Given the uncertainty about the border and the Q being open to US visitors this summer, I'm trying to have a back up plan for our late June/early July trip.

This is our 3 generations dads-n-lads trip (ages 74 to 13) and we have been going regularly to Q for 18 years now. We always enter at Beaverhouse and stay somewhere in the Cirrus/Quetico/Jean area for a week.

I'm seeking advice from anyone who has regularly gone to the BW in the summer about a possible BW alternative that we might look at that won't involve major portages for my 70+ dad. We know it won't be like what we are used to up in Q, but are hoping to find something that is not Lake 1 type crowds. I only hit the BW in late September/October, so I don't really have much of a point of reference as to what the summer crowds are like. We are fine with something out of Tofte or Gunflint.

You might consider entering at Saganaga. There are no portages and you could get an outfitter to tow your crew out to American point. Basecamp there and fish the Knife River and the western end of Sag around the islands. That's just one option.

I was looking today at the south arm of Knife. Thoughts on that area being a little Quetico-esque? Looks like a lot of campsites, therefore a lot of people.

Good suggestion, Jackfish. Building on that idea, the area west of Boulder Bay is a stretch of water that I've never paddled (yet). I'm told Fish Narrows and the area in between those islands are worth exploring. That might be an option.

Iron is beautiful, but can get crowded depending on the time of the summer you go - but well worth it. Just a few more thoughts.

Trout Lake in the SW part of the BW gets less use. Grab a tow and a trip over the portage and then you have a whole lotta lake at your disposal.

Thanks for the responses. Some good ideas.

Steve, did you pull off a BWCA trip?
My daughter and I did a very physically easy trip to Sag early June, stayed there two nights and did two easy portages to Alpine. She got a concussion the week before so we needed to take it easy. We should have just gone in on Seagull and avoided the parking fee at the Sag entry point. We stayed at Alpine for 8 days. The fishing was good and it was a thoroughly enjoyable trip once we just decided not to be bothered by seeing people. It was kinda cool to learn the lake and find some good fishing spots like Pike Island, Trout Island, and Walleye Island. We both caught the Grand Slam on Alpine.

I did come to the conclusion that fishing is a lot easier and/or better on the smaller lakes. We just didn't do that good on Sag. We ate fish both nights but the walleye and trout were missing from the menu for us.

Joe