Sudbury, Canada
Big Nickel, Bigger Craters
"Where NASA trained because it looked like the Moon"
Official Coat of Arms
A shield dominated by an enormous nickel coin rampant, flanked by two smokestacks belching regreened moonscape, beneath a banner reading 'Reclaimed, Not Ruined.' At the base, a small astronaut in a rover, confused about whether he has landed on Earth or the Moon.
TripAdvisor Review
★★★☆☆ 3/5
"Visited my cousin in Sudbury and honestly the Big Nickel is exactly as absurd and wonderful as the postcards suggest, a giant coin on a hill for no reason except civic pride. The old moonscape from the mining days has actually greened up a lot, which surprised me since I expected total desolation. Downtown feels a bit sleepy after 6pm and Ramsey Lake is nicer than I expected. Worth a stop if you're driving Highway 17 anyway, maybe not worth a special trip."— Gary Pelletier, Timmins ON
Property Listing
Charming Northern Ontario city offering a UNIQUE lunar heritage, a thriving mining economy, and the world's largest coin as your new landmark neighbour! Enjoy easy access to five sparkling lakes right within city limits, proof that a town can go from moonscape to green space in a single generation. Perfect for buyers who want big-city amenities with small-town nickel prices.
Twinned With
Chernobyl Exclusion Zone — Both are famous for landscapes so lunar that scientists and astronauts have used them as stand-ins for outer space.
Supporting Evidence
NASA astronauts trained in Sudbury's Sudbury Basin in the 1970s because its blackened, cratered landscape (from decades of mining and smelting) closely resembled the lunar surface, and the area is now recognized for one of the most successful large-scale land reclamation projects in the world.