The Extremely Obscure Land Border Between Michigan and Canada You Didn’t Know About

Travel between Michigan and Ontario, Canada, and you're crossing the border via a bridge over water or a tunnel under water. From Lake Erie to the Detroit River, Lake St. Clair, St. Clair River, Lake Huron, St. Marys River and Lake Superior, there isn't anywhere that the land of the US touches Canadian land.

Or at least that's what nearly everyone thinks.

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There may be a very short and very obscure land border between Michigan and Ontario.

The Height of Land Portage: A Continental Divide

The idea came up in a Reddit thread in the Today I Learned subreddit about a spot known as the Height of Land Portage. It's a narrow strip of land between two lakes shared between Minnesota and Canada. In addition to being the longest land border between Ontario and the US, it's also a significant point for the continent. The quarter mile long strip separates waters that flow to the Arctic Ocean to those that drain to the Great Lakes.

It turns out that there may just be one more, even more obscure point between the United States and Ontario and that being in Southeast Michigan.

Seaway Island: Unveiling Michigan's Hidden Land Link

In the St Clair River, where it spills into Lake St Clair south of Algonac and Harsens Island sits Seaway Island. The navigation channel that freighters use has shifted the geography in the area a bit and now there's a bit of Seaway Island, that's largely Canadian but does include a tiny, tiny bit of Michigan.

Here's what it looks like on Google Maps:

That border line over a bit of green in Seaway isn't isn't a mistake by Google Maps, it's where the international border goes.

READ MORE: The Trans-Canada Highway Once Crossed the Upper Peninsula of Michigan + Strange But True: Michigan is North, South, East and West of Canada

Navigating the Border: Regulations and Royal Canadian Mounted Police Presence

And it is a border Canada does enforce. Seaway Island is part of the Walpole Island First Nation (the Canadian equivalent to a Native American Reservation in the States).

A sign posted for boaters instructs vessels from the United States not to pass as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police patrols the area.

👇🏼BELOW: Here's What It Looks Like to Enter Michigan from Canada + These Short, Overlooked Michigan Highways Exist Only to Leave the State👇🏼

So while you would need a boat to get there, it is possible to take a single step from Michigan into Canada. But, it's not advisable unless you want to spend some time discussing your adventure with Canadian authorities.