Photographer Dan Grisdale says what began during COVID-19 lockdowns escalated into what he calls damage ‘beyond fixing’
Sawpit Bay, located on the shore of Lake Superior 80 km north of Sault Ste. Marie on Highway 17, is now off-limits to the public.
The spot has long been popular with visitors enjoying its natural beauty.
But garbage and litter, along with graffiti on the area’s rocks, have made the spot an eyesore.
As a result, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation has erected ‘no trespassing’ signs at Sawpit Bay.
That’s upsetting to visitors such as photographer Dan Grisdale.
“Some people just keep going there and dumping all over the place. There’s spray painting on the rocks. Somebody started a fire there last year and somebody cut half the bush down. Trees were cut down and left laying on the ground. It’s just a constant and every time you go there you get depressed to see it,” Grisdale told SooToday.
Grisdale said he and others approached the Ministry of Natural Resources two years ago in an effort to clean up the spot.
“They took all the graffiti off the rocks and then in two weeks it was on there again,” Grisdale added.
He described the mess as “unreal.”
“There’s definitely two truck loads of furniture in there, like wooden chairs, kitchen table chairs. There’s toilet paper and diapers. There are tents there that look like they got wrecked in the wind and people just left them. There’s an abandoned trailer there,” Grisdale said.
Grisdale added that the problem began during COVID-19 lockdowns.
“It’s just a shame. The damage is beyond fixing now,” Grisdale said.
“People are mistreating that land.”
The no trespassing signs were erected by the Ministry of Transportation Monday, Grisdale said.
“It used to be so pretty and cozy there. Now the garbage is just too much,” he added.
Grisdale said he hopes offenders will not move on to damage any more secluded spots along the Lake Superior shoreline.
“Hopefully people learned because now you can’t even go to Sawpit Bay at all,” he added.
Grisdale’s photos of Sawpit Bay’s beauty, as well as photos of other locations in the Sault and Algoma District, can be found on his 17 North Photography Facebook page and website.
