south of wawa, the highway enters lake superior provincial park. after proceeding through several mountain ranges, and crossing numerous rivers and the montreal river hill, the highway enters sault ste. marie. here a border crossing into the united states is provided via the sault ste. marie international bridge, which connects with i-75 in michigan. as the highway exits sault ste. marie to the east, a newly constructed segment of four-lane divided highway branches north; highway 17b (one of two remaining business routes of highway 17 in service) continues east through garden river. the divided highway bypasses garden river and passes east of echo bay before curving south and merging with highway 17b.