This is the Closest You’ll Get to Time Travel In Thunder Bay: A Fall Day at the Fort
Amanda Bay
September 23, 2026
No plane ticket, passport, or DeLorean necessary; just a quick drive down Broadway Avenue and you’re back to 1816. Fort William Historical Park drops you straight into the middle of the fur trade, heritage animals and all, and this fall it comes with some of the best colour in the region.
Everyone treats it like “that field trip place from grade 5.” Still, it’s one of the largest living history sites in Canada, and it’s even better as an adult with a coffee in hand and no permission slip required.
Instead of staring at dusty artifacts behind glass, the whole fort recreates 1816 at the height of the fur trade, in REAL life. Costumed interpreters are out blacksmithing, baking, building canoes, and trading like it’s their actual job (because in this world, it is). You can walk up, ask questions, and get weirdly invested in a stranger’s 19th-century backstory.
Fort William was basically the HQ for the North West Company and sat right at the centre of it all. Over 40 buildings are there to explore, including the working farm, the artisans’ area, and the Anishnaabe encampment, where you’ll get a real look at the mix of Scottish fur traders, Ojibwe and Métis peoples, and French-Canadian voyageurs who actually lived and worked there.
This isn’t a quick drive-by visit…treat yourself like a tourist in your own city for once. There’s food on site so you don’t have to plan around it, a petting farm with heritage-breed sheep, pigs, cattle and poultry (animals that are basically living history too), and enough interactive stuff to fill an entire afternoon without anyone in your group saying “I’m bored” once.
Bonus: Fall is THE season to go. The leaves are turning, and the whole site glows. Here’s the season lineup:
Celtic Day: Sept 27th, 10 am–5 pm (free to attend): Close out the summer season with a celebration of Celtic heritage, dance, bagpipes and drums, with lots going on throughout the park.
Artisan Workshop Weekend: Oct 3rd & 4th: Work side by side with a heritage artisan in a small group and leave with a genuine 19th-century-inspired creation you made with your own hands. Pre-registration is required.
Halloween Hoot: Oct 17th, 18th, 24th & 25th, 12–4 pm. FWHP is definitely THE perfect setting for anything Halloween. Haunted houses, trick-or-treating, creepy crafts, ghastly games, and apparently some very mysterious birds have taken over the town of Williamstown. Help solve the mystery! Costumes are strongly encouraged. This is the perfect day for you and the littles!
A few fun facts about FWHP to drop at your next dinner party:
Fort William Historical Park is open daily, 10 am to 5 pm.
