Ontario Highway 71

Highway 71
Highway 71 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Ministry of Transportation of Ontario
Length	194.1 km[2] (120.6 mi)
Existed	September 1, 1937[1]–present
Major junctions
South end	US 53 / US 71 at International Falls, MN
Major intersections	Highway 11 east in Fort Frances 35.9 km (22.3 mi) concurrency  Highway 11 west near Chapple
North end	Highway 17 near Kenora
Location
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Major cities	Fort Frances, Emo, Sioux Narrows, Kenora
Highway system
Ontario provincial highways Current Former 400-series
← Highway 69 → Highway 72
Former provincial highways ←  Highway 70

King's Highway 71, commonly referred to as Highway 71, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The 194-kilometre-long (121 mi) route begins at the Fort Frances–International Falls International Bridge in Fort Frances, continuing from US Highway 53 (US 53) and US 71 in Minnesota, and travels west concurrently with Highway 11 for 40 kilometres (25 mi) to Chapple. At that point, Highway 11 continues west while Highway 71 branches north and travels 154 kilometres (96 mi) to a junction with Highway 17 just east of Kenora. Highway 71 forms a branch of the Trans-Canada Highway for its entire length, with the exception of the extremely short segment south of Highway 11 in Fort Frances.

The current routing of Highway 71 was created out of a route renumbering that took place on April 1, 1960, to extend Highway 11 from Thunder Bay to Rainy River. The portion of the highway that is concurrent with Highway 11 follows the Cloverleaf Trail, constructed by the end of 1880s and improved over the next several decades. The portion between Highway 11 and Highway 17 follows the Heenan Highway, constructed to connect the Rainy River region with Kenora and the remainder of Ontario's road network; before its opening, the area was accessible only from across the United States border. Both highways were incorporated into the provincial highway system in 1937 following the merger of the Department of Highways (DHO) and the Department of Northern Development.