Agawa Rock

A vertical granite face drops straight into Lake Superior on the eastern shore, and along it, at the level a person standing on a ledge could reach, are paintings made in red ochre by Ojibwe artists, most likely within the last few hundred years. There are canoes, riders on horseback, and above all Mishipeshu, the underwater lynx of Anishinaabe tradition, horned and spined, who controls the lake and the copper beneath it. The site is still significant to Ojibwe people and offerings are sometimes left. Reaching the paintings means a short walk through a rock cleft and then a few metres along a sloping wet ledge with no railing, directly above very deep, very cold water.

Highlights

• Mishipeshu - the horned underwater lynx of Anishinaabe tradition.
• The canoe and rider figures - painted in red ochre along the ledge.
• The rock cleft approach - the narrow gap in the granite to reach the shore.
• Lake Superior itself - open water straight off the rock face.

When to go

June to September, and only on a calm day; the ledge is closed and genuinely dangerous whenever there is any swell, which on Superior can arrive within an hour. Mornings are usually calmest. The paintings are clearest when the rock is dry and lit from the side.

Before you go

The ledge is dangerous when waves are running. If the lake is running at all, do not go out; there is no railing and the rock is slick when wet. Superior is cold enough year-round to disable a swimmer quickly. The paintings are faint and easily missed, and in poor light some are hard to make out at all. This is a sacred site, so treat it accordingly.

Nearby

Lake Superior Provincial Park surrounds it; Sault Ste Marie is two hours south.

Key facts