Route

[passinthru]

Heading up from south of the cities, was thinking of taking 35 and cutting over at some point to 169. Any tips on avoiding construction. I have only been to LOw this year, haven't been by Mille Lacs or 169 yet.

[vikes40for60]

No construction on 169. If you can avoid elk river during the busy times you have two lanes and 65 mph all the way into Onamia.

[passinthru]

Thanks vikes

[Guest]

I usually take 94 west to 101 east to 169. If you cut over to 169 before that you hit a lot of stop lights in Anoka.

[Whiskeywalleyes]

Avoid 94 to 101 that cuts up to 169 into Elk River, It's a parking lot on friday afternoons. Avoid 169 in the Coon Rapids area, another white knuckle nightmare.
35 up to 23, to 169 is ok depending where your comming from.

[huskminn]

Passinthru,

Depending on when you come through Anoka, 169 can be a nightmare at the river because the bridge through Anoka is shut down to one lane. I have been stuck there twice this year and lost nearly 20 minutes one time and a half hour another. This happened during rush hour (4:00 pm) and also in the middle of the day on a Saturday.

The kicker is that the 101 bridge is also down to one lane....at least it was a couple of weeks ago.

My route as of late has been to take Hwy 47 (University Ave) north off of 694. That turns into Hwy 10 West.....take that to the Hwy 47 North exit in Anoka. Take Hwy 47 north to Isanti Cnty 8, turn west. That is a straight shot over to 169, turn north and be on your merry way.

It's a convoluted route, but you're always moving, heading in the right direction and it's a nice drive. Half the fun is getting there, right?

I should say, though, if you are going at an odd hour, like really early or really late, the route on 169 through Anoka isn't too bad. It's better coming back than it is going up, just because of the way the lights work.

Remind me never to write so much about traffic again, okay? Good Luck!

[Blaze]

Passinthru -

Unfortunately, any way you go from the south end through the north end, it's gonna suck during rush hour(s) if you're gonna come through then. After looking at the map some more and judging from personal experience, here's my 2 cents worth - in the order I would recommend them:
1) 35W => 10W => 169N in Elk Rvr (traffic will be bad in Elk Rvr tho)
2) 35 => 95W => 169N in Princeton (not sure of any construction tho)
3) 35W => 94W => 101N in Rogers => 169N in Elk Rvr (lots of bad construction tho)
4) 35W => 10W => 65N => 23W in Mora => 169N in Milaca (how bad are stoplights on 65?)

Hope this helps - no matter HOW you get there, it's always worth the trip. I'll be up there late Sat afternoon too.

Tight lines,
Blaze

[Guest]

Depending on where your starting in the cities, and where you want to fish on Mille Lacs, you may consider going all the way to Hinkley via 35, the crossing over to the big lake. This is really a good route to fish the east side, and the roads are in excellent shape.

[passinthru]

Wow thanks guys.

We are comin through Sunday around 5pm. We are about 22.5 miles southeast of heaven...I mean Cabelas.

Initially I was thinking of 52 to 35 then staying on 35 till 95 and cutting over or somewhere in there.

We usually go to L.O.W. on 35 till Moose Lake, making pretty good time. But didn't know how that would work here.

Hows the traffic in town on Sunday afternoon going north?

thanks alot

Aaron