I tend to be long winded so I apologize in advance.

Looking at making our 3rd trip as a couple 4th for me to canoe country June 2018. I took a trip in the Gunflint area as kid with a church group and don't remember much beyond different individual details within the trip, so don't have much thought on what the area was like.

My last two trips with my wife without intending we ended up doing the same loop twice in Quetico. Moose to Burke to Agnes to Silent, Down to Shade and North Bay and back out through Burke down to Moose.

Our first trip was 10 mostly awful days of heavy rain everyday and most days the rain lasted all day back in June of 2014.

My wife agreed to do it one more time but if it was like before never again. So in 2016 we scheduled 16 days starting with Moose but planned on going deeper into the park through Agnes making a bigger loop up into the Kawnipi area, unfortunately a week before leaving my wife's doctor moved up a scheduled appointment that we had to attend as it was a pre-op appointment. As a result we just did the same route in 6 days. The weather was perfect and my wife so enjoyed it that she has constantly talked about going again, even would love to make it a yearly get away.

As I just started a business, we could not make it this year. Next year I believe we could do a 9-11 day trip in early June.

She has vehemently stated that she wants to try the US side as it is cheaper. I love to not see people and like to count days straight that I don't see anyone on the trip. Our first trip we went 3 straight days without seeing anyone, and would have been 5 but one group passed us going the other way, last trip we went no more than 5 daylight hours and even my wife complained as we were constantly canoeing around others. I know the US side is busier so less likely to make me happy in that regard. We both love to just soak in the natures beauty from the canoe, fishing will happen but not an absolute priority.

Can someone tell me what to expect that is different on the US side vs the Canadian side? What are camp sites like on the US side? Is there somewhere on the US side that is less traveled? A good route that would allow us to travel a couple days rest a day and continue the pattern for a week and a half. Also she loves Ely but I am thinking I want to try the Gunflint area, so would be open to either area. Lastly, because of the procedures she has had and meds she took for the procedures her knees degenerated and are not great so portaging is mostly my job, though we are still young and I can handle pretty massive portage challenges I prefer to avoid them mostly for her.

Thank you in advance.

The campsites on the BW side are all marked by the existence of a firegrate and a latrine. You are required to use active campsites. No firegrate or latrine - no camping is permitted.

While I have not yet had the privilege of traveling in Quetico, my understanding is that the portages are more "groomed" in the BW. You will find boardwalks and erosion control. There will also be clearing of portages where trees have fallen across the path.

Generally speaking, in order to find some solitude in the BW it requires some portage work to get away from the entry points. You don't give us an idea of how far you can travel with just you doing all the portaging. (Triple? Quadruple?)

There are some lesser travelled areas that I could point you toward, but they would require some initial work to get into.

e.g. Entry 37 (Kawishiwi Lake). Head north to Malberg Lake. Head north west out of Malberg to Beaver/Adams/Boulder then north east to Ledge/Vee/Fee/Hoe. Ledge to Hoe is very little traveled area. Then complete the loop by heading east to Makwa then south through Panhandle/Pan/Anit/Kivaniva/River to Malberg.

There are other areas with fewer entry permits per day that lend themselves to fewer people. But some of these have fewer route options. E.g. Entry 36 (Hog Creek) . The creek leads to Perent Lake. You could daytrip west along the Perent River, but you would need to backtrack to the Hog Creek entry when done.

Another entry you may want to consider is Entry 14 (Little Indian Sioux North). Inside the half moon made by Lac La Croix is a series of smaller lakes . You could paddle the large lake to avoid lots of portages and take the shorter portages down into the smaller lakes to find your solitude. We were in that area during the July 4th week and found no one in those small lakes. Of particular beauty are Finger Lake and Ge-be-on-e-quet Lake.

Some of the larger lakes can give you a feeling of solitude by tucking away on the back side of an island or a deep in the last bay away from the travel routes. Dead end lakes can also give you this solitude. E.g. Entry 47 (Lizz Lake). This is a BUSY entry, but after the first day you can find solitude. After Lizz and Gaskin, head west through the long narrow lakes of Henson, Omega (Ogema on some maps), Kiskadinna. These 3 lakes are little used. There are campsites at the end of bays off the travel routes that would give you some solitude. Or head down to Otto Lakes (dead end) to find a couple of days of solitude. Head further east to Muskeg and the far east end of Long Island Lake. There are two very nice campsites on the east end and most travelers from the west side don't make it that far east. Then head northeast through Cave, Ross, and Sebeka to Banadad Lake. We spent 48 hours there without seeing anyone in early June. Head east back to Poplar Lake to complete your trip. The mile long portage at the end is not difficult, only long.

There are other examples of places like these throughout the BW. Hope this helps and you have a great trip.

If you want some of the Q solitude in BWCA, go before Memorial Day or after Labor Day - but you knew that. 10+ times the visitors in BWCA. (Plus free after September!)

No or easy portages does not jive with solitude. Best for solitude would be PMAs - but toughest for portaging since there are not maintained portages.

Given 9-11 days and somewhat easier portages- you might look at border route if you can swing a shuttle - or a shorter out and back border route. You could go in at LIS and out at Gunflint and the portages for distance seem not bad. I doubt if you go more than one day without seeing anyone.

You'll get lots of thoughts on this.

I have yet to be to an entry point in 10+ trips where you aren't going to see people for the first day or so. EP's, the rivers that connect to them, or the first few lakes near them, are going to have people. You're not going to get around that. It might take a reevaluation of your reasons for going to the wilderness if you are choosing a BW entry. If seeing other people is going to decrease your experience, I don't know its the right place for you.

However, if you can get past seeing people on your first day, are willing to put in some miles and multiple portages from an EP, and don't mind trekking to dead end lakes with single campsites, then you should be able to find what you are looking for. Or go during the off seasons as mentioned, that helps a lot as well.

This past year was the first trip I felt I saw "too many" people. We were on a border route in early August that many scout groups were using. We saw dozens of groups daily. Not dozens of people- dozens of 9 person groups. I didn't care for that part of the experience very much. Most other trips, once we've gotten off the beaten patch, we see 2-3 groups of people per day. Some examples- Good and Indiana lakes after getting out of Wood Lake, Little Shell, Lynx, and Heritage after getting past Shell Lake, Iron Lake (there were other groups but it is large and campsites are very spread out, just don't camp by the Curtain Falls portage), Moosecamp Lake after getting past Fourtown. I'm sure there are dozens of other examples that others will be able to help with as well that would be even quieter than what I mentioned.

Good luck in finding what you are looking for.

Expect at least 10x more people in the BWCAW, I’d say more but you traveled one of the busier portions of Quetico so it will be about 10x. You need to plan on camping sooner in the day as by noon to 1 pm all the camps may be filled. If you are near an extry point you may not get a camp as they could all be filled so have a backup plan of leaving early or backtracking.

The camps are all marked on a map and have latrines and fire grates. Nice little luxuries compared to the Quetico.

Portages are a lot easier...for the most part.

If you can do the BWCAW in the fall then you can get what you want. No crowds, easier portages, and campsites with more amenities. That is the only time I go to the BWCAW, otherwise if ya can’t tell after doing the Q it is hard to go back for me.

T

You will see people in the BWCA, no matter the entry point, route, or time of year. If your prime goal is not encounter anyone else, you will be sorely disappointed.

Michwall gives some good options, and others advice is spot on too. With 10 days +/- you'll have plenty of time to put some distance between yourself and the entry pint crowds. Contrary to some others I often go days without seeing anyone. I usually do go the last two weeks of Sept. I don't fish, so I don't target those destinations, which may help. I also generally don't head for the real popular places like Johnson Falls, etc. I also don't avoid any portages, often seeking out ones that many others don't want to do in order to get more solitude. One other thing I do that may help, but hasn't been mentioned, is to enter early in the week rather than a weekend. You could enter on a Mon/Tue with 10 days, be far from the entries by the weekend, and exit before the next weekend's crowds. See my 2016 trip report for one example that is similar to Michwall's suggestion. See 2014 for another. I usually find that after a couple of days of travel (usually 10 miles +/- and 4 hours +/-), the crowd is a lot thinner if you are not close to an entry point and not on a popular, easy route. You'll see more people at the beginning and end of the trip close to entries, but should see fewer in the middle, and you'll see fewer during the week than the weekend if you can schedule it that way.

Lots of good advice. Your first and last days will encounter people unless you take an entry that has very few passes. These include LIS South, Angleworm, Stuart lake, or pick a regular entry like sawbill and head for the middle like the Louse river area.

Would love to go in fall or spring but both the wife and I are teachers so that leaves us June-mid August. With my side business we would be driving up on Sunday and putting in the water on a Monday. We understand you will always see people near entry points, first day out our goal always is miles to get away. I love solitude but understand the US side is busier I was just hoping to find a quieter route and I do see some good suggestions. When we portage I usually do 3 trips while the wife does one. Distance is not the issue as much as tough terrain so sounds like the bwca won’t be much of a problem with well maintained portage’s.

Mitch I highly recommend seeing the Canadian side. I love the feeling of being away from everything. The purity of the sites is nice. Not sure I’ll like latrines at the sites; my wife will though.

quote timatkn: "Expect at least 10x more people in the BWCAW, I’d say more but you traveled one of the busier portions of Quetico so it will be about 10x. You need to plan on camping sooner in the day as by noon to 1 pm all the camps may be filled. If you are near an extry point you may not get a camp as they could all be filled so have a backup plan of leaving early or backtrack.


T"

Camping by noon or 1 sounds insane. We are used to pushing off at 8-9 and going till 5 or 6. I’ll try anything once but if we are struggling to find an empty site we will be only going back to the Q. Though our last trip to the Q all camps were occupied on Shade so it does happen there as well.

Go back, its a trap!

quote mastertangler: " Go back, its a trap! "

More of a Trekkie but can appreciate the quote. I assume this is either an endorsement of the "Q" (continuum) or that much like Star Wars vs Star Trek I brought up a heated debate of some sort.

The height of a summer season in the BWCA pushed me into the Quetico and I haven't looked back. The BWCA would be fine and dandy in the shoulder seasons.

Big fan of Star Trek growing up. What I like about the original Star Wars series of movies is that it basically focuses on the life of one individual........That being Darth Vader. The new Star Wars movies need to be more ruthless and surprising. The new villain has no reason why I should dislike him........rather a bland villain compared to Vader. Han Solo and Chewbaca should of been blown to smithereens along with their famed vessel within the first 5 minutes of the most recent endeavors. A flashback of sorts introducing the new villain. That might of gotten my attention, caused my mouth to drop open (as in "No Way!!") and provide some much needed emotional investment i.e., "Man, I hate that guy".

The idea of fretting about getting a site is the antithesis of why I do canoe trips. Our trips are all May 25-June 10 (excluding Memorial Day) and the second half of September. Last two BW trips in particular, fretting sites is exactly what we did, and we get a long way from EPs. Q last month was SUCH a welcome relief.

I would say based on my limited experience (5 trips) that you can get away OK in a busier area in the end of June. I've taken several trips in a very, very busy area of the BWCA (Saganaga over to Knife, Seagull, Granite River area) the last week of June, and never had a problem finding a camp site, or solitude when I wanted it, once I got off the entry point lakes. In my mind, I think a lot of people plan to go around the 4th of July when they get a day of vacation, so right before that time it's quieter.

Most of the spots I go would be too busy for you - but Ester and Hanson areas are worth a look. Some good things to do. Some other great lakes out that way that I haven't been to - Lake of the Clouds, Cherry, Amoeber, etc.

I'd be interested to hear after your trip what you did and how it turned out.

Maybe you need to look into PMAs for solitude?

Tripping the BWCA after being at Quetico would be like returning to high school after college, IMO. You can still have a good time, but maybe reset your expectations. The dollar savings are significant!

I will do my best to do my first report based on it next year. I am like my wife I am interested in trying the BWCA but just not as gung ho as she is about it. I can reset all expectations and look at it as a totally disconnected trip. Though I dont promise that at some point while being irritated by something I wont say something about the Q.

As for the Q being college, and BWCA being high school I guess I was just one of those geniuses who skipped high school and went straight to college. Should have progressed naturally. Looking at our schedules we probably could go the earliest day possible after school is out which would be leaving May 27th.

I have not tripped at that time of year, so maybe I'm just guessing based on things I've read and heard, but it will likely be busy right then because of the Memorial Day weekend. People will take advantage of the holiday for a vacation. I also believe that's a fairly popular time for fishing, so combining those two factors, you might be better off to go a week later and miss the holiday crowd, plus still be early enough to miss the summer crowd with kids out if school. Either way, I'd try to avoid the popular fishing lakes as much as possible.

You will enjoy the BWCA... it really is similar to Quetico, just managed and operated differently and a little easier to access. You will find the cost savings impressive and will be able to make 2 BWCA trips for the cost of one Quetico trip, about.

Camping by noon or 1 sounds insane. We are used to pushing off at 8-9 and going till 5 or 6. I’ll try anything once but if we are struggling to find an empty site we will be only going back to the Q. Though our last trip to the Q all camps were occupied on Shade so it does happen there as well. "

I'm of the same mind - this is usually how we travel in the BeeDub. But we generally don't go in the summer, preferring the cooler temperatures, lack of bugs, and lack of people in mid-September.

If I were going in June or July, I'd definitely alter my plan to get a campsite early. If you wait until 5 or 6, you run the risk of not finding an unoccupied campsite, moreso the closer you are to an EP. The route described going from EP37 to Malberg, then NW is a good one, it will land you in one of the more remote areas of the BWCA once you get past Malberg. But the route from Kawishiwi to Malberg is popular and well-traveled. There ARE a lot of campsites along the way, but busy season will still lend itself to some competition.