Northerly Park Master Plan for the Northwest Angle

Visit the beautiful Northwest Angle of Lake of the Woods, the northernmost point of the contiguous United States. Here’s where a Northerly Park is proposed.  Ice has just recently disappeared, and the exquisite blue of the pristine water is a sight to behold.

The Northwest Angle is unique location as it forms the chimney at the very top of Minnesota.  The “Angle” which is part of Lake of the Woods County is accessed by land by first driving through Canada. The “Angle” is located on the northern side of Lake of the Woods, or when viewing a map, the “chimney”. The area is 596.3 miles, 473.2 miles of that is water.

The Angle is in coexistence with Angle Township and Lake of the Woods County, surrounded by Manitoba and Ontario. Another access to the “Angle” is by taking a great trip across the waters of beautiful Lake of the Woods. There is a passenger service that runs from the south shore of the lake carrying people and their gear to their favorite location.

The Northwest Angle, the village of Angle Inlet, is home to many resorts and the gateway to Lake of the Woods and its US islands of Oak and Flag where other resorts are located. These pristine waters are the home of the reknown walleye and they are in abundance. It’s amazing to see many beautiful homes and beautiful resorts. For being the northernmost part of the contiguous United States, everything is fully modernized and is the home to a group of people who know how to offer great hospitality.

The trip to the Northwest Angle from Baudette in Lake of the Woods County is a 202 mile round trip taking you west to Warroad, MN where you cross the Canadian border to Manitoba. Be sure to have an up-to-date passport, passport card or enhanced driver’s license in hand for identification purposes.  Drive 12.6 miles to Sprague, MN and turn onto Hwy 308 and drive through 40 miles of Canada. The road is good with the last remaining miles being gravel. It was still a good wide road. This takes you through miles and miles of forest area and beautiful scenery.

Take one last turn right onto 535 and you will be welcomed by the Northwest Angle Sign. You then arrive at Jim’s Corner where you will find a building with an IPad in it to check back into the United States. This location will be the proposed site of a proposed Northerly Park that locals and tourists will be able to enjoy.

Plans for this park were originally started in 2019-2020. Of course, then Covid stopped the planning and now the plan has been resurrected.

Northerly Park would be the first and only park located in this remote and unique region of Minnesota. The Northwest Angle is the northernmost point of the lower 48 states and it was created as a result of a surveying error during the early days of the founding of the United States. The Northwest Angle only came onto the electrical grid in the 1970s, and this proposed park will have much to offer in the way of history and natural beauty to potential visitors.

Visitor Center. A 30 foot by 24 foot building would be located at Jim’s Corner on the existing class 5 pad. This area is non-wetland, and as such, the visitor center would have no environmental impact. However, it would impact the ease of entering back into the United States.

Board Walk. A boardwalk would traverse an approximate straight line between the Visitor Center and an Observation Tower.  This boardwalk would be 7.5 feet wide and approximately 2,500 feet long. The boardwalk would traverse wetland area over its entire length.

There are many amenities that could also be offered as planners gather ideas and dreams for the area. Here’s just a few suggestions being presented:

Lake of the Woods County is the forerunner for this northerly park which will present an even greater invitation to visit the Northwest Angle where people are the greatest and fishing is superb.

Check out this link for more information: https://engage.hei.mysocialpinpoint.com/northerly-park-master-plan.

For information on all of Lake of the Woods see: www.lakeofthewoodsmn.com

For lodging see: www.lakeofthewoodsmn.com/lodging

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