In my past trips to the BWCA I entered at lakes that had outfitters located on them. It was pretty simple to choose an outfitter. The only time I have entered on the Ely side we went through the Scout base. Next year I am considering entering at Mudro. There are many outfitters to choose from and all of them seem to have good reviews. We only need to rent a canoe and a couple packs. Everything else we will bring. We will need a place to sleep the night before we enter and would be open to a bunk house or hotel.

So with all the good options in or near Ely, how have others decided on the outfitter to use?

I am sure all the outfitters are solid up there, it is a small community, but I've only used Piragis and they are always tops on having equipment, advise, etc.

+1 for Piragis.

We've stayed at Motel Ely two years in a row now, reasonable rates and really clean.

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I have gone with Jordans Outfitters the last two years. Mark and Sunny are really nice and helpful. We were able to stay overnight in a nice bunkhouse and have breakfast with them before heading out. We were also able to get an after return shower as part of the deal.

I went out from Mudro in 2017 and used Voyageur North Outfitters in Ely for permit issuance and live bait, but had my own equipment. Used their showers on way out too. I think they open earliest in the a.m., and that won my attention. We drive through the night, get permits first thing in morning, and like to hit our EP as early as possible.

Nice, helpful people at VNO, as I am sure you'd find at other outfitters too.

i have used Voyager North Outfitters on all 3 of my trips. open early, they offer bunk houses, and have bait. great company highly recommend them.

It all depends on what EP I’m using. But I compare all of the nearest ones in terms of their costs for the items I need. Which is usually a couple canoes, bunkhouses the night before and after, and showers. And if and how much they charge to let me have my dog in their bunkhouse. VNO won for me last year. They were outstanding. I then bought a canoe from them later in the year. I drove up in January to pick it up and spent the weekend enjoying Ely’s Winter Festival. We stayed at VNO then, too. They were incredible. I can’t say enough good about them.

Ive never used other than Canoe Country for over 15 years one or two trips a year. Good lodging options and prices similar to others. It's more than paid off to use one than shop each year.

I will second the suggestion of Canoe Country Outfitters. The Olson brothers are third generation outfitters and this summer I had the pleasure of meeting a fourth generation of the family. This was my 18th trip with them and my paddling partner was celebrating his 45th year using them.

They have very reasonable rates for the bunk house and good hot showers.

I'm a huge fan of Voyageur North Outfitters and have been using them for probably 15 years or so. Their bunkhouse is excellent, their service is outstanding, and they have tons of used gear to pick up to add to your collection at very good prices. Over the years I've accumulated pots, pans, packs, paddles, tents, sleeping bags, and even a nice Kevlar canoe.... I've got an awful lot of stuff that is stamped VNO!

I never really needed to use an outfitter for much of anything. But always try to stop at Piragis and Voyager North. A few times I've stayed at vno in their bunk house. And Piragis has a great store that is like a mini rei...
That said, there is a small operation on Fenski Lake. Fenski Lake cabins... Very nice young couple... And right on the road to Mudro..

coloradomike: "I will second the suggestion of Canoe Country Outfitters. The Olson brothers are third generation outfitters and this summer I had the pleasure of meeting a fourth generation of the family. This was my 18th trip with them and my paddling partner was celebrating his 45th year using them.


They have very reasonable rates for the bunk house and good hot showers."

+1 only use cco. Prices and lodging are hard to beat!

From Ely and West side I have used Voyager North, Canadian Waters, Cliff Wold's, Canadian Border....... and Andersons for extreme west in Crane Lake/LLC. All great and am sure all outfitters up there are solid as mentioned above.

I have only used 1 outfitter that was River Point and they were great. Since then I have outfitted myself. That being said I have never heard a bad story of any of the professional outfitters around the bw. Next month I am going to use the Gunflint North bunkhouse and I'm assuming they run a good outfit too.

Another strong vote for Voyageur North! We have been delighted with their advice and outfitting for over 20 years. Their equipment is first-rate, and all the staff that we have encountered have been helpful and knowledgeable.

We've always used VNO when we're on the west side as well. Their service has always been great for the 15+ years we've been tripping out of Ely.

It's true I don't usually need gear (really) but i do need lodging and an occasional shuttle, and maybe a tow if weather is bad, so have maintained relationship with CCO. I suppose if I was closer than Chicago it might be different.

I've used VNO for 20 years (groups and solo). I used them last fall (including the bunkhouse pre and post-trip) for a Mudro entrance. Great service, great people!

Dave

Voyaguer North for sure!

They treated us very good last week and even re-opened the doors when we came back to turn in the canoe at 10pm!

The room was great too. All we rented was a canoe and a room from them and they treated us like we were renting the entire works!

I've used Spirit of the Wilderness for partial outfitting for the past 10 years, and always been happy with the Nelson family. They've earned my business. That said, we used VNO's bunkhouse this year and I met Lynn for the first time. Was really impressed with the service they provided. I can understand why they've received so many votes in this thread. The bunkhouse was clean and I really appreciated the fact that the room we stayed in had a freezer to keep some stuff frozen for us overnight.

Echo Trail Outfitters. Just a stone's throw from Mudro.

Enter Mudro last fall and I did the same thing you did, I checked reviews and that didn't help much because most are highly rated. So then I priced shopped which narrowed it down a bit and then I communicated back and forth with a few of the outfitters and got a feel for how they were to work with. We ended up using Voyager and couldn't have been happier. There bunk house was super comfortable and they were great to work with.

Another vote for Voyager North Outfitter. Our decision to use VNO was after meeting them at the Boat sport and travel show here in Indy for 2 or 3 years before deciding to make the trip north. Each year John and Lynn would take the time to talk about routes answer any questions we had. Super helpful and everyone there has been great. We only have two trips so far, a third one coming up in 2 weeks but we have rented the canoe from VNO each time, picked up bait and stayed in the bunk house. I don't have any experience with the other outfitters but i have no reason to try anyone else! Canoe rental includes the shower at the end, always nice before hitting the road.

Williams and Hall on Moose Lake. They always have a bunk for me when I roll in at 10:30 or later at night. And Dave up there always sets me up with a tow first thing in the morning, 6:30 am or so.

I've used 6 different outfitters and the service was excellent with everyone of them. Some are friendlier than others however.

Couldn't let this go by. I've never heard a bad thing about any of the Ely based outfitters, but for 20 years I have been using the Olson's over at Canoe Country. Besides being wonderful people, they have a great spot on Moose with tow service and bunks both in town and on Moose.

budfox_mn: "Couldn't let this go by. I've never heard a bad thing about any of the Ely based outfitters, but for 20 years I have been using the Olson's over at Canoe Country. Besides being wonderful people, they have a great spot on Moose with tow service and bunks both in town and on Moose. "

Yup!