North Dakota - Day 3 (Angle Inlet, Walhalla, Devils Lake)

Matt & I are pretty geeky when it comes to maps, oddities, oddities that amplify maps (lol!)...so we have had fun finding different things over the last few years. This trip would be no different - with the exception of finding a lot more than we initially planned!

When we decided to head further north in Minnesota, Matt presented the idea of driving to the northernmost point in the lower 48 - Angle Inlet, MN. What's so odd about that, you may ask. Well, to get to this town, you have to drive through Canada! Due to a mapping error in 1755, this piece of land in Minnesota is only accessible via water or Canada.

We got an early start on Day 3. We had 7 hours of driving plus a handful of stops along the way. The 7 hours didn't include going through Border Patrol 4x either, we assumed that could add 30-45 minutes as well. 

Our first border crossing of the day. No wait and the customs agent was very friendly. When he found out we were headed to the Northwest Angle (Angle Inlet), he brought us a map with instructions (for the border crossings). This was super helpful!

From the border crossing, we drove north for 45 minutes to Moose Lake. At this point, we hit gravel roads, which we would drive on for another 45 minutes. We were shocked by the number of vehicles we saw on this stretch of road (gravel). Okay, it wasn't super busy...but we came across 15-20 cars on our drive in to the Angle. We truly expected it to be a very quiet morning drive with no traffic. It all made sense once we arrived in Angle Inlet (I'll explain more in a bit). 

We arrived at Jim's Corner...the place where we needed to report that we were back in the US. There are no border agents at this location. We realized that the phone (below) was for the Canadian Border so we went inside and found that the ipad was missing (US Border instructions on the windows stated to use the ipad to connect with a US agent). After doing some quick reading/research, we figured out that there were other spots in the Angle for us to try and call/use a different ipad. 

Knowing that this post office is the "Most Northerly Post Office", I thought it would be neat to mail the kids a card from here. Check out the cute little box! Sadly, when we got home, we found out that the mail from Angle Inlet gets routed through Grand Forks, North Dakota . . . and that is the city that gets stamped on the card . . . not Angle Inlet! We were so disappointed!

We drove around the area, looking for the Customs phone as well as the large photo op buoy. We finally tracked down the shelter for customs, only to find that this ipad was out of commission as well. At this point, we called the 800# and spoke with an agent over the phone. 

Now that we were legal again, lol, we went in search of the buoy. 

FOUND IT!!

The glare was harsh...and we couldn't see the phone screen, ha!

What a nice touch! A selfie platform...

While planning for this stop, I had come across a few posts that included directions and pictures (for border crossings as well as the buoy and other buildings in Angle Inlet). We truly didn't think that this area would be as busy as it was. We assumed a small village (2020 Census shows Population of 54) with a touristy buoy! We didn't have a clue that there would be "resorts" in the area! It makes sense though, since the area borders water (Lake of the Woods). It is a boater's haven! 

After taking our pictures, we stopped at Jerry's (below) to use the restroom and look through their gift shop. 

One last stop at Jim's Corner to check in with the Canadian Border agent and off we went, heading back to the lower 48. 

Once we were a bit down the road, I made some PB & J sandwiches for us to eat while we drove. 

Back in Canada and saying goodbye to the gravel road (and HORRIBLE horse flies!!!)

Bucket List item accomplished - now to head south to the Southernmost Point in Key West. Hopefully in the next few years we can see that.

We reached the US Border without issue and started making our way to North Dakota. Soon after we crossed the border, we noticed that the air quality was bad...and getting worse. We had heard that the Canadian wildfires were still going and causing air issues, but this was the first that we'd really seen it. Matt looked up a website for the air and found that we wouldn't be too bad for the rest of the day. Seeing this did raise some concerns though - especially all of our outdoor activities for the rest of our time in North Dakota.

Our next stops were in Walhalla, ND. We stopped to take some pictures of a canola field - we loved the yellow that we continually saw throughout our time in North Dakota. 

We then drove to Gingras Trading Post (neat piece of history from the area) - but literally out in the middle of nowhere! 

The Masonic Scenic Overlook in Walhalla is impressive. We weren't able to see very far due to the smoky air, but impressive none the less! We never would've imagined North Dakota to look like this! It is hard to see into the valley below, but the overlook is a great spot to view the Pemina River below. There is a trail system that takes you from the overlook down to the river valley, but we didn't see it (didn't really look for it either since it wasn't on our agenda to do that day).

If you can find the white spot on the hill, that is the sign of the Masons, which is just below the stone wall at the overlook. 

We drove from Walhalla into Devils Lake, our stop for the night. We drove straight to White Horse Hill National Game Preserve. This is a fee free preserve, designated in 1904 by Theodore Roosevelt as "a big game preserve, refuge and breeding ground for wild animals and birds" (NDTourism.com). The preserve includes a 4 mile auto-tour, hiking trails, a prairie dog village, bison & elk herds and over 250 species of birds. We really enjoyed our time there. We climbed the stairs to the overlook (steep stairs, but wow, the views were worth it!). We spent a lot of time at the overlook, basking in the quiet of the evening. While a few cars drove by, none stopped. We had the place to ourselves!

As you can see from these pictures, we were now in an area that wasn't really affected by the wildfires (for that day at least). It turned out to be a glorious day!

We continued our drive through the preserve and found the prairie dog village. They are so fun to watch!

We were really hoping to see some of the buffalo & elk herd. As we were making our way towards the exit, we glanced over and saw 5-6 buffalo a ways off the road. We parked and watched them for a few minutes. With very few others in the park, we were able to enjoy that time without feeling the stress to "move along". 

We exited the preserve - Sadly, this would be the only elk we'd see. 

Driving back into Devils Lake, we stopped for dinner and then checked into our hotel. 

Back at home, they were supposed to get hit with another huge storm. This didn't look good. The kids texted that they finally had power again (out for @ 12 hours). Maddie & Will were supposed to be working during this potential storm and Kaitee would be driving with friends to Wisconsin for the weekend. My mama's heart was nervous. I am so thankful for social media, texting and up to date weather technology so we could keep in touch with all of them during this storm. While Moline didn't get hit directly, we did get more rain/flooding and a few confirmed tornadoes in the area. Very scary when you aren't there to help.

Day 3 Favorites:

Matt: White Horse Hill: Overlook (minus the stairs!) and finding the buffalo

Becki: White Horse Hill Overlook