Minnesota

From the 50 state visitor guide :

Minn. Stat. 2019 §243.166

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

5 days for initial registration and updates.

Visitors: Presence in state for more than 14 days or 30 days per calendar year triggers obligation to register. §243.166(1b). Registrants without a primary address register within 24 hours of entering new jurisdiction, & provide updates in-person weekly.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

None. Only Level 3 offenders are placed on the public website. (per NARSOL Digest, June 2018, p.7)

Duration & updates:

10 yrs – life.  Updates annually (weekly for those without permanent residence). §243.166.

Most recent visit: June-July 2025

For registered visitors, Minnesota is one of the easier states to get along with. Fourteen consecutive days should be enough for most visits. If for some reason you do end up on the state’s registry, only Level 3 offenders are placed on the public website. Be careful, however, because Minnesota is one of seven U.S. states whose out-of-state Tier 1 (or equivalent) registration requirement ends at a specified number of years after release from prison, or at the number of years required by the offender’s state of offense – whichever is longer. So if you are thinking how to escape from your own state’s harsh registration requirements, don’t think about this state.

Downtown Duluth

Duluth – In late June 2025 I took Minnesota up on its relative hospitality, at least as it applies to visitors, entering from Wisconsin at Duluth, the same place as I had four years earlier.  On that previous visit I found myself stymied from seeing much of this city by a several massive construction projects all going on at once.  Downtown Duluth was completely ripped up with construction, including not just the I-35 / US 2 interchange, not just most of the main streets for some kind of underground utility and streetscape reconstruction, but also a major downtown hospital expansion that has closed most of the surrounding streets. After an hour of trying I couldn’t figure out how to even get to the waterfront park, never mind find a place to park.  I had to give up!

Surely by now all this must be over and I can see what’s going on, right?  Well … they’re getting close, and I must say I never felt safer in my life than going over that new US 2 bridge!  The downtown hospital, however, is back at it with some new project so it’s still hard to get around.

I did find the waterfront park, which is connected to Downtown Duluth by two blocks-long pedestrian decks over I-35.  Nice job, actually!  Duluth’s downtown is oversized for a city of its size but healthy. That’s because it’s still Duluth’s main commercial district even after all this time.  Across St. Louis Bay Duluth’s twin city Superior WI has transformed their waterfront into naturalistic estuary.

This visit to Duluth/Superior was more like a reconnaissance mission, but I liked what I saw.  Next time, a closer look.

Strip mine near Hibbing

Hibbing – Although my next stop was the Ojibwe Leech Lake reservation (see Ojibwe Nation blog post) I took a side trip here because my map was showing points of interest.  Hibbing is a mining town and from the look of it a successful one.  Having been to a couple of mining museums before I chose instead the Minnesota Discovery Center but that was a mistake – what a rinky-dink piece of crap!  There are viewpoints where you can see huge open pit mines.

Paul Bunyan & his Ox

Bemidji – I didn’t take a close look at this town because I was too disgusted with the ugly statute of Paul Bunyan.  I can’t even imagine how crappy the Count Beltrami State Monument must be!

Pelican Rapids – New streetscape and park improvements for the World’s Largest Pelican!

Fergus Falls Prairie Wetlands Learning Center – Quite beautiful and interesting.  Now that I live in the prairie I should learn more about this stuff.

Granite Falls – Should be called Concrete Dam.  No granite, no falls.

Minneapolis

Like the rest of Minnesota, there are no statewide restrictions for you in Minneapolis, so you can go where you need to.  My first stop was Mall of America in suburban Bloomington.  It’s the largest shopping mall in the US, it’s three levels of shopping paradise and includes a big internal Nickelodeon theme park.  It’s interesting to me as a retired city planner, but what’s important to note here is that if this mall were located in the suburbs of Chicago (where I’d been just a week earlier) instead of Minneapolis, Nickelodeon could been considered a “public playground” and we’d all be banned from the entire mall. 

USBank Stadium in Downtown Minneapolis, with adjacent light rail train stop

While researching the Minneapolis rail transit system later that day I realized there’s a rail stop at the mall – I could’ve left my car there, done the rest of my trip my transit and picked up my car at the end of the day.  Instead I drove to the Museum of Art.  It’s big!  Followed by a drive around Lake of the Isles.  Minneapolis Sculpture Garden –Yey!  Minnehaha Falls – Double Yey! 

 
Sculpture Garden                                       Minnehaha Falls 

Then downtown to take a walk across the Mississippi on the Stone Arch Bridge, a Minneapolis must do for every tourist – but it was closed on the downtown end due to construction! Fortunately it’s still open from Hennepin Park on the other side of the river, so I got to see St. Anthony’s Falls and the great view of downtown.  But Mill City Museum was closed for the day by the time I go there.

Downtown Minneapolis as seen from the Stone Arch Bridge (St. Anthony's Falls at right)

PS – Downtown Minneapolis is also “famous” (among city planners) for its overhead walkways (like the ones in the Duluth photo above), which are intended to help people get around when it’s feezin’ ass cold and there’s two feet of snow on the ground.

I will be returning to Minneapolis – St. Paul next month to go to the Minnesota State Fair (instead of Iowa this year), which begins the week before and runs through Labor Day.  I’m just mentioning it now so I don’t have to do an update later.

 

Ojibwe Nation Archipelago

Reservation tourism in WI & MN

Native American nations can be fascinating places to visit, but make no mistake – you might tell yourself you are entering a sovereign nation when you cross the reservation boundary but you aren’t.  You’ll still be bound by the registry laws of whatever US state you’re in. 

Nor should you get any funny ideas if you are of native ancestry that you can somehow escape your registry status by moving to the reservation of whatever tribe you belong to.  You can’t.  As you must already realize, the oppression of the registry will follow you onto the reservation whether you’re a visitor or become a resident.  That’s why I have placed the registry laws of Wisconsin and Minnesota at the beginning of this blog entry, rather than any tribal registry laws.  There may be a few tribal laws on the books but they’ve got bigger concerns than having yet another outsider passing through.

Another point that must be clearly made to anyone planning to travel to Indian Country is that you are NOT going to a tourist attraction.  This is not Pennsylvania Dutch Country where you as a tourist are invited to gawk at the locals driving their buggies and eat at an expensive smorgasbord.  To the contrary, you are about to enter upon a place where quite frankly you don’t belong.  Your visit is merely tolerated, and as far as I’m concerned that is as it should be.

Most recent visit: July 2025

Despite this lack of an invitation, however, on my 2025 road trip to WI & MN I wanted to travel through as many reservations as I could squeeze into the time allotted.  These included the following:

Ojibwe Nation – Lac du Flambeau Band

Ojibwe Nation – Lac Courte Oreilles Band

Ojibwe Nation – Leech Lake Band

Ojibwe Nation – White Earth Band

Point of clarification: You won’t see “Ojibwe Nation” on your Rand McNally or GPS map.  Instead it says Chippewa Indians.  I never saw that word used on any reservation so I won’t use it here.

One thing was very clear to me as I traveled through the Ojibwe Archipelago – the Ojibwe people love their lakes and forests and will do whatever it takes to protect them from exploitation by outsiders.  In the past that would’ve been fur traders, mining and logging.  Wow, logging … that must’ve been just horrible for the Ojibwe to witness.

Today the danger comes from an invasion of tourists and gamblers.  How can each Band harness the economic potential of these new invaders without sacrificing their lands and culture in the process?  One approach followed by all Ojibwe Bands I visited is severely restricting on their lands all the commercial crap that supports the recreation tourism that has overwhelmed this region – especially northern Wisconsin. 

As soon as I crossed any reservation boundary all that disappeared, replaced by sacred lakes and forests.  Commercial development is restricted mostly to their towns.  The few billboards you’ll see have either public service messages or promote businesses in the towns.  As a retired town planner I wholeheartedly endorse that approach.

The main tribal town is where you will find tribal offices and government, public health and welfare services.  Each Band also provides a rural transit system to get their people to these services.  I came across a couple of museums but they were closed and had only occasional hours.

There is usually a reservation store in the tribal town.  Nowadays it looks and acts much like a supermarket and center of community life.  I’ve started visiting these stores to see how the town is doing.  I didn’t see any local restaurants – why is that?  Instead there’s a food counter at the reservation store but they only sell the same crap you’d get off-reservation.

Beyond that I adapted my approach to visiting small towns to each Band of the archipelago.  See the reservation, visit the tribal town’s downtown and check on its residential neighborhoods.  Out of concern for privacy I took very few photos. 

What did I find?

Wisconsin - From the 50 state visitor guide :

Wis. Stat. 2019  §§301.45 through 301.50

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

10 days for initial registration, after entering state, and for updates.  Employment defined as a period exceeding 14 days or 30 days in a calendar year. §301.45(3).

Per Wisconsin SOR response letter (2019), the 10 day period also applies to visitors.  No mention of any limit per month or year.

Per Wisconsin SOR response letter (2019), a procedure is available for removal from registry after departure.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Registrants must provide notice before going on school grounds.  § 301.475.

Duration & updates:

15 years to life.  Verification: SVPs – 90 days; others annually. §301.45(4).

Ojibwe Nation – Lac du Flambeau Band

This Band lies just west of the main recreation tourist region of northern Wisconsin, but turns its back on their neighbors’ garish commercialism.  Lac du Flambeau means Lake of the Torch, and there’s lots of torch imagery here.  The town is in the center of the reservation surrounded by a couple of nice lakes. 

The Ojibwe are justly proud of their veterans

This Band’s casino is right at the main intersection downtown.  They are hoping that some gamblers will take a break and patronize the cluster of businesses they have there.  Reservation store okay.  Town has an impressive group of tribal administration and public health and welfare facilities. 

Continuing west, WI 47 passes between two of the lakes.  Here there are several very nice lakefront vacation home neighborhoods.  It looks like these expensive vacation homes are this Band’s concession to the tourist industry, bringing in tax revenue and seasonal customers for their town.  If I was looking for a desirable lakefront vacation home, secluded but close to all my vacation needs, this would be the place.

On the other hand I suppose there’s nothing to prevent tribal leaders and elites from suburbanizing to these nice lakefront neighborhoods, right?  The tribe gets the tax income either way.  That could also explain why the old neighborhoods in Lac du Flambeau are total slums – everybody left who could.  I remember seeing a small apartment complex under construction as I headed back east out of town.

Ojibwe Nation – Lac Courte Oreilles Band

This Band is about the same area as Lac du Flambeau, but differently situated, between the nearby county seat of Hayward and Chequamegon Nat. Forest.  They have put their casino not far off reservation on the way to Hayward.  The tribal town, Reserve, is tiny although there is a reservation store.

I’m guessing that instead of duplicating all the public health, welfare and business services available so close at hand, the Lac Courte Oreilles Band is better off contracting with the providers in Hayward and making sure they have good rural transit service to get their people there.  That way Band members have their beautiful lakes and forests to themselves.

Similar to Lac du Flambeau, one of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band’s lakes has a peninsular lakefront community called Northwood Beach.  I respected privacy by not venturing in but I imagine it to be another mixture of outsider vacation homes and local leaders and elites.

Small Town Notes

Hayward:

From Wisconsin blog post – Guess what?  Behind all that shlock on US 63 there’s a real town!  Downtown is right off US 63 and benefiting from tourist growth.

Here I will add – “All that schlock on US 63” includes the public health, welfare and business services the Lac Courte Oreilles Band needs.

Minnesota - From the 50 state visitor guide :

Minn. Stat. 2019 §243.166

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

5 days for initial registration and updates.

Visitors: Presence in state for more than 14 days or 30 days per calendar year triggers obligation to register. §243.166(1b). Registrants without a primary address register within 24 hours of entering new jurisdiction, & provide updates in-person weekly.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

None. Only Level 3 offenders are placed on the public website. (per NARSOL Digest, June 2018, p.7)

Duration & updates:

10 yrs – life.  Updates annually (weekly for those without permanent residence). §243.166.

Each of the two Ojibwe Bands in Minnesota is larger in area than both of the Wisconsin Bands put together.  Also, both reservations but especially the Leech Lake Band include and are surrounded by state and federally protected lands and forests that interconnect with vast network of protected lands that extend all the way up to Voyageurs National Park on the Canadian border (see my blog post “Flirting with Ontario”).  Although that’s probably a blessing and a curse.  There are more Ojibwe Archipelago reservations up north too – most notably the Red Lake Band – that I didn’t get to visit on this trip.

From a distance it looks like a perfect set up for a people who love their lakes and forests, so I certainly hope the Ojibwe have retained or wrestled back control of their hunting, fishing and occupational rights to these lands.

Last, and not only not least but most important, the source and headwaters of the Mississippi River lie at Lake Itaska in Itaska State Park and Mississippi Headwaters State Forest, both located smack in between the Leech Lake Band and White Earth Band’s territories.  Although the Ojibwe may have had this beating heart of their homeland stolen from them, I came away with reason to imagine that they never forget its role in their culture and exert some influence over what goes on there.

Ojibwe Nation – Leech Lake Band

Coming from the east I elected not to follow US through the middle of the reservation.  Instead I took a side trip on MN 6, 200 & 371.  This took me through Chippewa National Forest.  Within the Leech Lake Band territory I found a series of roads leading off to Leech Lake with signs saying “Resort ---->”  Some said “RV Resort” and some didn’t.

As you can imagine, vacation tourism in Minnesota is all about its 10,000 lakes.  The Leech Lake Band includes really nice likes.  It looks to me like the concession to vacation tourism this Band has made is to accommodate a series of self-contained “resorts” around their lakes.  Again, I respected privacy by not going to see these resorts but I think we can all conjure up an image of what a nice secluded lakefront RV resort with its own resort store and café might be like.  Pretty nice, actually.  Meanwhile the Ojibwe people have the rest of their lands to themselves.

I wondered if Walker was the reservation town, but it’s not.  It’s an Anglo town.  The reservation town is Cass Lake and it’s a dump although it has all the usual public health, welfare and business services I’ve come to expect.  I stayed at a nearby national forest campground that night.

Sacred Mississippi Headwaters

Mississippi River Source and Headwaters

Itasca State Park and Mississippi Headwaters State Forest are beautiful places and it broke my heart to know how it’s been torn away from its native people.  To add insult to injury, the nearby town of Bemidji boasts the world’s largest statue of Paul Bunyan – America’s symbol of forest destruction and denudation.  He stands there with his stupid ox, sticking a thumb in the eye of the Ojibwe people.  I refuse to disgrace this post by including my photo of him here ... I'll put it in my Minnesota blog - properly defaced.

However … it so happened that while I was at Itasca State Park a school bus pulled up and unloaded a class of summer day care kids on a field trip.  The bus said “Cass Lake Tribal Schools.”  This lifted my spirits.  The Ojibwe Nation is doing what it takes so their children will honor and protect their native heritage.  As CSN sang: “Teach your children well … And feed them on your dreams …”

The Mississippi flows through an absolutely stunning meadow just a few miles from its source.        This is my favorite photo from my entire trip.

Ojibwe Nation – White Earth Band

The White Earth Band is different than the others.  Going west, somewhere around the Headwaters of the Mississippi America’s Northern Forests give way the fertile open land of the Great Plains.  This is farmland, it was late June, the crops were growing and the agricultural economy looked as strong as I have ever seen in my new home state of Iowa.  And why shouldn’t the Ojibwe be great farmers?  They were right here growing corn long before the europeans got here.

As I have said, if the agricultural economy is strong the town will prosper.  The White Earth Band reservation town is Mahnomen, and sure enough it’s prosperous.  Mahnomen has everything a Great Plains agricultural town could ask for – starting with an active rail line and a couple of nice giant grain elevators in the middle of town so the Ojibwe farmers cooperative can get their products to market.

Not only that but there are a couple of other small industries in the town with parking lots full of employees.  It’s the county seat of Mahnomen County which is entirely within White Earth Band territory.  Add all those tribal administration and services into the mix and gee whiz, I wonder who’s running this town, right?  The downtown is the usual reservation style jumble, but I swear, the residential neighborhoods are laid out just like any other prosperous Midwestern farm town.  Oh yeah, there's a casino too.

However … as I sat in a convenience store parking lot and watched a tribal rural transit bus drop off an old person having difficulty walking inside, I wondered about the challenge to the White Earth Band’s culture and heritage that this very prosperity represents.  Any time you have more jobs than local people can fill you’re going to be invaded by outsiders wanting those jobs. 

The same goes for Mahnomen’s nice neighborhoods.  I can’t help wondering who’s really living there (but no I won’t look it up).  Also, if the farms are successful outside agricultural corporations will want in.  The White Earth Band could easily become the victims of their own success.

 Wisconsin

Wisconsin cheese

From the 50 state visitor guide :

Wis. Stat. 2019  §§301.45 through 301.50

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

10 days for initial registration, after entering state, and for updates.  Employment defined as a period exceeding 14 days or 30 days in a calendar year. §301.45(3).

Per Wisconsin SOR response letter (2019), the 10 day period also applies to visitors.  No mention of any limit per month or year.

Per Wisconsin SOR response letter (2019), a procedure is available for removal from registry after departure.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Registrants must provide notice before going on school grounds.  § 301.475.

Duration & updates:

15 years to life.  Verification: SVPs – 90 days; others annually. §301.45(4).

Most recent visit: June 2025

For registered visitors, Wisconsin is one of the easier states to get along with. Ten consecutive days should be enough for most visits. Per Wisconsin SOR’s response to a Florida Action Committee (FAC) letter (2019), there may be no limit per month or year. However, to be safe, visitors should assume the 30 day per year limit that applies to employment in the state will also apply to visitors.

In June 2025 I decided to take Wisconsin up on its relative hospitality.  I wanted to explore northern parts of the state I hadn’t looked closely at before.  Entering from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula I soon surrounded by the recreational tourist mecca that is Northern Wisconsin. 

On one hand this entire region, including the enormous Northern Highlands American Legion State Forest, has been fully developed with every manner of winter and summer recreation you could ask for – snowmobile and ATV trails, interconnected region-wide bike paths and paved pedestrian trails, skiing, water sports, boating, fishing, camping, RV resorts, vacation homes, anything you want.  I remember seeing a Great Wolf Lodge somewhere (maybe Hayward?), so your pack can "wolf out" too.  The Snowmobile Hall of Fame and Museum is in St. Germaine.

On the other hand the creation of this tourist mecca has killed the goose that laid the golden egg.  Every formerly beautiful country road is lined with mile upon mile of all the commercial crap and roadside attractions necessary to support all this vacation tourism.  The two towns I drove through, Eagle River and Woodruff, no longer exist as distinguishable entities.  They have become mere place names awash in an ocean of crap.

However … one thing I’m sure of is that there are a lot of people – including many of you – who love outdoor sports, winter and summer.  For you I can heartily recommend Northern Wisconsin.  You get nine days in this state, and if you really wanted a two week vacation Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is just a few miles away.  Either spend your second week there (they could use your patronage) or make a side trip to the UP, stay there at least one full calendar day and the two nights on either side, then return to Wisconsin and re-start the clock for a up to a total of 30 days per calendar year.

While in Wisconsin I noticed that northern Wisconsin and Minnesota together host an archipelago of Ojibwe Nation reservations and I resolved to take a closer look at several of them.  It was way more interesting than even I imagined, and very different than the tourist wonderland I just described.  I will be reporting on the Ojibwe Nation Archipelago in my next blog.

Small Town Notes:

Rhinelander – It’s just outside the main tourist area so not destroyed.  Downtown okay, but neighborhoods not so much.

Antigo – Just goes to show that when the surrounding agricultural economy is good the town will prosper.

Phillips – Just finishing up installing new curbs, but there’s no street beautification to go with it.

Hayward – Guess what?  Behind all that shlock on US 63 there’s a real town!  Downtown is right off US 63 and benefiting from tourist growth.

Previous visits: June & August 2021

In June 2021, entering from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, I stayed overnight at a National Forest campground and spent the next two days seeing the sights.  At a welcome center I picked up a map of every cheese store in Wisconsin, showing which ones are located right on the farm where you can buy the fresh cheese curds that squeak in your mouth. 

In addition to eating lots of cheese, I came upon a small town “Party on the Pavement” and had street food for lunch.  I toured Milwaukee’s lakefront and Historic Third Ward, and of course I’m a sucker for cave tours – this time it was Cave of the Mounds after staying overnight at Blue Mound State Park (nice park, clean campgrounds, hot showers).

Continuing southwest, I ended up at Prairie du Chien where I tried to visit Villa Louis State Historic Site but found it still closed on account of the COVID 19 pandemic.  However, this was an opportunity to rest and have lunch at a picnic table overlooking the Mighty Mississippi River before crossing over into Iowa.

Leinenkugel Beer Factory, Chippewa Falls

In August 2021 I was taking a five day mini road trip to northern Minnesota but decided to swing through western Wisconsin on my way up to Duluth.  Entering at Prairie du Chein where I had left on my previous trip I headed north along the Mississippi River Scenic Highway – and yes it was scenic.  Then veered off to my intended stop on my way through Wisconsin, the Leinenkugel Beer factory in Chippewa Falls where I took the one hour factory tour.

Then continuing as far north as I could get before nightfall I camped at Amnicon Falls State Park, which is quite beautiful but unfortunately has no showers! Oh well – it was on to Minnesota!

 Flirting With Ontario

A couple of years ago I visited the International Peace Garden, which is open to Americans but part of it is in Manitoba.  I blogged about that.  Since then I’ve kept wondering, are there other places along the US-Canada border where Americans are permitted inside a hermetically sealed little chunk of Canada? 

If you know of any, please let me know.  Meanwhile I have now made it a game to noodle along the Canadian border for other special places like that – beginning with Ontario.  As I flirt with Ontario I’ll report what I find here.

One thing I want to make clear is that this is just a game.  Nobody is trying to sneak across the border.  I don’t even want to do that and it would violate the rules of the game – which are that it has to be a bona fide place where any American is allowed to be without a passport.  So let’s play the game:

 Michigan - From the 50 state visitor guide :

M.C.L. 2019 §§28.721 through 28.736, as modified by HB 5679 effective 2021

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

Initial registration and updates are required “not more than 3 days,” (HB 5679).  A “residence” is defined as “that place at which a person habitually sleeps, keeps his or her personal effects, and has a regular place of lodging.”  §28.722(p).  Also, “An individual required to be registered under this act who is not a resident of this state but has his or her place of employment in this state shall report” not more than 3 days. §28.725(2). 

Visitors: Michigan law does not address registration by visitors. The requirement to report any place “[t]he individual intends to temporarily reside at … other than his or her residence for more than 7 days” applies only to “[a]n individual required to be registered under this act who is a resident of this state” §28.725(1). However, visitors should assume at a minimum that this 7 day rule will apply to you.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

1000 foot residency and loitering restrictions were repealed by HB 5679.

Those required to register after 7-01-2011 must report all email addresses & internet identifiers (defined in HB 5679).

Duration & updates:

15 years to life. Updates: T1 – annual; T2 – 6 mo; T3 – 3 mo. §28.725.

Soo Locks Boat Tour

Flirt Rating – A

This is a really enjoyable 2 hour boat tour from Sault Ste. Marie, MI that takes you through both the Canadian and American Soo Locks.  You can see where I was parked in the screen shot of my gps monitor, and I have marked the tour route.  The map also shows the US-Canadian border, so you can see that at least an hour of this trip is inside Canada. 

Route of the Soo Locks Boat Tour

The Canadian Locks, which you go through first, are within Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Park & Historic Site – as you see on the map, all of Whitefish Island is parkland.  Once you’re in the lock they close the doors, tie the tour boat up to one side of the lock for safety, and fill the lock to raise the ship.  All the while, there you are enjoying your surroundings in a Canadian National Park.

I have decided that to get a Flirt Rating of “A” in this game, just being in a boat in Canadian Waters (like at Niagara Falls) isn’t good enough.  You have to be able to touch Canadian land to get an “A.”  On this criterion the Soo Locks Boat Tour delivers.  While the lock is being filled you can get up and walk around, and even touch side of the lock’s wall where the boat is tied up.  It may only be concrete – but you’re touching Canadian soil when you do that.

Approaching the Canadian Lock

Also, because this lock is the main attraction in a national park there are a lot of people around watching the show, and yes indeed the Americans on the boat strike up conversations with the Canadians just a few feet away, me included.  I was having so much fun I couldn’t stop laughing!

View from inside the lock

The nice views of Sault St. Marie, Ontario all come before and while you’re in the lock.  After that the tour takes you west and near to a huge iron ore and steel processing plant on the Canadian side.  It really is impressive in its own stark way.  Meanwhile the tour guide explains which piles of ore are what and what some of the machinery does.  Pretty interesting.

Iron & steel plant on the Canadian side, as viewed from Canadian waters.

Then it’s back across to American waters and through the American lock which is much bigger.  On our side too, Sault Ste. Marie, MI has a lockfront park that includes viewing stands and people were talking and hailing each other as we were being lowered in the lock.

This tour not only takes you into Ontario for over an hour, but it’s a really great tour on its own merits.  I can’t help wondering – there must be other lock tour boats along the Great Lakes US – Ontario border.  Surely along the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers in southeast Michigan, a place that until now I have given short shrift.  Not anymore – this is just too much fun!

Minnesota – From the 50 state visitor guide :

Minn. Stat. 2019 §243.166

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

5 days for initial registration and updates.

Visitors: Presence in state for more than 14 days or 30 days per calendar year triggers obligation to register. §243.166(1b). Registrants without a primary address register within 24 hours of entering new jurisdiction, & provide updates in-person weekly.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

None. Only Level 3 offenders are placed on the public website. (per NARSOL Digest, June 2018, p.7)

Duration & updates:

10 yrs – life.  Updates annually (weekly for those without permanent residence). §243.166.

Voyageurs National Park

Flirt Rating – B

In 2021 I visited Voyageurs National Park, which is in far northern Minnesota at the Ontario border.  Here’s what I wrote at the time:

“My intension was to go as far north as U.S. registry law allows, which means right at the Canadian border.  My destination was Voyageurs National Park, which turns out to be mainly a boating and fishing paradise. There are no campgrounds in the park, and apparently people take their boats out to camp at one of the hundreds of islands in Kabetogama Lake. I’m not a boater! **Sigh**”

Now that I’m flirting with Ontario I’ve gone back and looked at this park in a new light.  I’m not a boater but maybe you are.  Voyageurs encourages you to go island camping not just in Kabetogama Lake but Rainy Lake, Namakan Lake, Sand Point Lake and Crane Lake, all of which border Ontario and have many tiny islands to choose from.

Voyageurs map

There is also Kettle Falls Historic District, which includes a waterfall between Namakan Lake and Rainy Lake.  Like the more famous Niagara Falls it crosses the US – Canadian border.  According to the park information you are encouraged to get in a boat or kayak and go enjoy the falls and river.  That has to include noodling with the border.  So does island camping on any of these lakes.

Let’s be realistic here.  There has to be at least enough waterborne border security on both sides to keep visitors in line.  But this place is mighty remote and, unlike a boat tour, you’ll be under control of your own vessel and can take it where you dare.  It’s even possible that if you stopped at a little remote island for a picnic nobody would care – but I certainly wouldn’t try staying overnight.

Also, if you are stupid enough to try obviously approaching the Canadian side of anything not only are you an idiot but you’d be violating the rules of the game, which are that it has to be a place where any American can go but it happens to be in Canada and nobody cares.  If you start approaching the Canadian side people are gonna care, and that’s against the rules.

From the 50 State Visitor Guide : New York

N.Y. C.L.S. 2019 Corrections §§168

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

10 calendar days for initial reg., after “establishing residency” (not defined), and for updates. §§168-f, 168-k.  In-state workers required to register if present for more than 14 consecutive days or an aggregate period exceeding 30 days in a calendar year. §168-a.

Visitors: Per NY SOR office, 10 consecutive days or 14 per month. NOTE: Partial days count (except just passing through).  Procedure available for removal from registry after departure.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Certain laws may impose a 1,000 ft. residency restriction from schools and child care facilities for registrants on parole or probation.   

Duration & updates:

20 years to life.  Updates: L3 & “sexual predators” 90 days; all others annually.  §168-h.

Akwesasne Nation (St. Regis Mohawk Nation), St. Lawrence Seaway – Most recent visit: May 2025

Flirt Rating – F

The weather totally sucked the whole time I was in the Akwesasne Nation. Their territory lies on both sides of the St. Lawrence Seaway and of the US – Canadian border.  In the US it’s called the St. Regis Mohawk Nation.  So in that way you can kinda pretend you’re in a separate nation when you enter the reservation, and that separate nation includes lands on the other side of the border and …

Map of the Akwesasne Nation (grey) and Robert Moses State Park (Barnhart Island)

The Akwesasne Nation’s chief sources of prosperity are: (a) it sits right at the main St. Lawrence River / US border crossing for the entire region, and (b) the St. Lawrence – FDR Hydroelectric Power Dams are right there too.  If they didn’t get a cut of that action they got totally jipped!

But for the same reasons, on any road trip through this region you’d better get used to seeing a lot of dark colored SUV’s – both Akwesasne Nation and US.  I don’t think it’s because the Akwesasne people have a special fondness for them either.  I stopped near the bridge / border crossing just to have a look and the place was crawling with them. 

Yup that's Canada all right! As seen from Robert Moses State Park.  I got closer to the water's edge than this but thought better of the idea of "suspiciously taking a photo" from the riverbank.

I also visited Robert Moses State Park which includes the dams which you can see from a distance and the canal locks which you can go to.  It’s at the Visitors Center.  Yes I saw dark colored SUV’s there too but no so many.  The park is on an island in the St. Lawrence River, the island itself is on the Canadian side of the shipping channel, so here again you can kinda pretend …

Ship coming through the lock - cool!

One thing nobody seemed to mind me doing was driving all over the park including right up to the riverbank where Canada was just a few feet away.  This park at the north tip of New York also offers camping and cabins!  When I got to the Visitor’s Center there was a cargo boat going through the locks and I got to see that.  All in all and pleasant place to pretend you’re in Canada.

Convenience store chain store you should be forewarned about:

Stewarts Shops – What began out as a little chain of ice cream shops is now this region’s main convenience store chain that happens to include an ice cream bar.  What they don’t have is a soda fountain.  Why don’t the people of New England and Upstate New York like fountain sodas?

Niagara Falls and Gorge – Most recent visit: May 2025

Flirt Rating – C

On my most recent visit the weather continued to totally suck the whole time I was in the Niagara region.  I bypassed Niagara Falls itself because I had been to the falls before.  I believe it was on a trip I took in the year between when I was arrested and when I was sentenced.  I planned on a few hours but couldn’t do everything in that time.  I did go on the Maid of the Mist boat ride which visits Horseshoe Falls which is the Canadian Falls and I don’t think they’re enforcing the border that much out in the middle of the river, so there’s that.

I also did Cave of the Winds and a couple of other things but I don’t remember going to Three Sisters Islands which probably get you as close to the border as you can get on land.

Niagara Gorge and the Whirlpool as seen from the American side

In early June 2025 I decided to go to Whirlpool State Park this time instead.  The bad news is that to get there you have to drive on the most inappropriately named road ever constructed – Niagara Scenic Parkway.  Wow is it ever in bad shape!  The good news is the Whirlpool and the gorge are pretty amazing. 

Whirlpool State Park

The park overlooks the Niagara Gorge at a sharp bend where the whirlpool is.  This is without a doubt the best view of The Whirlpool (except for the cable car on the Canadian side) and that view is from the US but the thing you’re there to look at is in Ontario.

However!  Not long after I returned home I happened upon a TV segment about the Niagara Gorge Whirlpool – and guess what?  There is a “Whirlpool Jet” boat tour of The Whirlpool!  They run boat tours from both sides of the gorge which means, much like the Maid of the Mist tour at Niagara Falls, you can get on in the US but most of the tour is in Canadian waters.  Tadahh!