Angle Inlet Travel Guide

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Several years ago I had the opportunity to go on a business trip up to Warroad, Minnesota where my former company, Pepsi, had a small distribution facility. I was there for about 10 days helping them convert over to new handheld computers for the sales staff and beverage drivers. After a couple of days there the manager asked if I would like to take a ride and make a delivery to the islands. Since there wasn't much for me to do while the salesmen and driver's were going about their daily business I readily agreed.

And it turned out to be an interesting trip. It was probably about a 60 mile or so journey up to Angle Inlet, Minnesota. After leaving Warroad we traveled about 6 miles to the Canadian border where we had to go through customs. We then traveled on some paved roads and then turned off onto some Indian land and started driving through some deeply forested areas. At one point the road took us back into the United States and we had to stop and make a phone call to let someone know who we were and that we were coming back into the U.S.

Anyway to make this story short. We got to Angle Inlet, unloaded several cases of soda and some CO 2 containers onto a boat and proceeded to make delivery to 2 different fishing resorts on 2 different small islands on Lake of the Woods.

One of the interesting sidelights of the trip was when they showed me an ice fishing house (it was early November a little too early to start ice fishing) that slept 8. WOW for a non fisherman and non hunter I never realized they were so huge.

I have already shared that the Northwest Angle is about the most remote spot in the US. Once you get there, you can see a lot more by boat than by car. There is a rather unique charter service there.
The Island Passenger Service offers taxi service to any point on Lake of the Woods but they are headquartered in Angle Inlet.
I called Charlie McKeever a few days ago to confirm what I was about to share about him and his service and he informed me that he has sold his business: lock, stock, and boats. He did assure me, however, that he will continue to work for the new owner as captain of one of her boats and that she is as committed to providing superior service as he was. They offer direct taxi service to The Islands and other towns on Lake of the Woods. They also offer spectacular sightseeing tours for as little as $25 for a two hour trip or if you want something a bit more on the private side, they are completely yours (along with up to two friends, if you like) for $30 per hour with a two hour minimum. The third type of service that they offer is if you are staying at or near the Young's Bay Resort and want to try a restaurant elsewhere, they can get you there for as little as $30 per person (with a four person minimum) and that includes the cost of your dinner.

"A dollar doesn't come easy up here ... why should a par?" --attributed to George Risser, the designer of this compact, but tough 9-hole course.

There may only be 85 permanent residents of the Northwest Angle but they do have a country club. It is probably a whole lot less expensive than the one back home, too. How about $60 a year or, if you aren't into that hoiety-toiety (Someone please help me with this spelling.) stuff, you can play for $9 per day. Let's see you beat that back home.

Home of the Shyster Open every August.

An article about the Northwest Angle Country Club in a local electric co-op magazine several years ago was entitled Birds and bears are par for the course at Northwest Angle golf club. I don't know why she didn't mention the fish.

Built, designed, owned, and managed by George and Judy Risser on their own property. First, it was a dream nurtured in card table conversation. (I don't know whether CC was in on the birth of this plan or not.) Then it became a field and adjacent woods transforming into a six-hole, then seven, and now nine-hole golf course over a period of nearly 20 years. I don't know whether they plan to go for 18 or not.

Equipment: Rentals available across the street from the course.