Fort Frances and the Rainy River

A Border Town Where The Rainy River Leaves Rainy Lake, With A Historic Fur Trade Site, A Long Paper Mill History, Walleye And Muskie Fishing, The Fort Frances Museum And The Gateway To Quetico And Voyageurs Country. A Quiet Border Crossing And Fishing Stop · Fort Frances, Ontario

Fort Frances is a town of about 7,500 people on the north bank of the Rainy River, where the river leaves Rainy Lake and flows west toward Lake of the Woods. Across the water lies International Falls, Minnesota, joined to the town by a bridge and a busy border crossing. The site was a fur-trade stopping point for centuries, used by Ojibwe families and by canoe brigades, and a French post called Fort St. Pierre stood nearby in the 1730s (confirm). The town took its name from Frances Simpson, wife of a Hudson Bay Company governor, and grew with the railway and a large paper mill in the early 1900s. Visitors come for muskie, walleye and bass, for the Fort Frances Museum and its local history, and as the gateway to Quetico, Rainy Lake and Voyageurs country. The pace is slow, the people are friendly, and the lake and river dominate every view. Fishing weekends in late spring are the busiest of the year.

Fort Frances, a border town on the Rainy River in north-western Ontario facing International Falls, Minnesota, about 330 km west of Thunder Bay; coordinates approximate, Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada

The town is open all year, and the riverfront, the bridge viewpoint and the parks are free at any hour. The museum keeps regular hours, usually weekdays and some summer weekends, with shorter hours in winter (confirm). Fishing guides, boat launches and lodges run mainly from May to October, and many close or reduce service after Thanksgiving. The border crossing to International Falls is staffed around the clock, though checkpoints can have lines at weekends and holidays (confirm). Ice fishing huts and snowmobile trails open when the lake freezes, usually from January to March.

Fort Frances and the Rainy River on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos