Driving Directions to Stanley's Resort

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Most travelers from the mid-west will pick-up Hwy 94 and head towards Minneapolis. At Eau Claire Wisconsin you can choose to turn north on Hwy 53, which will take you straight to the Border, or you may continue on to Minneapolis. There are some advantages to using the Interstate, then traveling north on hwy 35 route around the Twin Cities. Four lane travel, 65+ MPH and bypassing Duluth may be worthwhile. The 53 route is shorter, slower, and passes through small towns. But, this has always been a favorite route to International Falls. Recent construction on 53 has seen an increase in the amount of 4-lane hwy and an increase in the speed limit.
One problem that may occur is a line up at the bridge to cross into Canada. There is no trick to missing the rush hour on Saturdays. A recently completed Canada Customs station has improved speed and opened up new lanes of traffic. To really avoid the any delays, many travelers cross into Canada Friday, enjoy a relaxing morning, and then arrive after 2 PM to check-in. Occasionally overnight space is available at Stanley's Resort. Call us Friday afternoon at 1-800-461-1444 and ask. If not, here are some Ontario motels:  

Fort Frances, Ontario

Vermilion Bay, Ontario
Pine Grove 807-227-2013
The Pines 807-227-2091
Northside 807-227-5339 

Travel from International Falls to Stanley's Resort

Before crossing fill up your gas tank and visit the Duty Free Shop if you like. You will be charged a toll at the bridge when you cross.
  Once you cross in to Ft. Frances, immediately in front of you is the tourist information center. If you need to exchange some US currency for CDN, this is a good place to do it. You should have some CDN Dollars on you for small purchases. The local merchants do take US, but you won’t get as good exchange rate, and letting that summer student at the register try to calculate the difference in currency is worth having some CDN bills on you (beside they’re full of pretty colors to look at).  There are two routes to get you into camp now. The quickest route is to follow Hwy 11 east out of Ft. Frances. Remember the speed limit is in metric, so be careful. About 30 minutes out of Ft. Frances on Hwy 11, you will come upon a left turn onto Hwy 502. This is the road to Dryden. This is road will take a couple of hours till it ends. At the end of the road there will be a couple of directional signs pointing you to Hwy 17 West. Disregard them and pull out these directions. Turn right at the end of 502, which will bring you to hwy 594. About 5 minutes down the road you will see a huge paper mill. If you have all of your supplies and are ready to head right into camp, there is a road just before the mill which points you towards Hwy 17. Follow it till you come to the stoplights and then turn left, now you are on Hwy 17W which will bring you right to camp. If you need to pick up some groceries, don’t turn at the mill, proceed straight and follow the road into Dryden. Just past the first light there is a large Safeway grocery store, they should have everything you need. From here you are only about 45 minutes from camp so you can pick up those perishables if you need them.  Once you are done shopping, turn right and follow the street through several lights, and over a bridge till you come to a set of lights at Hwy 17, where you will turn left.
  Once we are traveling on Hwy 17W, you will come upon the town of Vermilion Bay. There are grocery stores, liquor outlets, and gas stations here as well. Going past Vermilion Bay about 10-12 minutes will bring you to West Arm Road. It will be a left turn off the hwy, from there just follow the signs right into camp. We’ll see you there around 2:00 check-in time.  Another route to get you to camp would be to head west on Hwy 11 after crossing the border. About 20 minutes outside of Ft. Frances you will turn north on Hwy 71. This road is not as desolate as the other route. There are a couple of stops along the way. Travel to the end of 71 and then turn right and travel east on hwy 17 for about 40 minutes, till you come to West Arm Road. You will be turning right off the hwy, and then following the signs into camp.
  Both routes are alright, but the hwy 71 combination will take upwards of 45 minutes longer than the hwy 502 route. Both hwys will have some huge bumps and potholes due to the frost heaves of our cold winters, so you might have to drive around them.
  There is one important aspect to be aware of when traveling on any hwys in Northwestern Ontario, especially at night, MOOSE!!!! These animals will come to the highway edges to escape bugs, lick some road salt off the pavement, and just to check out the action. Weighing up to 1200 lbs, they are not the type of animal story that you will want to bring home to your local auto body shop. Be careful and keep looking towards the ditches for “critters”.....