In the story I’m writing, the characters live in two small houses in the woods in Quebec (or Ontario, if that works better, but I prefer Quebec), just over the border from New York (or Vermont, if that works better). The conditions for the location are:
–Relatively secluded in a wooded area, and, of course, not in a national park or something where people can’t live
– Must be very close to the U.S. border, in an area of the border that’s not really secure (the plot involves three of the main characters having snuck into Canada several years prior to the story’s start.)
– Must be within 5 or 10 miles of some human settlement where the characters could ride a bike or motor scooter in to get groceries and stuff.
Of course, I could just choose a place on the Canada side of the border and make up a little town near it, but I like realism when I can get it and I hate the idea of accidently having my people living on a golf course/in a national park/etc. and having Canadians laughing at me if they read my story.
There is a public library that straddles the border between Derby Line, Vermont, and Stanstead, Quebec. Walk in the front door, walk out the back door, you’re in a different country, no sneaking skills required. At least that’s the way it was before 9/11.
Ontario’s border with the USA is almost entirely water (there is about 1.2 km of land border between Ontario and Minnesota, and that land’s sparsely populated) so Quebec is a more likely place to successfully sneak across. That said, there are plenty of Quebec communities on the New York/Vermont border which is a straight line drawn on a map and has no relation to geographical features like the Maine/NH borders do. Head on over to Google Maps and pick a community.
This doesn’t quite fit your criteria, but I believe that Sugar Island, between Michigan and Ontario, is close enough to both borders that it’s possible to sneak over via a rowboat.
As has been pointed out, Ontario would be a poor choice as water - in most places very wide and deep - separates it from the United States.
I recommend you have your characters live near Stanstead, Quebec. It’s tiny, isolated, bilingual, in the woods, and is a border town, being immediately next to the American town of Beebe Plain. Interstate 91/Autoroute 55 runs to the east of Stanstead and Beebe Plain, so place them to the west of Stanstead, perhaps on the shore of Lake Memphremagog.
If they need to be especially isolated but still within range of Stanstead and other other towns around it, put them on the west side of the lake, which is very isolated.
Ooh, thanks. Bilingual is good, as I have two bilingual characters, one French-only character and one English-only. Isolated and tiny also fit into my vision, and a lake is an added bonus. I will look into Stanstead. Thank you.
I’ve biked to Stanstead last summer. The library (actually situated on the international border, as mentioned by bibliophage) was unfortunately closed, seeing how it was a Sunday. It’s extremely easy to illegally enter the US at this point, as the street just west of the library (Church Street, I believe) leads directly to Caswell Avenue in Vermont, with no inspection station. Of course it’s a one-way street, and you’re still legally required to report to the nearby inspection stations when you enter one of the countries.
Stanstead also has Canusa Street, where the houses on the north side are in Canada and those on the south side in the US. As far as I’ve been able to figure out, the border isn’t actually in the middle of the street as often claimed, but on the southern edge of the pavement.
Of course, what you’re looking for is a place to put a house in the woods. I guess RickJay’s suggestion is a good one. Alternatively, you can look at places on the Quebec/Maine border, notably the twin community of Pohénégamook, Quebec and Estcourt Station, Maine. According to the article, the few houses in Estcourt Station actually aren’t even connected to the rest of Maine (except through logging roads) and the region appears to be rather woody. I guess you could find isolated houses around this place, or a bit further southwest along the border. (The border to the east follows a river.)
Interesting stuff I love the name of the Quebec town…we have a lot of those Native American-named lakes and towns around here (Connecticut) as well
I think Stanstead is better for my story, though, since, in the story’s world, the U.S. has been devastated by a plague of disease, reduced to a population of 15 million, and a lot of the land, including all the places bordering Canada, are unpopulated and wild, but heavily guarded by the cruelly dictatorial government that arose after the devastation. The characters have to get from New York City to Canada through all this wilderness and the shorter the distance, the better.
I am also very intrigued by what would be done about a town like that that flows over the border. I think that the United States would probably have ceded the whole thing to Canada, since they’re not using any of that land, and so once they’re in town, they’re good.
One guy who speaks only French (and some desperately pathetic English)
One lady who speaks only English
One lady who is from France, but has lived in Canada a while and knows English too
And one little girl who has grown up bilingual.
I love the name of the Quebec town…we have a lot of those Native American-named lakes and towns around here (Connecticut) as well 
