Wawa, Ontario, Pop. 4,100, is a picturesque lakefront town on the Trans-Canada Highway (17), 216 km (135 miles) north of Sault Ste. Marie. It is a mining town, but better known to many people as a center for outdoor and wilderness adventures. Opportunities for boating, hiking, fishing,...

Wawa, Ontario, Pop. 4,100, is a picturesque lakefront town on the Trans-Canada Highway (17), 216 km (135 miles) north of Sault Ste. Marie. It is a mining town, but better known to many people as a center for outdoor and wilderness adventures. Opportunities for boating, hiking, fishing, hunting and exploring the vast Canadian wilderness abound.

Wawa in the Ojibway language means 'Wild Goose.' Fittingly enough the town has erected a huge Canada Goose monument, the largest of it's kind in the country, standing poised over the junction of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 101.

Back in 1960, the last link of the Trans-Canada Highway was completed connecting Wawa to Sault Ste. Marie and Western Canada. The folks in Wawa fought long and hard to see the road completed, but were concerned that the highway actually by-passed the downtown area of the community. The goose was the idea of a local businessman, Mr. Turcott, as a means of drawing travelers off the highway and into town. The original plaster sculpture did not stand up to the harsh Northern Ontario weather. This steel statue was constructed in 1963, and is more representative of Wawa with its large iron ore mine.

If you pass the Wawa goose, be sure to stop and take a gander.

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