Tertiary Highway 811, commonly referred to as Highway 811, is the longest 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 C ...

's tertiary highways, and the highest posted route number in the province. The route encounters no named roads along its route, aside from its eastern terminus at Secondary Highway 527. It extends westward into the wilderness, ending at a bridge over the Weaver River. The route was designated in 1976 with the intention of extending it further west, but this extension has yet to be constructed.

Route description

Branching off from Secondary Highway 527, roughly halfway between

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population i ...

and

Armstrong Armstrong may refer to: Places * Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places Antarctica * Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands Argentina * Armstrong, Santa Fe Australia * Armstrong, Victoria Canada * Armstrong, British Columbia * Armstrong ...

, Highway 811 is Ontario's highest numbered route, but also one of its most remote. Aside from its beginning, the highway connects with no named roads along its length. The route begins approximately midway along Highway 527, north of

Ontario Highway 17 King's Highway 17, more commonly known as Highway 17, is a provincially maintained highway and the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Canadian province of Ontario. It begins at the Manitoba boundary, west of Kenora, and the ma ...

and south of Armstrong, It zig-zags northwestward for towards Savant Lake, although as of 2011 the road reaches less than halfway there. It crosses several small rivers as it travels through the

Boreal Forest Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruc ...

before ending at a bridge over the Weaver River, south of Obonga-Ottertooth Provincial Park. The road is gravel for its entire length. There are no communities along Highway 811; it is almost exclusively used for wilderness travel or forest operations.

History

As part of the 1974 Ontario Highway Capital Construction Program, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications studied the potential benefit of a road connecting Highway 527 southwest of

Lake Nipigon Lake Nipigon (; french: lac Nipigon; oj, Animbiigoo-zaaga'igan) is part of the Great Lakes drainage basin. It is the largest lake entirely within the boundaries of the Canadian province of Ontario. Etymology In the Jesuit Relations the lake is ...

with Highway 599 near Savant Lake. A

forest road Forest tracks or forest roads are roads or tracks intended to carry motorised vehicles or horse-drawn wagons being used mainly or exclusively for forestry purposes, such as conservation or logging. Forest tracks may be open to ramblers or mountain ...

that branched off from Highway 527 was assumed as Highway 811 in 1976. However, the planned connection to Highway 599 has yet to occur, and an gap separates Savant Lake from the Weaver River. Despite no connection materializing over the past 35 years, and no plans to construct that connection presently, Highway 811 remains a signed and maintained provincial highway.

Major intersections

References

External links

Google Maps: Highway 811
{{Ontario Tertiary Highways Roads in Thunder Bay District

811 __NOTOC__ Year 811 ( DCCCXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Emperor Nikephoros I organises a new ca ...