My son & I will be doing the Namekagon next week on May 21 for almost a week, putting in at County Road K and taking out at Riverside Park. Although there was a recent thread for the St Croix with some mention of the Namekagon, I had some specific questions that I would appreciate any input on. I have reviewed the maps with campsite locations and the several landings along the way, as well as past posts on BWCA.com forum.
My questions are:
1) is there access to drinking water locations other than Howell Landing?
2) are there picnic table at the campsites?
3) should I expect the river to be busy this early in the season?
4) could anyone recommend a particular campsite? I see there are plenty, and it will depend up traffic, but surely some will be better than others
5) does the river fluxuate enough to expect high water conditions, based on rainfall to date? I know that’s a hard questions to answer, but I am hoping maybe some locals may see this thread and provide some comments.
Thank you for your help.
John

Typically little traffic this time of year, you may find all of the campsites unoccupied. The group sites have tables and sometimes water. Water levels are fairly stable.

The rivers are pretty low for this time of year right now. It'll rise if it rains heavily; it has been dry lately. Not sure on the water, but it seems to me that there are multiple spots to get drinking water, but I can't remember for sure. As for people, you won't see many.
My advice is to bring binoculars and a birding checklist; it is remarkable the bird life on that river.

The water has always been very clear on the river. Bring a gravity filter along with a squeeze bottle and you should be fine.

It's been years since I was on the river with my wife but at the time there was only a fire grate at the sites and no picnic table.

Hope you have a great time. It's a lovely river.

Thank you gentlemen.
John

Fun trip...I hope you find the smallies. :)

For a shuttle next week, I plan on dropping my canoe & gear off at K, then follow an outfitter to Riverside landing to drop off my truck, and the outfitter will drop me back off at K. Should I have concerns leaving my truck at Riverside landing for a week? Are there better options than this plan?
John

Couldn't be more excited for this trip. First time on the Namekagon River for us but we've done 7 previous BWCA trips, 1 Quetico trip, and numerous other midwest trips. Would love to catch my first ever musky on this trip (my dad caught a 41 incher on Father's Day 2015). We love to fish but, more importantly, we love seeing the assortment of wildlife that a trip like this can potentially provide. I will try to do a trip report when we get back.

We’ve spotted a timber wolf and black bear within a half hour of each other several years back. Both animals were standing in the river and were unaware of us until my dog leaped out of my canoe and chased both into the forest. Best day of my dogs life.

jwartman59: "We’ve spotted a timber wolf and black bear within a half hour of each other several years back. Both animals were standing in the river and were unaware of us until my dog leaped out of my canoe and chased both into the forest. Best day of my dogs life."

What an incredible experience!

Lucky dog! I had no idea there were bears & wolves in the area. What time of year was this? And thanks for the water level chart John

A heads up that the East Howell Landing is currently closed for construction. The West Howell is open. I stopped there yesterday and there were construction workers doing various tasks. The water was not hooked up. Whispering Pines, McDowell and Namekagon Landing do not have water either, so bring your filter or water in a container. There are many campsites to choose from, basically you have to decide how much sun/shade you desire. You may have to deal with some sweeper trees. The area has not had any appreciable rain for weeks so it's dry, fire danger is "Very High". You will have a wonderful trip, lots of wildlife and birds and not very many people. Check with your outfitter about parking at Riverside. Ticks will probably be pretty thick, so treated clothes would be advisable. Have a wonderful trip!!

It's a great river. Have a great trip.
We caught good sized smallmouth and some nice northerns on our trip but had to work for them.
Saw a lot of muskie and I believe sturgeon. But didn't have the gear to fish for either species and I'm not sure you're allowed to catch the sturgeon.