tower of History gives visitors a 360 degree view of the entire Sault area from the Sault Locks and the St. Marys River to the Canadian wilderness.  An express elevator whisks you up the equivalent of 21 stories to the top for a panoramic view of up to 1,200 square miles, including the Sault Locks, the St. Marys River, and the Canadian wilderness.

The Tower of History was built in 1968 by the Catholic Church as the Shrine of the Missionaries. The Shrine was meant to be part of a larger complex that would have featured exhibits about the early Missionaries such as Bishop Baraga. A community center and a new Church were also planned. The Church later cut the project in favor of other endeavors, and the Shrine of the Missionaries was donated to the Sault Historic Sites in 1980. It has been operated as the Tower of History ever since.

This is the view down river towards our RV campground. The long building next to the river is a the Saint Marys Falls Hydro Power plant.

From this vantage point we could some of the notable sites of the city. The Saint Marys Falls Hydropower Plant (also known as the Edison Sault Power Plant, Michigan Lake Superior Hydroelectric Power Plant, and the Cloverland Electric Cooperative Power House) is an 18-MW hydroelectric generating plan.

The Soo hydropower plant was built to contain 74 generators under a single roof. This was done under the constraints of the Classical style, by building an industrial structure of 1,340 feet in length parallel to the St. Marys River and facing the structure with masonry. The sandstone facing of the power station was chiseled out of blocks pulled from the Edison Sault Power Canal, the feeder canal that chutes water to the plant. President William Howard Taft visited the plant in 1911. The power canal and hydroelectric plant were together named a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1983.

The black hulled ship docked off the river is the Valley Camp Ship Museum. We didn't visit this museum on this trip. Built in 1917 and retired in 1966, the Museum Ship Valley Camp is 550 feet in length and now features a variety of displays. More than 100 exhibits populate the ship’s cargo hold. What once held coal, iron ore, and limestone is now home to displays showcasing maritime memories, shipwrecks, lighthouses, and local history.

We instead decided to return to the Soo Lock site and see the Visitors Center exhibits. Exhibits include the history of the locks, the engineering ingenuity behind them, and their vital role in Great Lakes shipping and the U.S. economy. With freighter fans in mind, the visitors' center includes a Soo Locks viewing platform and its dedicated park rangers maintain a display of the day's ship schedule.

Karen and I agree with Trip Advisor rating the Soo Locks as a #1 out of 34 of things to do in Saute Sainte Marie.