Atikokan got its name from the Atikokan River, named for the Ojibway word meaning “caribou bones”. The town was originally a divisional point of the Canadian National Railway, between Thunder Bay and Fort Frances and was named in 1899. Between 1944 and 1980 the town was home to two iron mines and over the years 22,000 miners and office workers came and went, with Atikokan’s population peaking at 7,800.
Now the the 4,000 resident town relies on the thriving forest industry, the hydrothermal generating plant and tourism. Besides the wilderness, Atikokan supplies various recreational activities as well as historic/cultural sites. Next to the town is Quetico Provincial Park, often referred to as “a canoeist’s paradise”. Other attractions are Mount Fairweather Ski Hill and the Atikokan Centennial Museum.
Atikokan Attractions:
Atikokan Centennial Museum & Historical Park
204 E. Main St. & Legion Point.
(807) 597-6585
Many local history exhibits with displays of mining and lumbering tools. The Park is located across the river containing a restored logging train and log cabin. Open May-Oct; Mon-Fri; 9-5;
Atikokan Mining Attraction
Main St, Atikokan (beside the Atikokan Centennial Museum)
P.O. Box 1298 Atikokan, Ontario P0T 1C0
See the remains of the mines that closed over 15 years ago. The Atikokan Mine has lived on by developing displays in the community and at the mine sites. There are viewing stations where you can realize the magnitude of the operations.
Mount Fairweather
Atikokan, Ontario
(807) 597-1287
Atikokan is proud to call Mount Fairweather it’s home to downhill skiing and snowboarding, with trails to accommodate all skiing levels. Mount Fairweather is open weekends and holidays from late December to late March (weather dependent.) Opened in 1967 for local skiiers ad borders, and in 2007 added a terrain park.
Quetico Provincial Park
44 km east of Atikokan
Route 11, Atikokan, ON P0T 1C0
(807) 597-2735
This 4,655 square kilometres park offers over 1,500 km of inter-connected canoe routes, many Indian pictographs which makeup one of the largest groups of rock paintings in North America, and trail hiking.