Tiny corner of US has been isolated from mainland for 10 months
By
Lauren Fox, AccuWeather staff writer
Updated Jan 21, 2021 4:29 PM EDT
Businesses in Minnesota's Northwest Angle have struggled financially since the US-Canadian border closed due to the coronavirus. As a result, resorts in the angle have come together to build an ice road.
About 10 months ago, the U.S.-Canadian border was forced to close to non-essential travel due to the coronavirus pandemic, and it will remain shuttered until at least Feb. 21, 2021. The border closure has had an impact on many, and nowhere is that more evident than in Minnesota's Northwest Angle.
A geographical oddity, the Northwest Angle is the part of Minnesota that is connected only to Canada and separated from the rest of Minnesota by the Lake of the Woods -- a freshwater fishing hotspot shared by the U.S. and Canada that is considered the walleye capital of the world.
After the border restrictions cut off the Angle from the rest of the outside world, business owners on the Angle developed a way for their customer base to return and keep their businesses alive.
The Angle, known as the "northernmost point of the contiguous United States," is a tourist destination for fishing on the lake, but for anyone in the U.S. looking to reach the Northwest Angle by car, they must drive through Canada, which is now not possible for non-essential reasons due to the border closure. Canadians are also unable to enter the Angle until the border restrictions are lifted.
Only 110 people reside in the Angle, meaning business owners in the area, including the owners of Jake's Northwest Angle resort, are now without the majority of their customer base.
"When they kind of opened the hospitality industry back up, we were unable to reopen for the most part just because the border with Canada was closed, and all our clientele comes through the border," Karen Colsen, co-owner of Jake's Northwest Angle, told AccuWeather.
In an attempt to save their businesses during the winter season, all 12 resorts located on the Angle worked together to create a solution to the problem -- an ice road connecting the Angle to mainland Minnesota, allowing U.S. citizens to reach the Angle by car for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.
"It's a real long ice road that'll extend from the south end of Lake of the Woods and stay in Minnesota waters, and it'll take guests all the way up to the Northwest Angle," Lake of the Woods Tourism executive director Joe Henry told AccuWeather's Lincoln Riddle.
The ice road built on Lake of Woods will allow tourists to travel to the Northwest Angle while remaining on U.S. land the entire time. (Photo/Lake of the Woods Tourism)
The road consists of 22 miles of pure ice and goes through the waters of Lake of the Woods. A road of this kind has never been created before on the lake.
A team of plowers at Points North Services is responsible for keeping the ice road in business by mending cracks and getting rid of any ice heaves -- a powerful natural occurrence that is caused by a lake's ice sheet being pushed into its shoreline, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources -- that may form.
A team of plow truck drivers for Points North Services are responsible for keeping the ice road free of cracks, ice heaves or anything else that could make the road unsafe to drive. (Photo/Points North Services)
"Sometimes you have to take a chainsaw or chisel or bar and knock it down, pack it in there or maybe move the bridge if it's not crossable there anymore," said Cale Alsleben, a plow truck driver for Points North Services.
The ice road has been operating under a "soft open," according to the Grand Forks Herald, and will open in earnest on Friday with a 25-mph speed limit. A few dozen vehicles have used the ice road so far, but it is hard to say how many people will actually use it going forward, Paul Colsen, co-owner of Jake's Northwest Angle, told AccuWeather.
Recent weather conditions have been warmer than usual which has been a detriment in getting the road operational, according to the Grand Forks Herald. Despite the unknown, Colsen said he is hopeful for the business it could bring after a slow summer.
"I'll feel relieved when it's open," Paul said. "That'll be really cathartic to see people driving around here."
Reporting by Lincoln Riddle
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News / Business
Tiny corner of US has been isolated from mainland for 10 months
By Lauren Fox, AccuWeather staff writer
Updated Jan 21, 2021 4:29 PM EDT
Businesses in Minnesota's Northwest Angle have struggled financially since the US-Canadian border closed due to the coronavirus. As a result, resorts in the angle have come together to build an ice road.
About 10 months ago, the U.S.-Canadian border was forced to close to non-essential travel due to the coronavirus pandemic, and it will remain shuttered until at least Feb. 21, 2021. The border closure has had an impact on many, and nowhere is that more evident than in Minnesota's Northwest Angle.
A geographical oddity, the Northwest Angle is the part of Minnesota that is connected only to Canada and separated from the rest of Minnesota by the Lake of the Woods -- a freshwater fishing hotspot shared by the U.S. and Canada that is considered the walleye capital of the world.
After the border restrictions cut off the Angle from the rest of the outside world, business owners on the Angle developed a way for their customer base to return and keep their businesses alive.
The Angle, known as the "northernmost point of the contiguous United States," is a tourist destination for fishing on the lake, but for anyone in the U.S. looking to reach the Northwest Angle by car, they must drive through Canada, which is now not possible for non-essential reasons due to the border closure. Canadians are also unable to enter the Angle until the border restrictions are lifted.
Only 110 people reside in the Angle, meaning business owners in the area, including the owners of Jake's Northwest Angle resort, are now without the majority of their customer base.
"When they kind of opened the hospitality industry back up, we were unable to reopen for the most part just because the border with Canada was closed, and all our clientele comes through the border," Karen Colsen, co-owner of Jake's Northwest Angle, told AccuWeather.
In an attempt to save their businesses during the winter season, all 12 resorts located on the Angle worked together to create a solution to the problem -- an ice road connecting the Angle to mainland Minnesota, allowing U.S. citizens to reach the Angle by car for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.
"It's a real long ice road that'll extend from the south end of Lake of the Woods and stay in Minnesota waters, and it'll take guests all the way up to the Northwest Angle," Lake of the Woods Tourism executive director Joe Henry told AccuWeather's Lincoln Riddle.
The ice road built on Lake of Woods will allow tourists to travel to the Northwest Angle while remaining on U.S. land the entire time. (Photo/Lake of the Woods Tourism)
The road consists of 22 miles of pure ice and goes through the waters of Lake of the Woods. A road of this kind has never been created before on the lake.
A team of plowers at Points North Services is responsible for keeping the ice road in business by mending cracks and getting rid of any ice heaves -- a powerful natural occurrence that is caused by a lake's ice sheet being pushed into its shoreline, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources -- that may form.
A team of plow truck drivers for Points North Services are responsible for keeping the ice road free of cracks, ice heaves or anything else that could make the road unsafe to drive. (Photo/Points North Services)
"Sometimes you have to take a chainsaw or chisel or bar and knock it down, pack it in there or maybe move the bridge if it's not crossable there anymore," said Cale Alsleben, a plow truck driver for Points North Services.
The ice road has been operating under a "soft open," according to the Grand Forks Herald, and will open in earnest on Friday with a 25-mph speed limit. A few dozen vehicles have used the ice road so far, but it is hard to say how many people will actually use it going forward, Paul Colsen, co-owner of Jake's Northwest Angle, told AccuWeather.
Recent weather conditions have been warmer than usual which has been a detriment in getting the road operational, according to the Grand Forks Herald. Despite the unknown, Colsen said he is hopeful for the business it could bring after a slow summer.
"I'll feel relieved when it's open," Paul said. "That'll be really cathartic to see people driving around here."
Reporting by Lincoln Riddle
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