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You’re heading to Thunder Bay and then on to do some sightseeing in the provincial parks. You plan to drive north through the Pigeon River  border-crossing station on the Minnesota-Ontario border. You have a driver’s license and birth certificate, but not a passport.

Don’t worry; you won’t be turned back at the border when you return to the United States. That’s the message from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“Don’t cancel your plans” because you don’t have a passport yet, says Chris Misson, a public affairs officer with the agency. “Try to get in compliance as soon as you can.”

Rules for travel documents changed June 1, under U.S. requirements for entering the country by car or boat. But Customs and Border Protection “will be practical and flexible in implementing this new travel requirement,” says Michele James, director of Field Operations Seattle.

Some may feel it’s most practical to have a passport, since you need one for any kind of air travel. But if driving around Lake Superior and visiting Ontario by car is all you have planned, there are less-costly options:

•  A U.S. Passport Card costs much less ($45 for age 16 and over, and $35 for under age 16) than a passport.

•  Enhanced driver’s licenses issued by a state or province. In the Lake Superior region, Michigan is the only state so far offering an enhanced driver’s license. On the Canada side, Ontario residents have the option of applying for an enhanced driver’s license that can be used to enter the United States.

• Trusted Traveler Card (NEXUS, SENTRI or FAST/EXPRES).

U.S. or Canadian children younger than 16 traveling by vehicle or boat don’t need a passport, but will need proof of citizenship, such as a copy of their birth certificate, a Canadian Citizenship Card, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad or Naturalization Certificate.

The new travel document rules are not Canadian. And so as you drive through the border-crossing station into Ontario, you may get a one-page leaflet that makes that point while noting the new U.S. rules.

For an easy-to-understand breakdown of the rules from U.S. Customs, go to www.getyouhome.gov.

For Canada Border Services Agency, go to  www.cbsa.gc.ca. 

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