The other route, Hwy 601, map available on Red Lake site |
Here's a couple of bits of info on detours to Red Lake. The first is a comment to the last posting.
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Matt,
Thank you for your post. I was able to make it to Red Lake thanks to your information! I am one of the thousands who have benefitted from your great intel.
Much appreciated!
DJ
Dan, safe travel and thanks for all the updates. Hope you make it up north for a great summer!
Mike Seal
Quick update on Quibell. Still open, but there is more traffic and the condition of the dirt road is deteriorating. Use caution especially if pulling a boat.
I suspect the Quibell detour condition fluctuates every day. We talked to someone from Red Lake today who said it was OK for small SUVs and larger. All of NWO is having thunderstorms today and that will probably make things deteriorate again. We will be traveling over it in a few days but I will be out of cell range for awhile.
DJ - the quibell detour is open to passenger traffic. We arrived in Red Lake today via the 647 (quibell) > 609 > 105.
Matt
May 21, 2022 at 11:56 PM
Red Lake Municipality has a link to the Hwy 601 map detour that goes north from Dryden and follows bush roads for about 40 miles. It comes out to Hwy 105 just north of Perrault Falls.
I would choose the Quibell route first. It is far shorter. It is also open only to passenger vehicles. Big trucks must use the Hwy 601 route.
I am thoroughly pissed at the lack of highway information out there. The so-called gold standard info site -- Ontario 511 -- would have us believe that there has been a vehicle blocking the Quibell route for the past four days. What utter nonsense! Obviously a tow vehicle would have removed such an obstacle long ago. It also reports highways closed to traffic when cars are getting through.
CBC radio and tv -- the nation's broadcaster -- has said nothing about flooded roads and highways in Northwestern Ontario.
We are left to scrounge bits of information from here and there on the web.
Thank you, Matt. Your comment was more important to the thousands of people coming and going from Red Lake than all of the rest of the web and media.
One of the more helpful news websites has been DrydenNow. It usually has a highway update. Pay close attention to whether a road is closed to all traffic, closed to truck traffic, closed to one lane, etc., and then make your decision.