Mattawa
▼ 17.4 µg/m³ less fine-particle pollution than Greater Sudbury right now
Observed Jul 17, 9:00 p.m. EDT
Historic voyageur town where the Mattawa meets the Ottawa River, between two provincial parks.
20.5 µg/m³
PM2.5 in Greater Sudbury right now
AQI 33 · Good
AQHI 2 — Low risk (Sudbury)
Latest observation Jul 17, 9:00 p.m. EDT
Build-time readings shown
7 places with a place to stay, ranked by air quality
Temagami
▼ 16.3 µg/m³ less fine-particle pollution than Greater Sudbury right now
Observed Jul 17, 9:00 p.m. EDT
Old-growth pine and deep-lake country on Lake Temagami, with classic Northern lodges.
Huntsville
▲ Air is currently worse here than in Greater Sudbury
Observed Jul 17, 9:00 p.m. EDT
Muskoka’s biggest town, ringed by lakes and resorts on the edge of Algonquin Park.
Tobermory
▲ Air is currently worse here than in Greater Sudbury
Observed Jul 17, 9:00 p.m. EDT
Harbour village at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula, wrapped in open Lake Huron and Georgian Bay water with steady onshore breezes.
Little Current (Manitoulin Island)
▲ Air is currently worse here than in Greater Sudbury
Observed Jul 17, 9:00 p.m. EDT
Manitoulin’s main harbour town — the world’s largest freshwater island, surrounded by Huron’s North Channel.
Killarney
▲ Air is currently worse here than in Greater Sudbury
Observed Jul 17, 9:00 p.m. EDT
Remote village beside Killarney Park’s white quartzite ridges, on the north channel of Georgian Bay.
Parry Sound
▲ Air is currently worse here than in Greater Sudbury
Observed Jul 17, 9:00 p.m. EDT
Deep-water port on Georgian Bay’s island-studded coast, with open-bay air off the sound.
Why these towns?
Most of the getaways above sit on big water — Lake Huron, Georgian Bay, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario or Lake Superior — or in lake-dense highland country. Large lakes generate onshore breezes and sit away from the boreal fire zones, so during many smoke events they stay a band cleaner than inland cities. That's not a guarantee: smoke plumes move, which is why we re-rank this list against live PM2.5 and AQHI data every hour rather than publishing a fixed list. If everything within three hours of Greater Sudbury is smoky, the rankings will say so — sometimes the honest answer is to stay inside with a filter running.