Often a question once answered leads to another question on Twelve Mile Circle. So I’d just analyzed the thousands of separate border segments between Canada and the United States. Then I stumbled upon a very small US exclave that I’d never noticed before. It’s located on Missisquoi Bay, an extension of Lake Champlain. Thus, it falls between the Canadian province of Québec and the US state of Vermont.
I mentioned it briefly in one of my comments on that earlier article. Now I’d like to spend a little more time exploring it further.
Province Point
It’s not very large. I’m going to estimate based on a quick eyeball measurement that it’s about 400 feet x 200 feet (120 metres x 60 metres). That would be just about the right size for a “football” field (the US version or the rest-of-the-world version) and not much else. One thing I also learned from my earlier border examination is that Google Maps draws the boundary slightly wrong. The true border extends through that little white dot — which I assume is a boundary marker. Welcome to Province Point.
I won’t complain about Google although I’ve sometimes done that in the past. I have a new appreciation for the mathematics and the massive data manipulation taking place behind the scenes for those maps to exist. The speed at which they recognize new information is nothing short of amazing too. I’d already received the first search engine hit focusing on “Missisquoi Bay Exclave” no more than twelve hours after I’d posted the new-to-me discovery.
The Most Direct Route
Access should be fairly straightforward for US citizens wishing to visit this minuscule stranded corner of the United States. The easiest path would involve a waterborne approach. I noticed there are a bunch of houses on the US side with boat docks. At the farthest they might be only a mile away from this geo-anomaly. Direct access and no border crossing necessary!
There are also the Highgate State Park, the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge and tons of little villages all within the immediate vicinity. It shouldn’t be too difficult to rent a boat. Or maybe hire a local resident departing from one of those locations to ferry an explorer to the tiny exclave.
Another Possibility
The land approach would also be possible although it would involve a border crossing.
This is the border station as viewed from the Canadian side at Saint-Georges-de-Clarenceville in Québec’s Regional County Municipality of Le Haut-Richelieu. It looks like a pretty sleepy place. There’s probably minimal hassle assuming a visitor arrives at the station with proper identification. Explaining the situation might be interesting though. I remember getting a strange look from a border guard when I traveled to the Point Roberts exclave. That happened even though it’s a much more widely known anomaly.
Bureaucracy?
Sometimes these stories amuse the guards. Many years ago and long before the Eurozone relaxed its border crossings between western European countries, I took a short circle route from Luxembourg to Germany to France and back into Luxembourg. At the time it was my first ever visit to Germany. I think it made the border guard’s day. He smiled when we informed him that we planned to be in his country for only ten or fifteen minutes.
Nonetheless it might be a good idea to find another plausible, truthful reason. Otherwise you’ll need to explain your geo-oddity proclivities in detail to a law enforcement officer. Maybe combine your adventure with a day-trip to Montréal and use this route as a way to avoid either of the busy crossings on the Interstate Highways immediately west and east.
Legality?
Public roads within the small settlement on the immediate Canadian side will get someone to within a half-mile of the target. From there it would be necessary to trudge east along the lakeshore. There also appears to be an even closer approach using a smaller village due north of the exclave. This would require a quick traipsing across what appears to be a farm. Either way it would probably be necessary to trek across private property. Bear that in mind when contemplating a land approach. Also, you’d be crossing from Canada to the United States without permission from either government.
You’re probably better off renting the boat.
Leave a Reply