Northwest Angle Guest Ice Road offers new gateway to winter adventure
With the U.S.-Canada border closed to tourism and other nonessential travel since March, reaching the Northwest Angle by driving through Manitoba isn t an option and won’t be until the border reopens, whenever that might be. That’s where the Northwest Angle Guest Ice Road comes into play. Written By: Brad Dokken | ×
Signs greet visitors to the Northwest Angle on Lake of the Woods County Road 49 at the Minnesota-Manitoba border. (Photo/ Brad Dokken, Grand Forks Herald)
OAK ISLAND, Minn. – The fish weren t exactly jumping out of the holes, but they didn t have to be.
With the U.S.-Canada border closed to tourism and other nonessential travel since March, reaching the Northwest Angle by driving through Manitoba isn't an option and won’t be until the border reopens, whenever that might be. That’s where the Northwest Angle Guest Ice Road comes into play.
Opening of Northwest Angle Ice Road again on hold, organizer says
Organizers had hoped the road would open Thursday afternoon, Jan. 14, but that is no longer a possibility. Written By: Brad Dokken | ×
Plow trucks work on the Northwest Angle Guest Ice Road last week on Lake of the Woods. (Photo courtesy of Teri Alsleben, Points North Services)
A turn for the worse in ice conditions has delayed the opening of a winter road from the south end of Lake of the Woods to the Northwest Angle. Organizers had hoped the road, which begins at Springsteel Resort north of Warroad, Minn., would open Thursday afternoon, Jan. 14, but that is no longer a possibility, an organizer of the ice road project said Wednesday night.
The road begins at Springsteel Resort north of Warroad and follows frozen Lake of the Woods some 22 miles northeast and north to the “Border Cut Trail,” a cut in the trees along the Minnesota-Manitoba border. The 8-mile land trail connects with county roads that take visitors either to Angle Inlet or Young s Bay, where the ice road to Oak and Flag islands begins.
This satellite imagery shows the approximate route the Northwest Angle Guest Ice Road follows from Springsteel Resort north of Warroad, Minn., to the Northwest Angle.
Despite the recent warm weather, ice road conditions are at the point where it can open for public use, Alsleben said. Organizers have said they want a consistent 15 inches of ice at minimum before opening the road to the public.
Organizers have said they want a consistent 15 inches of ice at minimum before opening the road to the public. While the thickness minimum is close, a warm snap early this week caused the ice to shift in some areas, which happens with drastic temperature swings. That, in turn, can create cracks, which need time to heal.