Northern Tier High Adventure Base

Overview:

GUIDED CANOE TRIPS:

Northern Tier is the Scouting America’s gateway to adventure in the Great Northwoods. In the summer, 4,000+ Scouts from Northern Tier’s wilderness canoe bases explore the pristine lakes, meandering rivers, dense forests and wetlands across almost 6 million acres of exclusively canoe-access wilderness from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) of Minnesota to the Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario.

Guided trips are fully outfitted and provisioned and include a highly trained staff member, called an Interpreter, that accompanies crews on their trek. These trips range in length from 6-14 days and usually include between 50-150 miles of wilderness travel.

In the winter, Northern Tier is home to the Okpik Cold Weather Camping program, the Scouting America’s premier winter high adventure program. Fall trips are also available.

INDIVIDUAL PROGRAMS:

Not everyone can attend Northern Tier with their Troop or Venturing Crew, but the Charles L. Sommers Canoe Base in Ely is home to several unique individual Scout programs: the Order of the Arrow’s Wilderness Voyage; Forest Corps, a coeducational environmental leadership program; and Lone Voyage, a program that allows for individual Scouts and smaller troops to take out a Northern Tier trip.

RENTAL SERVICE AVAILABLE:

At Northern Tier, we’re proud to offer flexible outfitting options that provide a fully guided wilderness experience or the freedom to build and outfit your own trip while renting our gear and equipment! We want to help you explore new ways to support your Scout’s adventures. Our goal is simple: help more units experience the outdoors safely, confidently, and on their own terms, delivering wilderness adventures that last a lifetime to all Scouts!

We are a Cooperator with the USDA Forest Service under the Superior National Forest. We issue permits into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. As a Cooperator with the Forest Service, we are an equal opportunity service-provider.