Fort William Historical Park

Fort William is a great experience. September is cooler with easier access. We had excellent service with a shuttle ride to the park entrance. It's my favorite tour when going up to Thunder Bay.

A very unique experience. We got to see cannon fire and old gun fire. There were also people acting the part as if old hunters and gatherers just came from collecting animal hides. It is very historically informative and a very cool spot to spend a few hours in. Honestly a must visit.

We went for the private guided tour as we were 2 days earlier before the Park is fully open to the public. We were a little bumped but the amazing tour guide George was super passionate and informative, he explained the history to us part by part and patiently answered all our questions enthusiastically. Super recommended! It's definitely the best guided tour and a tremendous experience I ever had and thanks for giving us such great memories full of historical information.

Noah was our amazing tour guide & was beyond excellent. He did great in character as Jean Baptiste (?) and did a really great job on the questions and answers. We visited several of the buildings and then did self-guide through any of the other buildings that were open including the garden and animal area. Both children and adults would love this tour. There were two French tours and several English (see photo). They also have a campground that is a pretty open area with cell service & no mosquitoes.

What a wonderful experience and learning opportunity. We took the walking tour and everybody kept in character. The characters were all very well spoken. And it is a wonderful way to learn about canada's past. This is a family event with fun for all from petting the farm animals to seeing how people lived back then.

Awesome historical site. Complete with reenactment and very engaging staff. Highly recommend! A different kind of fort, not really military primarily trading post. A must see on your trip to northern Ontario.

Well built attraction with immersion learning enabled with actors in character wearing period clothing to explain how things were. Actually pretty impressed by the extensive build of this rebuilt fort to explain Canada's roots.

Extremely fun place to explore. Spent 4 hours straight here and didn't get bored once. The farm was also very fun. There are sheep and chickens and roosters.

My primary goal for visiting Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada was to check out 130-foot tall "Niagra of the North"...Kakabeka Falls. Since I had free time afterwards and still searching for more places to discover...Fort William Historical Park looked like a worthwhile place to finish out a fun filled day in Thunder Bay. Fort William Park lies 24 kilometers (15 miles) southeast of Kakabeka Falls. I arrived at 4pm back in early June and thought I could walk the grounds at my own leisure and learn some history about the park. But entering inside the Visitor Center, you actually are required to sign up for a guided tour. That's the only way to see things. Fortunately, I was able to grab the last remaining tour for the day at 4pm. It lasted 1 hour long till 5pm, when Fort William closes. And according to Google, Fort William is open Monday - Friday from 10am - 5pm. They are closed on weekends. It is $15.82 entrance fee - Canadian, or just under $12 US. Coming to Fort William blindly, I knew nothing about what to expect about the visit other than being a park fanatic. Plus, upon entering Canada from the nearby border with Minnesota, the Ontario Welcome Center mentioned this place as being a popular Thunder Bay attraction. In my own words, Fort William Historical Park is the preservation of land that once was the epicenter for 1800's Canadian fur traders. The park recreates early Thunder Bay indigenous peoples' lives. Stories are resurrected detailing how natives used locally sourced materials from the land to prosper. These recounts exhibit human relationships coexisting and thriving among an everchanging landscape of peoples. Now, lol, according to fwhp.ca..."Fort William is an accurate re-creation of the fur trade era inland headquarters of the North West Company. Each summer, French-Canadian voyageurs, Scottish businessmen, Indigenous Peoples, and others from around the world gather at Fort William for the Great Rendezvous to discuss business, share news and renew friendships". Being from the USA, I had no expectations. And even though I was unfamiliar with any Canadian history, I still appreciated the cultures and stories while being transported back in time. Over the 1-hour tour, the guide takes visitors around the working farm, inside cabin buildings and shares details from life back when. The tour ends back at the Visitor Center. There's a small gift shop to purchase souvenirs before leaving. Overall, the experience was an interesting way to catch a glimpse into early Canadian life. I'm glad I made the effort to stop by. Thank you, Fort William, for having me.

It's not the original site so think of this as more of a movie set. We went last week and did not know that is "off season" so everything is sort of shut down. The gal who gave us a tour kept asking us what we wanted to see... Uuummm..... we have no idea what to ask to see since we have never been there. They apparently have a Halloween event at nights so there was a bunch of décor and zombies being stored in a number of the buildings so we only went into a couple of buildings. The tour guide, although very nice, did not pace things well at all. We sat in the merchant building for near 40 mins which left no time to see much else. It was like there was no plan for off season tours. I am sure it is great for kids in the summer but this was not worth the $25 we paid.

Excellent reconstruction of 1816 fur trading capital of Canada. Costumed, active figures were entertaining and informative.

Learned a lot about the history of this fort and settlement, as well as the distinction between Fort William and Port Arthur. I was lucky enough to get a personalized tour as no one else had joined the tour time that I signed up for. Be aware that the tour guides are all playing a role, which confused me at the beginning, but quickly got the idea of it.

I just want to say that, I had a great time at Fort Williams. I learned a lot about the history of Thunder Bay and the people who work there make a huge effort to make you feel welcomed. We got to spend the night there and we had dinner and breakfast as well, it was delicious and more that enough. Needless to say that, there are a lot of mosquitoes, just bring repellent. I also got to see a wedding!!! Have a great time!

Friendly staff is an understatement. Everyone here makes sure you are happily entertained. The actors are funny, engaging and knowledgeable. Customer service is obviously a priority. We went on a day trip from our vacation to Grand Marais (only a 1.5 hr BEAUTIFUL drive), the border crossing was quick and easy with our enhanced IDs. I hadn't been here in 20+ years and it was just as fun as when I was a kid, fun for all ages. It was not busy in late May, we felt like we had the place to ourselves. Many of the "extras", like canoe rides, weren't open until July and August but we did get to see all the new baby animals at the farm. I can't wait to go back when I can spend the night so I can experience the astronomical observatory.

I spent a summer bartending at a family friend's restaurant in Thunder Bay and figured out how to live like a local until my father decided we should go be tourists. If you're a history buff, this is one of those places that represents almost to a tee, what a fur trading post was like back in the 1800s. The construction of the buildings, the people's dress/mannerisms, and everything else oozes living historical monument. Paddle in a canoe! Take a wagon ride! Interact with the locals! Ok you can tell I'm not totally excited by such things but it's educational nonetheless and it's impressive that people have gone through such lengths to preserve such things. 3.5 for the novelty sake.

I found this place to be wonderful. The place is very clean and well preserved. This is very educational and it bring you back in time. The fort has things to do so you can stay there all day long. The food was good and entertainment was great. I am a person who learns by seeing and not reading and this place is great way to learn by seeing. There are people available to will answer your questions. Fort williams is a great place to go to. we went to ft williams 2 years ago and i am going through all the photos of the trip and decided to write a review.

I'm biased towards this place because I worked here for 3 summers, but the Fort is really a special place. It's not the original, it's a reconstruction built in the 1970s. A massive amount of meticulous love and care was put into recreating the site and it shows. You'll be given a guide map and schedule when you head in -- consulting this to organize your visit around the daily demonstrations and events is recommended. Ask the staff if you have questions about what you see -- many of the objects/artifacts in the buildings have interesting functions or stories. The canoe shed/workshop is an absolute must-see, especially for crafty folk who like seeing how things were built back in the day. The birch bark canoes are stunning. Go on a nice day. Seeing what the site has to offer involves a lot of walking around outside.

We were excited about our North Shore vacation and coming to Fort William Historical Park and Thunder Bay for the first time. Unfortunately, Fort William was very disappointing. We walked around the Fort feeling lost until we finally found a guide to ask for assistance. The guide dressed in period clothing was not welcoming or informative. I recommend that the Historical Park station a guide at the fort entrance to provide information. We did finally talk with some of the people we were able to find in the buildings so this did help but this was after an hour walking around feeling lost and frustrated . We wanted to know about the history of the Fort and did not find anything until we got on the internet. If you really want to find out about the history of the fur trade be sure to check out the movie and fort at the Grand Portage National Monument in Grand Portage. It provides an excellent interpretation and historical background and its FREE.

This is a very interesting place to visit. While I appreciate the staff wearing period costumes, I found their insistence on staying in character to be very annoying. Honestly, I think it's quite possible for them to explain how people lived back then, without pretending that they're actually living in that time. It really gets annoying.