Marathon
Marathon is a town about 5 minutes south of Highway 17. Originally named Peninsula (having to name half the country I guess the CPR was running out of names), Marathon was founded as a railroad town and once had a population of up to 40 000, almost all of which (according to Wikipedia) were men. The highway around Marathon isn’t particularly pretty. Glimpses of Lake Superior ended around Terrace Bay. From here-on in, it is rocks and trees my friends.
Driving
into Marathon you’ll see signs that warn you about forest fires, advise you
of the town's shopping amenities, and most importantly you’ll find out that
Marathon is the home of Kris Wirtz, the male skater in the pair of Kristy
Sargeant and Kris Wirtz which won a number of medals at the national level
in pairs skating and competed at the Olympics.
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Marathon is no disappointment in the awesome northern slogan race. “Built on Paper, Laced with Gold” is the latest phrase designed to capture the imagination, while “Marathon - Superior in the Long Run” is no slouch either.
Today Marathon is supported by a pulp and paper mill and two gold mines at Hemlo, thirty kilometers east on Highway 11. Marathon is just north of Pukaskwa Park and with a population of around 4000, Marathon is one of the larger towns on the north shore of Lake Superior. Marathon has a bit of a francophone community too.
Marathon is known for its pretty and geologically-unique pebble beach which is a nice spot for a picnic. There is golf, fishing, swimming, camping and hunting nearby. Lakeview Manor is a really nice bed and breakfast, while the local Travelodge looks pretty nice too. It also serves at the gateway Pukaskwa National Park for most travelers. As for other tourist things, you swim, picnic, fish, and hike.
With 3500 people Marathon has a fair amount of amenities, including a few motels, some restaurants, and a little mall with a Zellers. There is gas both in town and just outside of town on Highway 17. I saw the largest number of hitchhikers in Marathon – I counted a total of four in and around the rest-stops on the Highway.
If you're on a long drive, you may want to consider whether you need to stop or not (cue nasty feedback emails starting...now!) Please note that I have nothing against the town, and if you have the time, please do explore. Heck, that's what this site is all about - trying to get people to stop in, explore, and learn about Ontario's small towns up north. However, there are diners and gas stations on Highway 17 just outside of town. If you really are short on time you can get food, drink, and gas on the main highway. (For whatever reason, I remember driving maybe 15 minutes from the highway into town - as evidenced by the submitted comment, I must have been driving for too long, because Marathon is apparently only 4 km from the highway! So it's not a huge hike or anything...so just, stop in.)
I didn’t take any photos so if you have any, or want to add to this page, please let me know by emailing me. I've only been here once, when I turned into Marathon for some breakfast. At the time, all I found open was a brand-new A&W which was apparently hosting a number of bikers who were grumbling about how far they had to come off the highway just to get some breakfast. (They must have been driving for too long too since it's only a few kms from the highway.) My address is info (at) highway11 (dot) ca.
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Post your experiences in Marathon below.