Hello Everyone,

I am an experienced wilderness camper but a new BWCA traveler. I would like to plan a Fall BWCA/Quetico trip. I need help with general entry point and route recommendations. Ideally my trip would be the last 2 weeks of September or the last week of September and the first week of October. I would be going solo in a Northstar Northwinds Solo canoe. Since this is my first trip into the area I want to do a trip that isn't an everyday grind. I would like to do a moving day and then spend 2 nights at a specific campsite. If it turns out that I really like an area I may stay at that site an extra day. I also do not mind moving each day but doing reasonable distances each day. My trip would ideally be 12 days in duration. I enjoy fishing and have a special interest in Voyageur history so would really like to do a route that was associated with Voyageur travels. Then again, all of you may be laughing at this point as I am not even sure if there are any entry permits available for the weeks I am considering. From that statement you can tell how novice on route planning in the BWCA/Quetico I am. Also, I see that there are various map companies. Is there one that would work best for me?

Thank you for your assistance!

A lot to process there but I'll take a stab at some of your points.

1. Your entry points and route options are endless. Especially that time of the year, fairly light traffic if any in most places so I wouldn't worry about not being able to get in somewhere. (you can look at current availability for those dates on recreation.gov)

2. Most of the Voyageur routes or history I know of is basically along the border. Lac la Croix to the west, Crooked, Knife, Saganaga, etc going east. Pictographs, Warrior Hill, waterfalls, etc are all there. And all can be seen using a BW permit and not needing anything Canadian.

3. The map companies show the same basic information fairly well like campsites, portages, etc since they have to. They do have different scales, so some are more "zoomed in" or out than others. Some show depth contours of certain lakes so if you like fishing that may be of interest. I tend to have a Mackenzie and a Fisher with me of the planned area in case of a discrepancy or something not where it shows on one map.

If I was going to recommend one route, it would be starting at EP 16 (Moose River N) and going into Lac La Croix. See the great picto's and warrior hill there. Then into Iron and past Curtain Falls into Crooked. More pictos and history there. Then pick your exit. Could be Mudro (22/23) or Fall lake or others.

You could travel quite a way with 12 days, but it sounds like you only want to travel about half those days and maybe not real hard on those days. How far might you travel in a day, considering that daylight is getting shorter by the end of Sept and that strong wind may shorten some travel days? Being flexible to travel when weather is good and sit tight when it deteriorates would be a good plan. You will quite likely have some cold nights (and days).

I like the suggestion by cyclones30, although you'll be on bigger water and wind may be a greater concern, especially if you must backtrack to your entry. You would generally be traveling west to east with prevailing winds, although they can obviously vary. The options for exit depend on whether shuttling is an option. If it is, a Mudro exit would possibly make a nice trip for you. If not, you'll have to backtrack to your entry point.



Voyageur Maps website has zoomable, scrollable maps that may help with planning. I sometimes use Fisher, McKenzie, or Voyageur maps, depending on the route. Sometimes you'll need 4 of 1 companies, but only 2 of another's. I also will often have maps from 2 different companies.