Secondary Highway 651, commonly referred to as Highway 651, is a provincially maintained highway in the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

province of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. The highway is in length, connecting

Highway 101 Highway 101 was an American country music band founded in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. The initial lineup consisted of Paulette Carlson (lead vocals), Jack Daniels (guitar), Curtis Stone (bass guitar, vocals), and Scott "Cactus" Moser (drums) ...

east of Wawa with the remote community of

Missanabie Missanabie is a community in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the Algoma District at the northern terminus of Highway 651, inside the boundaries of the Chapleau Crown Game Preserve. A designated place served by a local services board ...

. Highway 651 was established on the Centennial anniversary of

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

, but did not connect to any other roads originally; access to the route was provided from Missanabie. It was extended south to connect with Highway 101 in 1969.

Route description

Highway 651 is a route which connects the community of Missanabie with Highway 101, also providing access to the western side of the

Chapleau Crown Game Preserve The Chapleau Crown Game Preserve is a fur bearing animal Game reserve, preserve area in Ontario, Canada, north-east of Lake Superior. It covers some in the Algoma District, Algoma and Sudbury Districts, and is officially classified as a Crown Game ...

. The southern terminus of the route is a junction with Highway 101, midway between Wawa and Chapleau. From there it proceeds north through an isolated region of

northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...

, passing through the thick forests of the

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield (french: Bouclier canadien ), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the anc ...

. At the midpoint of the route, a short road branches off to the east, connecting with

Dalton Dalton may refer to: Science * Dalton (crater), a lunar crater * Dalton (program), chemistry software * Dalton (unit) (Da), the atomic mass unit * John Dalton, chemist, physicist and meteorologist Entertainment * Dalton (Buffyverse), minor cha ...

, a

siding Siding may refer to: * Siding (construction), the outer covering or cladding of a house * Siding (rail) A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch l ...

on the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

's transcontinental line. North of Dalton, the railway — which acts as the southwestern boundary of the preserve — and highway travel parallel to one another. The route ends immediately east of Missinabie.

History

Highway 651 was assumed by the Department of Highways (DHO) on the day of Canada's Centennial, July 1, 1967. At that point in time, Highway 101 had not yet been completed between Wawa and Chapleau, and so the route was connected to the rest of the province solely by rail. The isolated highway provided access between the community of Missanabie and the flag stop at Dalton, to the south. It was approximately half of the current length of the route. Highway 651 was assumed by the DHO on the same day as the section of Highway 101 between Wawa and Chapleau opened, though it did not connect to it at first. A southward extension of Highway 651 to intersect it opened to traffic on April 30, 1969. The route has remained unchanged since that time.

Major intersections

References

{{Ontario Secondary Highways

651 Year 651 (Roman numerals, DCLI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 651 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar ...

Roads in Algoma District