I’m in the beginnings of planning a trip to the WCPP in either 2021 or 22. Just curious where I can find useful info besides the message board here?
Thanks

I'd reach out to:
Claire at the parks office there in RL.
Albert at Goldseekers Outfitters.

And I am sure some of the regulars here will offer advice - Marten in particular has spent a lot of time up there.

Have you thought much about the type of trip? Fly-in, drive-in, fishing, particular lakes, loops, etc? Big group, solo, experienced, etc?

I’m still contemplating all of that...I know my trip will be centered around fishing, walleye in particular. I’ve thought about a fly-in and basecamp option to get the most out of my time in the wilderness instead of spending a day or 2 just in paddling in/driving to an entry. Or fly in and paddle out to an exit point. No lakes in mind yet, will be going off what is recommended to me by either members on here or an outfitter. It’ll most likely be a solo due to my friends being too soft to take a trip like this haha. Solitude is also key, which shouldn’t be much of an issue compared to tripping in the BWCA. I’ve done about a dozen fly in trips out of Red Lake and Sioux Lookout to lakes that we are all by ourselves, and it’s the ultimate experience. I’m just looking to up that a notch by doing it in a canoe instead of a cabin. Timeframe will most likely be end of August or first week of September. Not prime fall bite yet, but I’m thinking better than mid July, which would be the other time that works.

I am a fan of the fly-in, fly-out plan if the cost is not prohibitive. Skipping the full day of padding into the interior adds to the fun if fishing is a priority.
There are a ton of loop options that would keep you on Walleye lakes, if you want to move, and you could choose a loop with just a couple short travel days or a more elaborate loop. Or basecamp to your heart's content.
To play devil's advocate, there are also great spots that are not far from entry points, and I'll wager that even on 'high-traffic' lakes close to entry points you still might have several days where you don't see another person.
I have fished there in late August with pretty good results, and there were basically no annoying insects.

Fyi, Claire is on her annual winter break so wait until she is available.

You say: Fly-in, Walleye and solitude! To me that spells Walking Stick Lake in the NW part of the park. So much solitude that you will probably only see what I have posted on YouTube if you do a search. A year ago another party went in and had no trouble following the unmapped portage s to even more nearby Walleye Lakes.

Check out the fully outfitted route descriptions on the Red Lake Outfitters web page, if it is still up. It will give you a good idea of what to expect in the area of each trip. Red Lake Outfitters is no longer in business. My June 2019 was in the general area of Trout and Solitude.

I've been there twice, June 2018 and June 2019. The only "busy" place that we saw, in relative terms, is Mexican Hat lake. We saw several people there both years, and even shared a campsite with late arrivals one time. Be aware, however, that many lakes have cabins on them, and those and surrounding lakes will often have boat caches on them and you might see fishermen. On Harlan's advice, we got away from it all by going to trout lakes instead of walleye lakes. There are few to no cabins or lodges, and few fly in trips made to trout lakes. he explained it was because most Americans are into walleye.

The only paddler I ran into on a 14 day loop through the southern end of the park, after we left Mexican Hat that is, was OldZip and his wife. He is a member here and may be the most travelled in WCPP of anyone, if not a close second!

Get the chrismar map and also consider using the pp website in planning a route. I made a particular effort to rate the campsites I used, and made a few portage comments as well, on the map. Campsites can be hard to find because of all the recent burns.

Shoot me an email if I can share more info.
Joe

IowaFishinGuy:, walleye in particular ... Solitude is also key.. "

those two will be difficult to find together because the river system is where everyone goes because that's where the walleyes are, as strange as it may sound, you'll find more solitude near the entry points unless you go to some dead end lake

Medicine Hat is to WCPP like Disney World is to Orlando, everyone goes there

joewildlife: "Check out the fully outfitted route descriptions on the Red Lake Outfitters web page, if it is still up...."

It is still up, but it's registration is due to expire on March 28, 2020 - so my guess is it may well come down on that day. There is no Red Lake Outfitters anymore, so I doubt the guy that operates there under a different name will pay to have updates made - even working with a small web agency can rack up a pretty good bill. I could be wrong, but I'd suggest anyone who wants info from that site download it or take screen shots very soon.

My first trip to WCPP was cancelled at the last minute last summer, but I'm hopeful for this summer. I echo what other have said about getting the Chrismar Adventure Map. Whenever I watch videos or read stories about WCPP, I love getting the map out to help me understand better. I've even made notes on it about campsites and portages from watching other peoples videos.

ZaraSp00k: "

IowaFishinGuy:, walleye in particular ... Solitude is also key.. "

those two will be difficult to find together because the river system is where everyone goes because that's where the walleyes are, as strange as it may sound, you'll find more solitude near the entry points unless you go to some dead end lake


Medicine Hat is to WCPP like Disney World is to Orlando, everyone go
es there"

All true but Walleye move up streams feeding those rivers. If they end up in a lake with the right stuff you have a Walleye honey-hole and solitude. Walking Stick, Irvine, Joey and a lake upstream from Mooseakon all have abundant Walleye and we'll get monster Northern Pike too.

Glad to see Marten, fount of wisdom for all things WCPP, is pitching in!
One thing to consider as well: Burns. Do you want to be in an area that has recently been burned or not? Irvine burned in 2018 and obviously many others have been impacted to varying degrees. I have the map that shows burns from 2010 to 2018 if you'd like it - pop me an email.
Claire may be able to get you a more current burn map, though I think it was a relatively quiet fire season in the park last year.

Knowing the fire history will help you lay out a route of your liking. One problem is the fire maps only tell you it burned through the area. It can be scorched earth or hardly touched. Maps show the Walking Stick area all burned but a recent traveler told me it and the area to the west are green, but east to Echo burned hard and then Echo OK.

IFG. Good advice above.

I have another suggestion as where to find some really good information about planning your trip. If you are able I would suggest you might want to come to Madison, WI during Canoeopia in mid March. There is a group of folks from Quietjourny who meet after the canoe show and share information, go over maps, etc. These folks are a vast warehouse of knowledge in all aspects of canoe tripping. I've learned much from them.

I, like you, love to fish for walleyes. My canoe tripping goals are similar to yours inasmuch as basecamping for several days, fishing and exploring then moving on. I've done four trips into different parts of the park with those goals in mind. I prefer to fly in/ fly out.

If you prefer you can e mail me for further info or chat over the phone. If not I can post where/what and when on this forum.

Safe travels........Mike

I'm going to try to post a link to the Canadian Wildland Fire Information page interactive map. You select Fire History in the Overlays tab on the upper right side of the map.

Much of WCPP has burned, some twice. Some areas were absolutely scorched and are nothing but bare rock and dead wood.

I'll echo a comment about entry points. We never saw anybody entering at Johnson Lake via truck shuttle, until we got to Mexican Hat. There are plenty of walleye between Johnson Lake and Mexican hat. We didn't see anybody around the exit point at Trout Bay where we got a boat shuttle back. Next year we truck shuttled into and out at Leano and there was nobody in the SE part of the park around the Kilburn lakes, which are walleye lakes. If I wanted to do a cheap walleye basecamp style trip, I would go in at Leano. I can't afford fly in or out, so I just have to take longer trips and paddle in and out. In any case no matter where you go, make sure you know where the cabins are so you can avoid those lakes if true solitude is what you are after.

https://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/interactive-map

Joe
Canadian Wildland Fire Information Interactive Map

Thanks for all the advice everyone! I will have to check out the burn maps, I would prefer to not be in an area with recent burn activity. For those that have flown in, do you line up a flight thru an outfitter, or on your own? And what are the rates for fly in's like that? Another question, are the campsites marked out very well on maps?

I believe there are a couple of outfits that can fly you in. Goldseekers has a relationship with one of them, and I think gets favorable rates for their clients.

Given the timing, I would bet what you see from this link is the 2019 rate sheet, and it could be higher in 2020.

WCPP by air

Edit - emailed you some info that may help you.

We were in the N/E part of the park for three weeks last year and there is very little burn area there. We flew into Bigshell and gradually worked our way down to Young, with a lot of side trips into different lakes. The only burn area is the n/e side of Olive. This is a very beautiful part of the park with some great topography and relatively isolated.

We arranged our own flight in and out. There are at least two air services in Red Lake. Keep in mind that destination lakes need to be a certain size for planes to land in and take off from. You can work this out with the air service you choose. The prices that Goldseekers had (forwarded by sns) seem in line with what we paid last year. Viking Outposts (an air service in Red Lake that we've used numerous times) was sold by the Carlson family and is currently under new ownership.

As far as campsites being shown on maps go. Red Lake Outfitters (Harlan) made some topo's with campsite locations. I'm not sure what the status those maps would be anymore. Claire at the park office showed us a map last year with campsites marked that the parks dept. came out with for implementation this year. Might want to check on that with Claire when she's available.

Hope this helps.

IFG-

I'm also in the planning process for this year, 2020. I contacted the park office in early Dec. to purchase a map and get any other info available. They sent me a packet full of things along with my Adventure Map - WCPP Information Guide, regulations, fire map, campsite map, road access map, Ontario Parks Guide, information on the Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage Project, a lake/fish list, Ontario Highway 105 Adventure Guide and Map, and a list of online links to additional information. Well worth your while to make a phone call.

Campsite maps are pitiful at best, no matter the source.

I had Harlan's maps and the small scale map from the Park. Some of the more popular lakes have good established campsites that have been used for years and still exist. But the fires absolutely devastate the campsites, and leave widowmakers all around, making them unusable.

In the little used areas of the park, you might not find any of the "designated" or shown campsites to be usable.

Personal knowledge of campsites is very useful. Ask for advice here about particular lakes, ask the park, ask the outfitter, but nobody really knows about them all.

You CAN go to the PP website if you haven't used it before, and look at the campsite ratings. Pay attention to when the comments were made and you decide whether those ratings are still valid or not. There are only a few of us who have made comments there, so it is again an incomplete source of info.

Best thing to do is accept the fact that you may have to spend some time finding a campsite despite doing your homework.

Joe

When anyone has a probable route selected just post it here and I think the community will be able to supply you with all the portage and campsite info you will need. I keep that info in a GPS file so it will be easy to plan your days travel. It is sure nice to know there is a campsite ahead and a back-up if on a rare rare occasion you find your hoped for site taken. Just avoid Mexican Hat and Haven.

I've rarely had an issue finding a campsite. Some may not be the best site but if you are soloing you don't need a lot of room. There are lots of sites on the map that are not there but give yourself enough time and you will find something that works. Also, I wouldn't try to completely avoid the burn areas, they are part of what gives WCPP its uniqueness.

Another thing that worked well for me. I contacted someone who had been through an area I was interested in. I either visited them and went over routes/maps, etc. or did the same via the phone. We each had a map in front of us and it worked out really well. The info I gained from them was invaluable. I needed to take a lot of notes as my memory isn't that anymore :))

Safe travels.......

Completed my first trip to the WCPP last summer. I got a bunch of campsite tips from joewildlife and hobbydog. They helped me out a bunch, so a big thanks to them.

I'd have to agree that Mexican Hat is a nexus of people. After days of travel during which I saw only one other canoe. I saw four parties on Mexican Hat and three others heading that way. Stay away from lakes with outposts if the occasional motorboat will bother you.

We loved traveling through the burn areas and it is harder to find camps there.

Be prepared to bear-proof your camps. We saw lots of bears in the blueberry fields.

Have a great trip. Just posted a trip report if your are interested.

WCPP Trip Report

Enjoyed your report wyopaddler - I am planning a trip there this year and the report fueled the fire and gave food for thought.

Joe- I noticed that reviews are thin and sometimes way too old to be useful.

boonie: "Enjoyed your report wyopaddler - I am planning a trip there this year and the report fueled the fire and gave food for thought.


Joe- I noticed that reviews are thin and sometimes way too old to be useful. "

Thanks. If I can be of help let me know :)

Yes, reviews of campsites may certainly be dated.

For me, I will be bringing a voice recorder next time I go to the WCPP or Quetico, just to make note of all campsites that we pass by. So many are non existent or unusable, and I like to share that info because I know that info is useful to me. It is hard to remember every site you pass by...
Joe

Hi, I'm planning a trip to WCPP this summer, probably enter through Atikaki on Wallace Lake and do a loop going west up the Broadleaf then north to the Bloodvein, then east into WCPP and south to complete the loop back to Wallace. I read about outpost cabins up above in this thread and was wondering if the Chrismar map shows all of these cabins? I have the 2018 version of the map.

In case anybody is interested, I made this map of recent burns in the Atikaki/WCPP that covers the area where I plan to do my trip.



Multiple satellite images for each year are all available on USGS Landsat Look Viewer. The user interface is typically unfriendly, but you can get what you're looking for. I didn't include a fire that was burning north of the Bloodvein late in the summer on the map.

Mark

mkdixon: "Hi, I'm planning a trip to WCPP this summer, probably enter through Atikaki on Wallace Lake and do a loop going west up the Broadleaf then north to the Bloodvein, then east into WCPP and south to complete the loop back to Wallace. I read about outpost cabins up above in this thread and was wondering if the Chrismar map shows all of these cabins? I have the 2018 version of the map.


In case anybody is interested, I made this map of recent burns in the Atikaki/WCPP that covers the area where I plan to do my trip.





Multiple satellite images for each year are all available on USGS Landsat Look Viewer. The user interface is typically unfriendly, but you can get what you're looking for. I didn't include a fire that was burning north of the Bloodvein late in the summer on the map.


Mark"

Yes they should be on the map but not the ones in Atikaki. I did that loop a couple of years ago, you can check out that Trip Report.

I can put all the ones in Atikaki on a map for you. 3 on the Gammon and one big one on Aikens Lake. One on Artery too but that should be on the map.

I really enjoyed my trip west from Wallace Lake and up to the Gammon. Another year the waters were too low to go that way so we used the Obukowin portages to get up to the Gammon and then used the Tea Pail Portage across to the Bloodvein river at Stonehouse Lake. My reports and others for Atikaki are here:

Atikaki trip reports from CCR

hobbydog: "

Yes they should be on the map but not the ones in Atikaki. I did that loop a couple of years ago, you can check out that Trip Report.


I can put all the ones in Atikaki on a map for you. 3 on the Gammon and one big one on Aikens Lake. One on Artery too but that should be on the map. "

I see the lodge on Aikens on the park map, but don't see outpost cabins. I'd like to see where those others are if it's not too much trouble. I'll check out your trip report.

Edit: I've read your trip report too, which is the other reason I'd like to do that route. Thanks for doing the writeup.

Thanks, Mark

Thanks Marten, I've seen your video of that trip, which is probably my reason for wanting to go that way. I'll check out the written version for details. Thanks, Mark

mkdixon: "

hobbydog: "


Yes they should be on the map but not the ones in Atikaki. I did that loop a couple of years ago, you can check out that Trip Report.



I can put all the ones in Atikaki on a map for you. 3 on the Gammon and one big one on Aikens Lake. One on Artery too but that should be on the map. "

I see the lodge on Aikens on the park map, but don't see outpost cabins. I'd like to see where those others are if it's not too much trouble. I'll check out your trip report.

Edit: I've read your trip report too, which is the other reason I'd like to do that route. Thanks for doing the writeup.


Thanks, Mark"

It was a fun route, lots of long portages but were not a big deal except for the one into Artery. Taking it from Artery going south would be easier. Two of the outposts are marked in Google. I circled the third one. I also marked the place in the first picture of day 5 in the trip report. A really nice place to camp or just spend some time.The river between Aikens and Carroll lake is a very enjoyable paddle.

Martin-
It took me a bit to locate Walking Stick Lake, but I’m assuming it’s the long narrow lake between Craven and Dunstan? I started following you on the Tube and watched a few videos. You’ve had some pretty great adventures, not to mention your cabin is what I dream to do later in life. That’s for another discussion.

My question about the campsites was mainly directed to the “unnamed” lakes, because on PP they did not show campsites on these lakes. I didn’t know if they weren’t travelled through, or just lack of high numbers of visitors left them off the map. Same goes with the portages on these lakes. Martin, I see you’ve bushwhacked a few of your own portages thru some of the lesser used areas.

As far as doing a fly in to a destination lake, I’d assume that if you talk to an air service in Red Lake, they can point you to lakes they can and can’t land on? Is it very common to do a fly in and paddle to an entry point with a shuttle lined up on the outside, or is it easier to just fly in and fly out?

I haven’t contacted Claire yet, but that is my plan in the coming weeks, get ahold of her and get maps to start narrowing down areas I would like to travel to.

Another question, is there any area in particular in the park that I’d have a higher chance at seeing some caribou? I think it’d be pretty neat to encounter them if possible.

Thanks

When you get the Christmar park map you will see the common routes in the park and lakes with portages. Off the marked routes there will be no info on sites except here. Very common to fly in and then head for a road access. Walking Stick area has more Caribou now because of the burn in other areas. A trip option is to fly in from Bissett in Manitoba and head back out to Wallace Lake where Blue Water Aviation can shuttle your car ahead of time. You can go out via Broken Arrow and Crystal, Obukowin portages to Side rock lake or go further west to Aikens lake and come back via the Broadleaf and Wanipigow Rivers.