Flying your own airplane to Dogskin

At Dogskin Lake Lodge, we encourage our pilot guests to fly their aircraft across the border. If you have a seaplane, you can fly direct to the lodge (after stopping at the border, of course). Each year we host many seaplanes and our guests enjoy flying in the Canadian bush without the need to plan fuel stops, bring camping equipment or food. Just pack your fishing gear and clothing and fly your aircraft a couple of hours North of the border. Our location is 51 42 08N, 95 13 00W if you would like to see what your flight plan would look like.

If you're on wheels, you have a few different choices. You can land right next to our floatplane base on a 2600' grass strip (CKB8 - 50 30 00N, 96 05 53W). If you need a little longer hard runway, you can land about 20 minutes South of the floatplane base in Lac du Bonnet (CYAX - 50 17 40N, 96 00 36W). Winnipeg International (CYWG) can also be used for larger aircraft.

BORDER CROSSING

All pilots need to stop at an Airport of Entry and clear customs going North or South across the border. It is a pretty simple task and is a welcome stop about halfway to our Lodge from many Midwest departure points. AOPA, and their Canadian counterpart COPA, have an excellent guide to cross-border operations on their websites. You need to be a member of either organization to get access to the information. Make sure that you have all the required documents and notify customs the proper amount of time before you arrive.

You must submit a flight manifest electronically before crossing the border each direction. You will need an account on the EAPIS website. More info can be found on the CBP website.

CANADIAN BORDER CROSSING AIRPORTS IN THE UPPER MIDWEST

• Rainy River, ON - CYQK (sea)

• Fort Francis, ON - CYAG/CJM8 (land / sea)

• Kenora, ON - CJM9 (sea) MAY BE CLOSED

• Piney Pinecreek, MN/MB- K48Y (land)

US BORDER CROSSING AIRPORTS IN THE UPPER MIDWEST

• Baudette, MN - KBDE (land & sea)

• International Falls, MN - KINL/KINC (land & sea)

• Crane Lake (Scott's Seaplane base) - KCDD (sea)

• Duluth, MN - KDLH/KDYT (land / sea)

• Piney Pinecreek, MN/MB- K48Y (land)

Piney Pinecreek airport is an interesting airport because half of it lies in the U.S. and half in Canada. They have both U.S. and Canadian customs on the airport, so you can stop here going both ways if you're on wheels. For float pilots, a similar situation exists at Baudette/Rainy River. The U.S. customs dock is on the North side of the bridge and Canadian customs on the South side.

FLOATPLANE PILOT'S PACKAGE RATES

The rates for guests flying their own aircraft to our lodge are shown below. Compared to most lodges, these are significantly discounted because we enjoy having people fly their floatplanes to our lodge. Feel free to give us a call if you have any questions.

LODGE RATES FOR PEOPLE FLYING THEIR OWN FLOATPLANE (US$ PER PERSON PLUS TAX)