Photography

Three Out Of Four!

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Northwest Angle, Minnesota. The Northernmost Point of the contiguous United States.

Kathy & I are spending a few days in International Falls, MN in order to visit Voyageurs National Park and get to the Northernmost Point of the Contiguous United States. We went to the Northernmost Point today.

Getting to Northwest Angle, MN involves a 300 mile round trip drive from I-Falls (as the locals call it), across the border into Canada in Warroad, MN then about 40 miles of sand & gravel washboard road in order to get to Angle Inlet. Enroute it is necessary to communicate with Customs 4 times – once upon entry to Canada via a traditional Canadian border officer, then upon crossing back into the US, a stop at a kiosk with a tablet where you enter your appropriate information to be submitted for approval. The return trip requires a phone call (with in our case a 30-minute hold time) with a Canadian customs agent prior to departing Angle Inlet, then crossing back into the US is another stop at a traditional customs station and a US customs agent. Not as bad as it sounds, other than the 30 minute hold for the return trip.

Our car after just the drive in to Northwest Angle, Minnesota. The Northernmost Point of the contiguous United States.

The bartender at Jerry’s Bar, the one bar in Angle Inlet, told us that on 4th of July weekend, Jimmy Buffet had tweeted about the Southernmost Point and mentioned “don’t forget about the Northernmost Point!” They were deluged with tourists that weekend, and the wait for a customs officer was over 2 hours! And what happens if you don’t call? If you get caught, a $1000 fine (according to the bartender) and they take your car!

Technically, Angle Inlet is the farthest north you can drive in the US. But that’s where the monument is, which is good enough for us!

So we’ve now been to the Southernmost Point in Key West, the Easternmost Point in Quoddy Head, Maine, and now the Northernmost Point in Angle Inlet, Minnesota! The Westernmost Point is evidently a little harder to get, but be sure we will work on that in the near future!

And one more thing: we have been experiencing excellent weather and temperatures in the upper 60s and low 70s. Quite a relief from the heat at home that we will soon be experiencing!

Weather app screenshot showing our location at Northwest Angle, Minnesota. The Northernmost Point of the contiguous United States.

6 thoughts on “Three Out Of Four!”

  1. That’s a pleasant trip this time of year. We went to I Falls in the fall a few years ago and it was very nice. Beautiful country up there.

    1. We’ve found both Michigan and Minnesota to be absolutely beautiful. In the summer. I couldn’t imagine being here in the winter. It might be even colder than Webster, NY! 😉

  3. You can do the Southwestern most point in Imperial Beach, CA a short drive from San Diego. I’ve been to the Northwestern most point in WA and hopefully get to Quoddy Head soon.

  4. I think I’ll stick with the four cardinal points for now, although I would love to visit San Diego as we have never been.

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