Sawpit Bay
Ontario
Find: Feldspar/calcite, unakite, colorful granites, hematite, many more.
GPS: 46.967303, -84.749805
Nearest city: Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Recommended Vehicle: Any
Season: Accessible year round, Winter is likely to have significant snow, ice, and frigid temperatures.
Summary:
Sawpit Bay is a relatively popular rockhounding spot in Ontario along Lake Superior. It is tucked away, just past the trees alongside the Trans-Canada Highway (HWY 17).
A dirt pulloff as you head North leads to an area to park within the trees. I had fun hiking through some footpaths that were along the shores.
I found a wide array of different rocks with granites being the dominant thing found. They had a lot of character and variety. Locals mentioned that agates are found here from time to time, but I didn’t come across any.
Video
Check out the video to best see what can be found when exploring this spot.
This is the 2nd spot that I visited in the video.
3 Helpful Tools
Chest Waders
Chest waders are great to stay dry if you want to get in the lake.
Agate Scoop
An agate scoop is helpful to pick things up faster and farther away from you.
Classifier
A classifier is fun to sit with if you’re a fan of small agates and stones. One with a larger, 1-inch mesh would be what I’d pick.
The path down to the shore from one of the parking areas. There may be another to the North.
You will notice how far North you've gotten if you're doing the Circle Tour. The water was definitely colder here.
A unakite with vibrant, electric greens
Feldspar or maybe calcite? I am still uncertain what this white crystal was.
A footpath led to an overlook.
The water drops off quickly, with jagged edges of bedrock. Explore very carefully if you plan on going in the water. It was slippery too.
A crystal filled gap within host rock.
These are igneous formations called dikes - vertical magma.
Another nicely colored granite.
A water-washed chunk of what I thought was feldspar.
This pocket within the basalt appears to be purple. My guess is amethyst - it can be found within Lake Superior Agates if you're lucky.
A giant boulder of what I'd guess to be weathered and oxidized iron.
The fit.