Logging in the Mississagi River Valley began in the late 1870's. The area was an excellent location for logging because of the Mississagi River and its many tributaries, which made transportation of logs much easier. Also, the Mississagi River Valley had an abundance of white pine, the wood which was used for almost every building purpose in the early 1800's. These advantages made the Mississagi River Valley one of the choice lumbering areas in Ontario from the late nineteenth well into the twentieth century.

Blind River was the centre of the North Shore logging industry. However, there were a few mills built around the Mississagi River Valley area, such as a steam powered mill - the Dyment Lumber Company - built in Thessalon, in 1877, by Nathaniel Dyment. Other mills in the area throughout the years included the Saginaw Salt and Lumber Company, the Hope Lumber Company and the Crane Lumber Company. Many men from the Mississagi area were employed by Blind River lumber companies. There were several J.J.McFadden lumber companies - smaller posts of the large company in Blind River - one of which was located on Tunnel Lake across the road from Grand Falls Camp.

Logging was one of the most important industries in the Mississagi River Valley, and greatly helped with development of the area. However, there were also some damaging effects of the logging business. A lot of wood was wasted, because any wood that was not to be used by the lumber companies was left lying on the wet skidways, making it useless even for firewood. River drives could sometimes damage ecological systems in the rivers in which they took place. Forest fires were also a great concern, as was the loss of wood as a natural resource. This is where forest management came in.