I am looking for suggestions on a possible Quetico trip next year (June/July 2010). We have done nothing so far except get excited for the idea. The group would probably be 6-8 people consisting of 2 who have moderate experience (I'm guessing around 5 trips each between BWCA and Quetico), myself who will have 2 trips under my belt by then (1 Quetico and 1 BWCA), and 3-5 people with either 0 or 1 Quetico trip experience. Our main goals would be, in order, good fishing and solitude.
I think our ideal trip would be to travel hard on the 1st day or 2, foregoing fishing if necessary, to get to a base camp. Base camp for 2-3 days taking fishing and site seeing day trips. Then, paddling back out probably more leisurely than we did on the way in, maybe taking 2-3 days to cover what we did in 1-2 on the way in.
We'd also be looking for a Canadian Entry Point. No one in our group has done that yet. And, we wouldn't want to do a fly-in.

If anyone has suggestions of Entry Points, Routes, or Outfitters, I would greatly appreciate it.

One last note. As far as the Outfitter, we would probably only need to rent canoes and maybe a couple of miscellaneous items. We have most of the gear we would need.

Thanks a lot for any suggestions you guys might have.

Sue falls entry would put you onto some good fishing. (Cirrus Lake, K-wog, Quetico, Jean)

Nym would also put you onto good fishing (Batch and Pickeral) but you'll see more people.

Outfitter: Canadian Quetico Outfitters is the only one I've used up there but Doug is the best.

Hex

We've used Quetico Wilderness Outfitters on the occasions when we needed to rent a canoe. Quetico Dave has always been great to deal with and more than fair.

He's about a mile off of Highway 11 on the road leading into Beaverhouse Lake (Flanders Road). Watch for the signs after you turn south on the gravel road.

I'd consider entering at Beaverhouse and heading for Jean. I think it's only 3 portages and COULD be done in one day, although it would be a stretch (13 miles?). . . I'd spend 2-3 days on Jean and would be sure to try for smallmouth around the Ivy Island area. Then I'd move over to Jesse which is half day paddle/portage, or all day with some time spent fishing Oriana for big northerns. Spend a couple days fishing for walleye on Jesse, especially in the narrows east of Cedar Portage, then head out of the park through Nym. This would be a nice 7-8-9 day trip.
(I have only used Canoe Canada in Atikokan and Jeremy runs a good place, but since Dave's is nearer to Beaverhouse, using him would probably make more sense.)

Have always entered at Beaverhouse, then paddled into Badwater or Omeme as base camp. Both are excellent fishing for size and numbers of pike and walleye. Usually average well over 100 lbs per day of catch and release for a 2 man canoe. Normal trip includes several 20 lb+ pike - even a 30 plus now and then. Best walleye has been a tad over 10 lb.

Omeme is pure solitude, and excellent fishing. Cub and Bearpelt are nearby and very easy to get to with excellent fishing also. Cub has one weedy bay that you can catch pike all day long in 3 to 10 lb class - so it is really great for new fishers or young kids who need fast action to keep them interested. Omeme is probably a 2 day trip to get to unless you single portage or travel long day in summer. I usually go in Sept so we run out of daylight (AND ENERGY!)

Badwater is the most versatile base camp, but you might see a few trippers passing through that you would not see on Omeme. You can fish 7 or 8 very isolated lakes from Badwater. Can even day trip into Omeme. Plus there are several un-named lakes easily day tripped that hold lots of fish.

The Badwater portage is a bit longer than most (i.e.- fewer people), but they have dried out the swamps with wooden plank paths in recent years so it is easily handled regardless of weather patterns. Used to be a nightmare in wet weather.

Also highly recommend you not overlook Beaverhouse itself. It is chocked full of smallmouth, so we usually spend a day or 2 on the way out searching for new SM "honeyholes." Using plastic flukes with no weight at the base of the falls on the portage from Beaverhouse up into Quetico is a great start. Will see more people as this is the main avenue in/out, but it is worth it.

Hey Hoosier/Greygoose, when you enter through Beaverhouse, do you/can you simply drive to the parking lot and jump in? I understand the road isn't for vettes and cadillacs, but if a person had a truck and was self outfitted, is that the way it could work? Is it possible to camp the night before entry at this parking area?

Most reasonable vehicles would be able to make back to Beaverhouse provided there was not a large rain storm in the not too distant past. I would look into checking in at Atitkokan rather than paddle across Beaverhouse to check into the ranger station there. Beaverhouse is some big water and can start to blow.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm sure they will help a lot. Hopefully, we will be successful in pulling this trip together.

Obergut said: "Hey Hoosier/Greygoose, when you enter through Beaverhouse, do you/can you simply drive to the parking lot and jump in? I understand the road isn't for vettes and cadillacs, but if a person had a truck and was self outfitted, is that the way it could work? Is it possible to camp the night before entry at this parking area?"

Obergut, the first question is, (assuming you are not Canadian) can non-Canadians park there at all? (I don't know. I know they cannot at French Lake.) Anyway . . . I have only used B'house by getting a van ride from CC in Atikokan. In '97 the road was pretty bad; much improved in 2007 but you probably would not want to take the 'vette. Parking and space in general is very limited and I personally would not overnight there, but yes, if you had a truck, were self-outfitted, I don't see why you could not drive there, park and sleep in the truck.

I can tell you that there have been massive improvements to the Beaverhouse Lake parking area. They've extended the "portage" to the put-in spot by about 100 yards or so by blocking that last little stretch of road with a boulder, but they have an area to pull up and unload and another larger area to park. I'll bet they can get 30 vehicles in there.

Having been entering at Beaverhouse since the mid 1980s, I can tell you that the road is still rough in spots, but NOWHERE EVEN CLOSE to what it once was. It's gone from having an oil-pan removal rock every 50 yards back then to a relatively nice road all the way to the parking lot.

Could you take a car in there? Absolutely. Is it better to have a truck? It's your call. If you want to go to Beaverhouse and only have a car, do it. You'll be just fine.

Great info. Thanks a lot.

Agree with Jackfish. I would personally have no problem taking a 2 wheel drive car or minivan, as long as it is not a 'vette. LOL The road is well marked. Turn off highway at Flanders, and follow signs. The gravel road is decent to good most of the way. May have to chug through a few big puddles on the way if it has been really wet, but mostly be careful about bottoming out due to road ruts and an occasional big rock.

Last time up in Sept 2007 we followed the Ranger lady in for last 6 miles. She was driving a rental car every day and commuting to/from town due to the spring at the Ranger cabin had dried up. She even had a motor boat she crossed the lake with (about 4-5 mile trip) from the parking lot to Ranger station. We were laughing about this "unknown lady" who was REALLY lost driving a car with a Hertz sticker on the bumper down the back roads to Beaverhouse about 20 miles from the nearest pavement. Turned out she gave us our entry permit at the Ranger station! HA! Joke was on us!

If there is a law against over-nighting in the parkng lot - I broke it. Did this twice. No problem. I also outfit myself, so don't use an outfitter. Plan to get an early start. Beaverhouse is big open water, so recommend you plan to get started early to avoid wind. Also leave a day or so cushion coming out in case wind is up. Due West wind makes it really tough to get out.

Picking up the permit at Atikokan is a good idea if it is on your way. We come in from Int'l Falls, so it is easier to paddle to the BH station. Otherwise, the Atikokan permit would save a couple of miles of paddling. Instead of going to th eRanger station, you could go directly to the falls portage that goes into Quetico.

By the way, Obergut, the distance from the loading/unloading area to the water is about 100 rods - roughly 1/3 mile. The entire trail to the water looks like this:

Need to correct myself on overnight parking . . .

According to the 2009 Quetico guide, "Overnight parking at STANTON BAY is restricted to residents of Canada only. Non residents accessing Pickerel Lake from the Stanton Bay area must utilize the services of a Canadian outfitter for all overnight trips."

No mention is may of other entry points.

As for the BH put-in, 1/3 mile to the water would be normal; in August 2007, it was an additional 100 yard walk to canoeable water.

By the way, according to the Chrismar map, the access road from Highway 11 to Beaverhouse is 21.6k, or about 13.4 miles.

Agreed on the distance from Highway 11 to the Beaverhouse parking lot. I've always measured it at 14 miles. You say 13.6. Close enough for jazz.

By the way, back in the good ol' days, that 14 mile trip used to take about an hour. Really. Now it's about 30 minutes.

My understanding is that the road to Stanton Bay got washed out in the spring of 2009 and there are no plans currently to rebuild it.