Got back from a 6 day trip out of EP 47 at 11:30 pm and the next morning started making plans for an Aug. trip. The choices were few and far between and I decided on a 8/16 solo from EP35, Isabella lake.
My questions are about the closed campsites as shown on the "maps and entry points" portion of the forum. Have any of the sites been re-opened ? Are the closed sites officially closed or just in poor shape and still doable in an emergency ? The Pagami fire was 2011 (I think) and even if badly burned some sites should have recovered enough to be usable?
If the water levels are as low as Aug. 2021 is the Isabella river navigable ?

On a side note: is there a problem with permit hording ? Only a handful of permits available for all of July and August in the entire Gunflint area.

Closed sites will not have a fire grate and latrine. Camping at them is prohibited and likely to draw the kind of attention you don't want.

From what I've seen on Isabella, none of the sites marked as closed in the data file have been reopened. I think that's generally the case across the BWCA, for reasons of resource protection and occasionally the lack of funds.

I stopped at site 1921 on the east side last year for lunch, and I could be wrong but I thought it was open. That site and the one north of it did not burn. 1921 is a large site. It looks from the campsite reviews posted since the fire that it is open even though marked closed now. I paddled down the Perent River through Isabella and on down the Isabella River. I can attest that on those rivers site marked closed did not seem to exist anymore. Hopefully someone else can chime in with more certainty.

I think the maps are accurate as to which sites are open. There’s no way you could camp at any closed sites, not only is it illegal but the ones that are closed are all overgrown. The Isabella River is always navigable if you choose to venture down the river.

egknuti: "I think the maps are accurate as to which sites are open. There’s no way you could camp at any closed sites, not only is it illegal but the ones that are closed are all overgrown. The Isabella River is always navigable if you choose to venture down the river. "

Our BWCA.com map shows site 1922 as closed, but you reviewed it just a couple years ago implying it was open. There are a couple sites like this, which is why there is confusion.

Some current information here.

Jaywalker: "

egknuti: "I think the maps are accurate as to which sites are open. There’s no way you could camp at any closed sites, not only is it illegal but the ones that are closed are all overgrown. The Isabella River is always navigable if you choose to venture down the river. "

Our BWCA.com map shows site 1922 as closed, but you reviewed it just a couple years ago implying it was open. There are a couple sites like this, which is why there is confusion. "

There is only one site in that area. It is open. I’m not sure why it shows two sites in that area.

I stayed at 1921 for several days in October 2019. It is decidedly open:





(BTW, it is marked as open ”elsewhere.”)

The former site to the south is most decidedly closed and stripped of its (spartan) accoutrements.