# Need help crossing the border.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [October 18, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963 "2015-10-18T01:04:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/1 "2015-10-18T01:04:31Z")
Earlier today I made a run for the border.
Literally - I ran over Rainbow Bridge at Niagra Falls.
I have now crossed international borders on foot & bike, both driven & as a passenger, flown (commercial airliner), by train & (cruise) ship.
How should I make my next trip?
Please note that I can’t pogo stick & we took a hot-air balloon over the border a couple of times, but it was in the back of the truck, not flying.
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### Author:  [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/2 "2015-10-18T01:08:45Z")
Can you zipline across the US/Canada border? You can on the [Spain/Portugal](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2665743/The-12-border-crossing-zipline-whisks-Spain-Portugal-50mph.html) one.
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/3 "2015-10-18T01:22:02Z")
I’ve crossed international borders by ferry (France/England and Korea/Japan). It should be possible to cross many borders by swimming.
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/4 "2015-10-18T01:28:04Z")
Also, you don’t mention using underwater tunnels. I’ve done that by car between Canada and the US (at Detroit/Windsor), and by train between France and England (using Eurostar).
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/5 "2015-10-18T01:28:59Z")
Wheelchair, power and manual.
Measure the length of Rainbow Bridge in personal [Smoots.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot)
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/6 "2015-10-18T01:35:32Z")
I’ll bet there are places where you can cross the US-Canada border in a canoe.
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### Author:  [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/7 "2015-10-18T02:04:43Z")
I was going to say kayak (I’ve crossed several state borders that way, and I’m pretty sure you can do that internationally in the Quetico/Boundary Waters canoe area between MN and ON, among probably other places).
How about by bus?
Or snowshoes/cross-country skis? (Okay, probably not Egypt to Sudan, but Canada-US or Germany-Switzerland, say, could well be possible. I’ve done those across state borders too.)
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### Author:  [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/8 "2015-10-18T02:13:49Z")
> [@Giles](#):
>
> Also, you don’t mention using underwater tunnels. I’ve done that by car between Canada and the US (at Detroit/Windsor), and by train between France and England (using Eurostar).
Is there a difference between a train (or car) above ground vs. underground since the method of transit is the same?
Is there anywhere I could _swim_ thru a tunnel? This would be considered different than regular swimming because of the need for SCUBA equipment.
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> I’ll bet there are places where you can cross the US-Canada border in a canoe.
Oooh, I like power, vs. sail vs. human powered for boats. I was afraid of splitting the hair too many times & getting you could use a Boston Whaler or a Hobie.
> [@running\_coach](#):
>
> Wheelchair, power and manual.
As an able bodied individual, I think it inappropriate for me to use a wheelchair, especially a powered one. We’ve had threads here about people using them w/o perceived need in Wally World or their local supermarket.
Thanks all, keep 'em coming!
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### Author:  [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/9 "2015-10-18T02:16:54Z")
Shot out of a cannon?
Or, slightly more seriously, how about by parachute? That may actually be doable.
Or a ski lift? I think you can do that in Europe.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/10 "2015-10-18T02:22:19Z")
Lake Champlain freezes over in the winter (it’s a common spot for ice fishing). If you go to some place like [Rouses Point](https://www.google.com/maps/@44.9958542,-73.3694564,14z), you’d be able to walk out on the ice and walk across the water to Canada.
At least, you’d be physically able to do this. I don’t know what steps the Border Patrol might take to stop you.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/11 "2015-10-18T02:28:37Z")
You definitely want to go to Derby Line, Vermont. The [town library](http://haskellopera.com/) straddles the border; half of it is in Derby Line, Vermont and the other half is in Stanstead, Quebec. So you can cross the international border without going outdoors.
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### Author:  [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/12 "2015-10-18T02:52:33Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> I’ll bet there are places where you can cross the US-Canada border in a canoe.
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#):
>
> I was going to say kayak (I’ve crossed several state borders that way, and I’m pretty sure you can do that internationally in the Quetico/Boundary Waters canoe area between MN and ON, among probably other places).
>
> Or snowshoes/cross-country skis? (Okay, probably not Egypt to Sudan, but Canada-US or Germany-Switzerland, say, could well be possible. I’ve done those across state borders too.)
Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Quetico Provincial Park include a boundary between the USA and Canada where, thanks to the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, Americans and Canadians can use canoe portages on either side of the border without having to bother about the usual customs and immigration paperwork. Note this applies only portaging (canoe, kayak, ski, snowshoe), and not to stopping for lunch or camping.
Prior to his retirement last year, my uncle was stationed as a lighthouse keeper on Seal/Machias Island in the Bay of Fundy for the purpose of asserting Canada’s Sovereignty (our other lighthouses are automated, and he was paid by Foreign Affairs). He said that every year an American would paddle out from Maine in a sea kayak to assert American Sovereignty. They would then have a fish fry.
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### Author:  [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/13 "2015-10-18T03:07:51Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> Lake Champlain freezes over in the winter (it’s a common spot for ice fishing).
He’s been on foot but this does raise ideas of modified foot travel. Snow shoes or cross country skies are alternates if there’s snow on the ice or at a land crossing. There’s also snow mobile as a winter option both across ice and by land…
Not winter or ice related there’s some other ground motor vehicle options not explored. A motorcycle or all terrain vehicle are possibilities. By air there’s helicopter or an ultralight.
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### Author:  [@Heckity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckity)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/14 "2015-10-18T03:36:56Z")
You could tightrope across Niagara Falls- it’s been awhile since anyone tried it. I believe you can still find barrels, too
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### Author:  [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/15 "2015-10-18T06:11:20Z")
Unicycle
Scooter
Skateboard
Crawl
Stilts
Horseback
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### Author:  [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/16 "2015-10-18T12:01:11Z")
> [@PurpleClogs](#):
>
> Unicycle
> Scooter
> Skateboard
> Crawl
> Stilts
> Horseback
[All those at St. Stephen New Brunswick and Calais Maine’s Homecoming](http://www.internationalhomecomingfestival.com/photos.html).
[“During the war of 1812 we ran out of gunpowder for the fourth of July. Calais asked St.Stephen and St. Stephen let us borrow their gunpowder so we could have fireworks that year.”](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/border-stories-st-stephen-n-b-and-calais-maine-1.1011362)
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### Author:  [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/17 "2015-10-18T12:07:03Z")
> [@Spiderman](#):
>
> Earlier today I made a run for the border.
You can run through Calais and Milltown USA, across the boarder, through Milltown and St. Stephen Canada, and across another border crossing back into Calais, at the USATF and Athletics Canada road race at Homecoming.
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/18 "2015-10-18T12:07:20Z")
Er, um, how about concealed in a car trunk? That’s different!
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### Author:  [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/19 "2015-10-18T18:57:07Z")
So far the list is:
zipline,
canoe/kayak/rowboat,
sailboat,
snowshoes/cross-country skis,
stilts
bus,
in a building,
snow mobile,
off-road vehicle,
horseback,
helicopter,
balloon,
private fixed-wing
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> [Rouses Point](https://www.google.com/maps/@44.9958542,-73.3694564,14z), you’d be able to walk out on the ice and walk across the water to Canada. At least, you’d be physically able to do this. I don’t know what steps the Border Patrol might take to stop you.
I’ve gone thru Rouse’s Point a few times, including into US at Rouse’s Point, over US2, up Bay Rd, right on Line Rd to the border crossing back into Canada. Line Rd is a gravel rd that you can cross the country border by crossing over the center of the road. I’ve done this, so I’ve ‘snuck’ into (& out of) the country there.
> [@PurpleClogs](#):
>
> Unicycle
> Scooter
> Skateboard
> Crawl
I think unicycle falls under the bicycle category (human-powered wheeled vehicle)
Scooter/skateboard - probably need to get off of those at customs station; therefore, you’re a pedestrian.
Crawl, you’d need to stand up to be viewed by customs agent; again same as pedestrian + no way I’m crawling into a custom’s station; probably end up in the drunk tank even if stone-cold sober.
> [@elbows](#):
>
> Er, um, how about concealed in a car trunk? That’s different!
Goodfellas style? :eek: No, I think I’ll pass on that one! Even if it’s drive-in movie style, that one’s not legal.
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-crossing-the-border/734963/20 "2015-10-18T18:59:56Z")
Take the greyhound!
I’ve crossed international borders in buses, cabs and even a rickshaw!
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