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King's Highway 129, commonly referred to as Highway 129, is a provincially maintained highway in the
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. Located in the Algoma and
Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...
districts, the highway extends for from a junction with Highway 17 in
Thessalon Thessalon is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located at the junction of Highway 17 and Highway 129 on the north shore of Lake Huron. It is surrounded by, but not part of, the municipality of Huron Shores, and is part of Algoma Di ...
to the town of Chapleau, just north of
Highway 101 Highway 101 was an American country music band founded in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. The initial lineup consisted of Paulette Carlson (lead vocals), Jack Daniels (guitar), Curtis Stone (bass guitar, vocals), and Scott "Cactus" Moser (drums) ...
. The route is isolated and lightly travelled throughout its length; while providing access to several remote settlements, the only sizable communities along the route are the two termini. The highway was established in 1956 along the Chapleau Road. From the early 1960s to mid-1970s, Highway 129 was designated as the ''Chapleau Route'' of the
Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...
.


Route description

Highway 129 is one of the most isolated in Ontario and among the least used of the King's Highways. Although the highway is an important access route for several isolated communities, including Little Rapids,
Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
, Kormak and Nemegos, as well as provincial parks such as
Aubrey Falls Aubrey is traditionally a male English given name. The name is from the French derivation Aubry of the Germanic given name Alberic / Old High German given name Alberich, which consists of the elements ALF "elf" and RIK "king", from Proto-Germa ...
, Five Mile Lake and Wakami Lake, the only community located directly on the highway's route between its termini is Wharncliffe. There are very few services along Highway 129. Tunnel Lake Trading Post and Aubrey Falls Trading Post & Resort offer some basic goods, fuel and lodging for travellers and local residents (albeit with limited hours). The route begins in the town of Thessalon at Highway 17, north of
Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...
. It travels northeast through the Municipality of
Huron Shores Huron Shores is a Municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario, located along the North Channel of Lake Huron in the Algoma District. The municipality was created in 1999 through the amalgamation of the former townships of Thessalon, Thompso ...
, passing the Thessalon Township Heritage Museum southeast of Little Rapids. Wedging between
Basswood Lake ''Tilia americana'' is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to eastern North America, from southeast Manitoba east to New Brunswick, southwest to northeast Oklahoma, southeast to South Carolina, and west along the Niobrara River to ...
and the Byrnes Lake White Birch Provincial Conservation Reserve, it enters the unorganized portions of
Algoma District Algoma District is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The name was created by an American ethnologist, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1793-1864), who was appointed Indian agent to the Ojibwe in ...
. It passes through Wharncliffe, crosses the
Mississagi River The Mississagi River is a river in Algoma District, Algoma and Sudbury District, Sudbury Districts, Ontario, Canada, that originates in Sudbury District and flows to Lake Huron at Blind River, Ontario, Blind River, Algoma District. Etymology Th ...
and encounters Highway 554, which travels east to
Kynoch Kynoch was a manufacturer of ammunition, later incorporated into ICI but remaining as a brand name for sporting cartridges. History The firm of Pursall and Phillips operated a 'percussion cap manufactory' at Whittall Street, in Birmingham, i ...
. North of Highway 554, the route is generally parallel to the river and Mississagi River Provincial Park. After passing west of Wakomata Lake on its journey through completely undeveloped forest and
muskeg Muskeg (Ojibwe: mashkiig; cr, maskīk; french: fondrière de mousse, lit. ''moss bog'') is a peat-forming ecosystem found in several northern climates, most commonly in Arctic and boreal areas. Muskeg is approximately synonymous with bog or ...
, it reaches a junction with Highway 556 southwest of Aubrey Falls Provincial Park. Thereafter, the highway roughly follows the Wenebegon River through Wenebegon River Provincial Park to Wenebegon Lake. Highway 129 encounters the entrance to Five Mile Provincial Park and meets Highway 667, which travels east through
Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
, becoming the
Sultan Industrial Road The Sultan Industrial Road, also sometimes unofficially known as Ramsey Industrial Road, is a public–private forest access road in the Canadian province of Ontario. Originally built as a resource route for E. B. Eddy's logging and lumber operat ...
and connecting with Highway 144. From this junction, the route travels northwest towards Highway 101, where drivers must turn right to continue north on the route. Both highways travel concurrently northeast for , at which point Highway 101 branches off to the east. Highway 129 continues north alongside the Sudbury–White River CPR line. It ends at the southern town limits of Chapleau, continuing north as a local road through the town and into the
Chapleau Crown Game Preserve The Chapleau Crown Game Preserve is a fur bearing animal Game reserve, preserve area in Ontario, Canada, north-east of Lake Superior. It covers some in the Algoma District, Algoma and Sudbury Districts, and is officially classified as a Crown Game ...
, the largest
game preserve Game preservation is maintaining a stock of game to be hunted legally. It includes: *Preventing poaching *Preventing losses due to attack by predators. *Encouraging breeding, and sometimes captive breeding for release. Britain Until hand-held gun ...
in the world.


History

Highway 129 was first designated between Aubrey Falls and Chapleau in 1956, following the Thessalon–Chapleau Highway, a dirt road along the banks of the Mississagi River that opened to traffic on January 28, 1949. Though opened, this initial road was almost impassable, and certainly dangerous. Despite this, it quickly gained notoriety for its breathtaking scenery and seemingly limitless hunting and fishing potential. However, the poor condition of the road often left a terrible impression on tourists. John Austin Moore described his voyage up the road during the summer of 1951: :''"Our first trip by car took us over the famed Chapleau Road, the scenery and unique loneliness of which have been often reported in magazines. And surely its condition not long after it had opened to travel, when we first drove it in June 1951, was unforgettable. One trip over its 145 miles was almost guaranteed to shorten your life"'' The route was extended south on February 27, 1957, absorbing the entire length of Highway 559, itself designated in 1956. The Highway 559 designation has since been reused in
Parry Sound District Parry Sound District is a census division of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its boundaries are District of Muskoka to the south, the Sudbury District to the north-northwest, the French River and Lake Nipissing in the north, Nipissing Distri ...
. In 1961, the partially gravel surfaced highway was designated as the ''Chapleau Route'' of the Trans-Canada Highway, despite being only a spur in the network at that time. This designation lasted until as early as 1974 and as late as 1978. Highway 129 was the last King's Highway to be paved; the section immediately south of Aubrey Falls remained a
gravel road A gravel road is a type of unpaved road surfaced with gravel that has been brought to the site from a quarry or stream bed. They are common in less-developed nations, and also in the rural areas of developed nations such as Canada and the Unite ...
as late as 1982. The one-lane Rapid River Bridge was replaced by an adjacent two-lane bridge in the second quarter of 2010.


Major intersections


References

{{good article 129 Former segments of the Trans-Canada Highway