The Highway 599 Wilderness Corridor

Do you yearn to go to a place off the beaten path? To a magical land where the forests are ancient and untouched by logging and the lakes and streams pure as water gets. There's a place like this in Ontario's Sunset Country and we call it the Highway 599 Wilderness Corridor - aka the Pickle Lake Road! This isn't your ordinary drive for sure, in fact, its something well beyond that. You are entering a primeval looking landscape where nature is in charge and where your passion for the outdoors - whatever that entails - can be fully realized. Highway 599 is probably the best place to see moose and other wildlife although the folks who live up the Red Lake Road would likely dispute that! It's tough to argue with them, as wildlife can be seen in large numbers across the region. Of all the wild places in Ontario's Sunset Country, this road takes you to the "wildest" places - outside of a fly-in trip.

Here are a few interesting facts about the Highway 599 Corridor:

• Most northerly reaching all-season, all-weather road in the Province of Ontario maintained by the Provincial Ministry of Transportation.
• The Highway is approximately 292 kilometers (181.4 miles) long - ending at the Township of Pickle Lake.
• Towns and Communities along the route: Ignace, Valora, Silver Dollar, Savant Lake, Osnaburgh, Rat Rapids, Mishkeegogaman First Nation, Pickle Lake
• "Silver Dollar" along the route is named after a store and restaurant whose owner, Bob Sincox, hoped to 'make a mint' with his venture when he opened the operation in 1968.
• Construction of the entire north/south roadway was finished in mid-1966.
• The highest temperature ever recorded in Pickle Lake was 40.0 °C (104 °F) on 19 June 1933. The coldest temperature ever recorded was −51.1 °C (−60 °F) on 8 February 1934.
• The Miskeegogaman First Nation (63A & 63B) is the most populous community along the route with approximately 900 residents.
• The Township of Pickle Lake, at the road's terminus, has a population of about 425.
• Pickle Lake was originally established as a Gold-mining town in 1928 and the regional mines have produced over 2.5 million ounces of gold since that time.

So one would expect when you travel to a remote location in Northern Ontario that there's going to be some good fishing opportunities on area lakes. When you travel up the Highway 599 Corridor, you take this fact to a whole new level where the fishing is not only good, it is simply, beyond belief! Some of Sunset Country's most spectacular lakes are up the Corridor including Sturgeon Lake, Lake Savant, Raleigh Lake, the Albany River System, and Lake St. Joseph - and that's only scratching the surface. Lake St. Joseph has arguably, the best walleye fishing to be found anywhere in Ontario - not just in Sunset Country and the pike in the lake can exceed 45 inches.

Lake Savant is another high-quality fishery with walleye, pike and lake trout. Sturgeon Lake with its north and south basins offer anglers non-stop action for walleye, lake trout and pike as well. Raleigh Lake is a walleye factory with some nice big pike and lake trout. The Albany River is a vast water system extending for miles deep into the wilderness. Catch monster pike, endless walleye and if you're lucky a trophy lake trout. There are some very good fly-in lodges and outposts based out of Pickle Lake. 

Here is a list of lodges located on lakes up the Highway 599 Corridor:

Lake Savant

• Wildewood on Lake Savant

Lake St. Joseph

• Camp Lake St. Joseph
• Old Post Lodge
• Slate Falls Outposts
• Winoga Lodge & Outposts

Osnaburgh Lake

• Oz Lake Lodge & Motel

Sturgeon River

• Sturgeon River Outfitters

Sturgeon Lake

• Lumberjack Lodge
• Trappers Point Camp
• White Sands Camp
• Cobb Bay Lodge

Graystone Lake

• Graystone Lake Lodge

Raleigh Lake

• Cobblestone Lodge

Albany River System

• North Albany Lodge

Other Highway 599 Area Lodges, Outposts and Hotels

• Young Lake Lodge
• Cozy Camp
• Ignace Outposts
• North Caribou Camps
• Harry Lake Lodge
• Wogenstahl's North of 50 Outposts
• Birch Bark Lodge
• Pickle Lake Hotel
• Makoop Lake Lodge
• Pickle Lake Outposts

When you decide to go fishing up the Corridor, you're officially in "Ontario's Last Frontier," so expect the quality of the fishing to live up to the name!

Remember that as the most remote area of Ontario's Sunset Country, retail and service businesses are somewhat limited. However, here are a number we'd like to list here:

• North Pop Ltd.
• Morgan Fuels
• Township of Pickle Lake