Both my publisher and I want this guidebook to serve you, the paddler. We will continue to make changes in the future, reflecting new regulations, alterations to existing routes, and the wishes of our readers. I’ve tried to make this book interesting and useful. Above all, my goal has always been to impart accurate information. I believe that this attention to accuracy and to the concerns of our readers is why this book continues to be as popular today as it was when first published.
This book was written for the canoe camper who is capable of taking care of himself or herself in a wilderness environment. It does not take you by the hand and lead you through the often-complicated mazes of lakes, streams, and portages that characterize the BWCAW. It does not tell you when to turn right, when to veer left, or when and where to stop for lunch. You should already possess the understanding and the basic skills that are essential for a canoe trip into a wilderness, particularly the ability to guide yourself along the suggested routes without detailed directions. This book also does not include such topics as how to paddle a canoe, how to carry your gear across portages, how to shoot rapids, or how to pack your gear. Many good “how to” books have been written about canoeing and camping in the Boundary Waters. This guide is a “where to” book.
—Robert Beymer
June 2000
Preface to the 7th Edition
Although the numbers of people visiting the BWCA has increased, the demographics of those visiting (like the demographics of American society) are undergoing a watershed change. Outdoor industry trade associations and manufacturers of outdoor equipment have been noting that in the past two decades, the numbers of people participating in paddling, camping, hiking, and other wilderness-oriented activities are in serious decline. Longer work weeks, frantic family schedules, and children’s interest in organized sports, computers, and video games have pushed paddling or camping far down the list of leisure time activities.
There are two ways to react to those findings. Some, who prefer the solitude of their favorite BWCA route, may say it’s a good thing, but others fear this may lead toward waning support for protection of the wilderness. Today, if a logging or mining industry executive presented a proposal to open even the smallest portion of the BWCA to commercial development, millions of people would stand up in opposition. But will that same ethos to protect the wilderness continue?
As the Baby Boomer generation ages and participation rates of younger Americans continue a downward trend, will that same passion hold? Will a young man who grew up as an Xbox master fight for the forest?
Will a young woman who spent her outdoor time playing soccer understand the threat? Will they recall waiting for an early morning mist to burn off before starting out on the day’s journey? Will they remember the scent of the trees and earth the wind presents to them? What about the eagle circling high over a lake or a loon’s cry that cracks the stillness?
There’s no question America’s wilderness areas are under constant threat and need daily diligence to protect them. But wouldn’t it be sad if a new generation of children could not understand the value of these areas?
The interest is there. Kids of all ethnicities and cultures are waiting for the invitation. It’s time to extend a hand and take a kid into the wilderness for the first time. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area is the perfect place to inspire a life-long love of the natural world. We need to create the next generation of stewards who will stand tall to protect this wilderness for people who follow a century from now.
—Lou Dzierzak
May 2009
The singing wilderness has to do with the calling of the loons, northern lights, and the great silences of a land lying northwest of Lake Superior. It is concerned with the simple joys, the timelessness and perspective found in a way of life that is close to the past. I have heard the singing in many places, but I seem to hear it best in the wilderness lake country of the Quetico-Superior, where travel is still by pack and canoe over the ancient trails of the Indians and Voyageurs.
—Sigurd F. Olson
1
Introduction to the BWCA Wilderness
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) is paradise for the wilderness paddler. Stretching for nearly 200 miles along the Canadian border of northeastern Minnesota, this magnificent region offers more than 1,000 portage linked lakes, over 2,000 campsites, 154 miles of portage trails, and 1,200 miles of canoe routes through some of the most beautiful country in the world. That’s why over 250,000 people visit it each year and make it the most popular wilderness area in America. At over a million acres, the BWCA is one of the largest assets of our National Wilderness Preservation system, containing the largest remaining old-growth forests east of the Rocky Mountains.
HISTORY
The canoe routes on which you will paddle are the very same water trails used for countless generations by the ancestral Native Americans and by the French-Canadian fur traders, known as Voyageurs. Jacques de Noyons, in about 1688, was probably the first European to paddle through the lakes and streams that now comprise the BWCAW. At that time, the Assiniboine and Cree tribal groups may have lived in the area, but by the time of the French-Canadian fur traders, the Anishinaabe had moved into the region from the east, displacing original groups that eventually moved west to the plains.
Throughout the 18th century, the French Canadian Voyageurs paddled their birch-bark canoes from the hinterlands of northwestern Canada to the shores of Lake Superior, transporting furs from trappers toward the European markets. But the Voyageurs era was short-lived. By the mid-1800s, the populations of fur-bearing animals that had once flourished in the region were nearly depleted. The trappers moved on to more promising areas and the colorful Voyageur era came to an end.
After years of boundary disputes between the British and Americans, the two governments signed the Webster-Ashburton Treaty in 1842. It established the international boundary along the “customary” route of the fur traders. The Americans had argued that the customary route of the Voyageurs was along the Kaministikwia and Maligne rivers to the north. The British had claimed that the St. Louis River, far to the south, should constitute the boundary. The existing boundary was a compromise.
During the latter half of the 19th century, settlers moving into the area took up farming, logging, and mining. Mineral prospectors first sought gold along the border region, and a short-lived gold rush attracted considerable attention to the area. Far more important to northeastern Minnesota, however, was the discovery of high-grade iron ore. Numerous mines sprung up at the present sites of Ely and Soudan, and in the area southwest of those towns. After the railroad penetrated this part of the country, extensive logging and mining operations threatened to devastate the entire region.
Establishing the BWCA
The use of wilderness lands has been debated ever since Minnesota achieved statehood in 1858. On one side are logging and mining interests that would draw on the natural resources. On the other are those who see recreation as the greater value. As decades passed, the wilderness area has benefited from legislation and court decisions. A summary of key decisions follows:
| 1909: | President Theodore Roosevelt creates the Superior National Forest. | |
| 1926: | Approximately one thousand acres are set aside as a primitive roadless area within the forest. This area is enlarged in the 1930s. | |
| 1938: |
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