I was wondering if anyone has ever camped in the BWCA in a location other than a designated camping site? Can you get a ticket for doing that?

Yes Izzy

look for a PMA if you want to be able to camp outside of the designated sites. PMA's still have restrictions on how close to shore you can camp though

how close to shore you can camp? at designated sites you can camp at the waters edge if you want to. there is no restriction for pmas that CITE distance from shore. (cite joke. you know who you are) :)

I have camped in nondesignated areas when stranded by intense storms or high winds w/o a campsite available. I minimize my footprint, no fire, leave ASAP etc. I don't worry too much about getting a ticket because the Forest Service is not traveling in those conditions either. When waves brake over the gunwale, get off the water. Better to risk getting a ticket than to face certain capsizing. In Quetico of course you can camp where ever you choose.

Its gray area. the PMA brochure says "choose a campsite that is away from the lake". General leave no trace guidelines. We'll be in pitfall pma in just over a week. can't wait!

My group and I did last year for a night on Agnes in the BW. We came in real late coming down from Fishstake Narrows in LLC and crossed the portage into Agnes after sunset. We cruised the shoreline for about a half hour, 45 minutes, shining flashlights up onto the shoreline in search of a campsite but couldn't find anything. Eventually we just got out, found flat land and just threw the tents up. A fire ban was in place anyway, so its not like we left any sign we were there, and it was only for the night as we were paddling out #16 the next day. Come morning, we discovered we hadn't covered NEARLY as much of the shoreline as we thought - we ended up sleeping on the small island near the boulder river on the north side of Agnes. I feel like even if a ranger or someone would have questioned us we would have been fine. Just use your best judgement and remember to leave no trace.

In other words, find a campsite and make camp BEFORE the sun sets. Doing so in the dark is not easy!

I had to do this on my last trip. I was out with another guy and our 2 sons. We came out to where we wanted to camp and no campsites for us. It was starting to get dark and then we got hit with a huge thunderstorm. We ended up setting up our camp away from the lake for 2 days while we found a campsite. A couple of rangers stopped us and asked where we were camped. We explained our situation and we were told to try to find a campsite as soon as we could. They also told us that they understand those type of circumstances and just to make sure that we practiced "leave no trace".

the best thing to do is have a well planned trip, so you can start out early in the morning and reach your destination well before the evening.

i've never done the deed, but i would if it was dark and i wanted to sleep.

I've had to camp illegally several times over he years, typically at the end of portages near dark when all the sites were filled. In those cases we were up before dawn and on the water before breakfast. Certainly not comfortable conditions.

I do know that the Forest Service folks will be quick to ticket you if you are camped illegally in anything other than an emergency situation. Definately, DO NOT have a fire on an illegal site. The fines can run into the hundreds of dollars.

Yes. High wind and dusk/dark. Cold camped out of way with only the tent set up. Out just after dawn. Even pitched on bare slab so as to disturb minimally. So cold,tired, and whitecapped that we said ticket was worth it.

Of the 15+ trips I have taken I have camped illegally twice.

Once we were windbound with 2 inexperienced canoeists. Despite my own extensive experience, I wouldn't have wanted to go out in those waves. We stopped in the early afternoon to wait for the wind to die down. It just never stopped blowing. We stayed one night, no fire, no trace.

The other time we stayed at a designated site, but with another group, who we didn't know. We had gone through a rather long stretch without any campsites. When we made it to the next lake with camp sites they were all taken and the next lake was void of campsites. It was getting to be dusk, and after a short conference out in the lake, we decided to ask one of the groups if we could "shack up" at their site with them. It also didn't help that there was a storm on its way in. We set up, cooked, ate, and cleaned in the dark/rain and just went to sleep.

The best thing is to plan to stop early in the afternoon so that if you do get suprised and all the sites are taken, you can keep moving and find one. However, sometimes even the best laid plans go bad and you are forced to put yourself into situations like the ones described above.

Camped illegally twice in 30 trips. First time my daughter with lymphadema in her lower legs-she was having bad foot pain from the 220 rod portage from Weird Lake to S.Temperance-campsites taken. I thought we might plead for ADA consideration if stopped. We left no trace and only set up tent. Real nice group left us the primo site the next day. Second time was in high wind blowing tops off whitecaps on Crab.