Highway 68 was a route that crossed the eastern side of Manitoulin Island in a north–south orientation between South Baymouth and Little Current. North of there, it travelled through the La Cloche Peninsulaen route to Espanola and Highway 17. However, in 1980 the route was renumbered as a northern "extension" of Highway 6. The two segments of the highway are connected by the seasonal Chi-Cheemaun ferry service that travels between Tobermory and South Baymouth. This service only operates from May through October. Today, the former routing is surrounded by farms and ranges outside of the numerous communities it interconnects on Manitoulin Island. On the mainland, the highway passes through mountainous terrain and the rugged Canadian Shield. Communities along the route include South Baymouth, Squirrel Town, Manitowaning, Sheguiandah, Little Current, McGregor Bay, Whitefish Falls, West River and Espanola.
History
The history of Highway 68 dates to 1929, when the Department of Northern Development constructed a gravel road between McKerrow and Goat Island. From there, a railway and ferry crossed the North Channel to Little Current on Manitoulin Island. On April 1, 1937, the DND merged into the Department of Highways, and the latter began to assume and number trunk roadways in central and northern Ontario. On August 11, 1937, the DHO took control of the Little Current Road. At its northern terminus, Highway 17 was rerouted in 1939, bypassing the old alignment between Webbwood and McKerrow. As a result, Highway 68 was extended north by to meet this new alignment. During World War II, the rail bridge over the North Channel was abandoned, and subsequently redecked for highway use in 1945. Highway 68 was extended across the channel to Little Current, increasing its length by. However, Manitoulin Island would still remain without a highway of its own until the mid-1950s. On December 7, 1955, the route was extended across the island to South Baymouth. While the road was re-aligned somewhat throughout its history, and its overall path has not changed, its length has varied considerably during re-alignments, creeping as high as 130 km during the 1960s, before settling back down to its current value of around 116 km. Some former alignments are still in use. The road was fully paved by 1973, making this road the second last Kings Highways in the province to be paved in its entirety. During the spring of 1980, the entire length of Highway 68 was renumbered as part of Highway 6. The two discontinuous sections of Highway 6 are linked only by a privately operated ferry, MS Chi-Cheemaun, which crosses Georgian Bay daily from May to October between South Baymouth and Tobermory.
