I gotta bid for vacation next year. Was wondering what everyone thought is the best week in September. I want no bugs, people, and of course, good weather. That's all, lol. Thanks for the response.

I'd opt for the last weekend. Definitely no bugs and usually good fall colors. And of course no rain:)

The third week at least as there are less people and the temperatures tend to be cooler.

quote egknuti: "I'd opt for the last weekend. Definitely no bugs and usually good fall colors. And of course no rain:)"

+1! We used to trip a lot the second week in September. Then I went with some buddies the last weekend of September into the first weekend of October. My thoughts on fall tripping were changed forever.

Very tough call IMO and everything will be up to Mother Nature. Weather is completely unpredictable. I hit an Indian summer 1st week of October in Algonquin and it was a complete delight.

But I have had a good friend fish and trip in the Quetico the last week in Sept and 1st week of October the last 2 years and has had a very rough go of it with wind and rains and cold. But before that he had great trips the same time frame........so it's gonna be a toss up.

The later you go the less chance of seeing people or bugs. The weather is a crap shoot, no one has any idea of which week will be better for weather next year. You could research the past 10 years weather up there and see which week had less rain and gamble on that being the best week next year.

I was just up in northern WI after Labor Day and it was 40 degrees at night with wind and rain for two straight days so I hear ya about September weather. I was planning on right after Labor Day but I just read a report about someone getting killed by skeeters during that time. I put in for the last half of September so I may check the weather and get a permit the day before.
Any idea when peak colors are up there.
Thanks for the responses.

I was up last week. Weather wag great but no colors yet. I would hold off until last week for better chance at fall color change.

Look at the permit reservation site for numbers of permits available. If there are a lot of permits available, that means there are many fewer people on trips. Start looking at the site a month or so before your trip. The correlation between numbers of campers and the numbers of permits available is very good. Unfortunately, you can't go back on their site to see how many permits were used earlier in the season, which makes it difficult to plan for the upcoming year.

Tomster

That's good stuff guys. I was planning on putting in on a Sunday or Monday. Shouldn't be too many people then.

Have a good trip!

I usually opt for mid-September. Post Labor Day, you'll be less likely to see a lot of people, but you'll still see some.

Bugs have been gone in the past at that time, but that 8 years ago, and global warming has extended summer in Texas by a couple weeks over that time, so I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it takes a little longer for the bugs to die off in the BWCA.

I just got back from a trip today and we put in on Monday. The weather was incredible other than the gnarly storm we experienced Tuesday night. I didn't use a single spray of bug spray and made it out with 1 mosquito bite on my ankle and 1 on my wrist. The bugs were non-existent and the weather was awesome. Fall colors weren't quite peaking though where we were off of Seagull lake.