 Highway 129 | |||||||
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| Route information | |||||||
| Maintained by theMinistry of Transportation of Ontario | |||||||
| Length | 220.7 km[1] (137.1 mi) | ||||||
| History | Established 1956[2] Extended February 27, 1957[3] | ||||||
| Major junctions | |||||||
| South end |  Highway 17 inThessalon | ||||||
| Major intersections |  Highway 554 nearWharncliffe Highway 556 nearAubrey Falls Provincial Park Highway 667 nearFive Mile Lake Provincial Park Highway 101 | ||||||
| North end | Chapleau south limits | ||||||
| Location | |||||||
| Country | Canada | ||||||
| Province | Ontario | ||||||
| Highway system | |||||||
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King's Highway 129, commonly referred to asHighway 129, is aprovincially maintained highway in theCanadianprovince ofOntario. Located in theAlgoma andSudbury districts, the highway extends for 221 kilometres (137 mi) from a junction withHighway 17 inThessalon to the town ofChapleau, just north ofHighway 101. 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 theChapleau Road. From the early 1960s to mid-1970s, Highway 129 was designated as theChapleau Route of theTrans-Canada Highway.
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, includingLittle Rapids,Sultan,Kormak andNemegos, as well as provincial parks such asAubrey Falls,Five Mile Lake andWakami Lake,[4]the only community located directly on the highway's route between its termini isWharncliffe.[5]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).[6][7]
The route begins in the town of Thessalon at Highway 17, north ofLake Huron.[8]It travels northeast through the Municipality ofHuron Shores, passing theThessalon Township Heritage Museum southeast of Little Rapids.[9]Wedging betweenBasswood Lake and the Byrnes Lake White Birch Provincial Conservation Reserve, it enters theunorganized portions ofAlgoma District. It passes through Wharncliffe, crosses theMississagi River and encountersHighway 554, which travels east toKynoch.[10]
North of Highway 554, the route is generally parallel to the river andMississagi River Provincial Park. After passing west ofWakomata Lake on its journey through completely undeveloped forest andmuskeg, it reaches a junction withHighway 556 southwest of Aubrey Falls Provincial Park. Thereafter, the highway roughly follows the Wenebegon River throughWenebegon River Provincial Park toWenebegon Lake. Highway 129 encounters the entrance toFive Mile Provincial Park and meetsHighway 667, which travels east throughSultan, becoming theSultan Industrial Road and connecting withHighway 144.[5]
From this junction, the route travels northwest towards Highway 101, where drivers must turn right to continue north on the route. Both highways travelconcurrently northeast for 7.6 kilometres (4.7 mi), at which point Highway 101 branches off to the east.[1]Highway 129 continues north alongside theSudbury–White River CPR line. It ends at the southern town limits of Chapleau,[1] continuing north as a local road through the town and into theChapleau Crown Game Preserve, the largestgame preserve in the world.[11]
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.[2]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.[12][13]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:[14]
The route was extended south on February 27, 1957,[3] absorbing the entire length of Highway 559, itself designated in 1956.[2] The Highway 559 designation hassince been reused inParry Sound District.[15]In 1961, the partially gravel surfaced highway was designated as theChapleau Route of the Trans-Canada Highway, despite being only a spur in the network at that time.[13][16]This designation lasted until as early as 1974 and as late as 1978.[17][18]
Highway 129 was the last King's Highway to be paved; the section immediately south of Aubrey Falls remained agravel road as late as 1982.[19]The one-lane Rapid River Bridge was replaced by an adjacent two-lane bridge in the second quarter of 2010.[20]
The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 129, as noted by theMinistry of Transportation of Ontario.[1]
| Division | Location[5] | km[1] | mi | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algoma | Thessalon | 0.0 | 0.0 | River Street Highway 17 /TCH –Sault Ste. Marie,Sudbury | Highway 129 southern terminus; River Street formerlyHighway 17B west |
| Unorganized North Algoma | 30.8 | 19.1 |  Highway 554 east toHighway 546 –Iron Bridge | ||
| 96.6 | 60.0 | Highway 556 west –Ranger Lake,Searchmont,Heyden | |||
| Sudbury | Unorganized North Sudbury | 189.7 | 117.9 | Highway 667 east –Sultan | |
| 210.1 | 130.6 | Highway 101 west –Wawa | Southern end of Highway 101 concurrency | ||
| Chapleau 74A | 217.7 | 135.3 | Highway 101 east –Timmins | Northern end of Highway 101 concurrency | |
| Chapleau | 220.7 | 137.1 | Chapleau town limits | Highway 129 northern terminus | |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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