Ontario Highway 71

King’s Highway 71 is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The 194-kilometre-long route begins at the Fort Frances–International Falls International Bridge in Fort Frances, continuing from US Highway 53 and US 71 in Minnesota. It ends at a junction with Highway 17 just east of Kenora, where it continues north for 154 kilometres to its northern end.

About Ontario Highway 71 in brief

Summary Ontario Highway 71King’s Highway 71 is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The 194-kilometre-long route begins at the Fort Frances–International Falls International Bridge in Fort Frances, continuing from US Highway 53 and US 71 in Minnesota. The current routing of Highway 71 was created out of a route renumbering that took place on April 1, 1960, to extend Highway 11 from Thunder Bay to Rainy River. The highway is part of the Trans-Canada Highway for its entire length, with the exception of the extremely short segment south of Highway 11 in Fort Frances. The portion of the highway that is concurrent with Highway  11 follows the Cloverleaf Trail, constructed by the end of the 1880s and improved over the next several decades. It provides access to Eagle Dogtooth and Rushing River Provincial Parks several kilometres south of its northern terminus at Highway 17, four kilometres east of the split of the Highway 17.

The history of the route is tied to two major highways: the Clover Leaf Trail and the Heenan Highway, which were built in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The road was initially blazed as early as 1875, possibly as part of Dawson Road, and extended to Fort Frances in 1911. Highway 602 now follows the road between Fort Frances and the Lake of the Woods; this road is now known as Highway 71. Highway 71 was created as a result of the renumberings of the highways in 1950 and 1960, when Highway 11 was extended west of Thunder Bay and tied to the Clover leaf trail. It is the longest highway in Ontario, with a total length of 194 kilometres. It was built to connect the Rainy river region with Kenora and the remainder of Ontario’s road network. It ends at a junction with Highway 17 just east of Kenora, where it continues north for 154 kilometres to its northern end.