I am planning my first solo starting June 1 - I am going in on Slim and planning traveling to Hook or Keneu and spending my time there - each lake has 1 campsite - Slim lake has I believe 4 campsites - question I have is do most people stay on Slim ? Will I get one of the campsites deeper from the entry? Do most that go in over Memorial Day weekend come back out by Tuesday? The permits are taken prior to my entry and it makes me nervous I won’t find a site deeper from the entry.

2nd, sadly there is no guarantee of a particular open site or in reality, any open sites. I have to believe that more than half would be going in for the weekend and by Monday something would open up. Even if a group stayed one extra day and left on Tuesday, that could work for you too.

Slim has 4 campsites, all decent to good. The Hook and Keneu campsites both have good reviews so it is likely that a few will travel beyond Slim. But again, some are likely to leave by Monday or Tuesday. There is also a campsite on Rice lake that doesn't sound like the greatest site, but certainly not the worst either, in case all others would be taken. Maybe you have to spend the first night there and move on if you see canoes coming from the direction of Hook and Keneu the next day. If you got "stuck" on Slim, that's not a bad thing and gives you some good daytrips to explore.

There is only one way to know for sure...I guess I would have a Plan B just in case but i am guessing you would probably be okay.

Agreed, no guarantees but that's true with any lake and any EP

I have a permit for that week before and am planning on coming out the 31st. So there should be at least one open. Lol if you remember try to get ahold of me before my trip and I could let you know how things look when I’m on my way out.

I got completely skunked on Slim through Keneu a couple years ago. I have wanted to return, but not worth the risk IMO. Adventurous day trip anyway.

We went last year on a Sunday in August. Slim was empty, rice was empty, the other ones were empty when we day tripped, though on our way back we saw a group set up on an island that wasn't a campsite on hook.

I think most people actually want to go to Hook or Keneu.

The rice campsite looked pretty good when we went past.

I also don't think the entry lends itself to long trips- since its *almost* a dead end entry.

The campsite that isn't marked on maps, but is an official campsite on the entry point sign, is a very nice campsite. Its almost straight across once you paddle out from the channel on Slim.

We portaged from entry point parking lot to Slim on Tuesday, August 18th. My daughter was on her third trip and my daughter's friend and her Dad who were on their first trip. I hoped that a campsite would be open on Slim, so as to slowly introduce them to BWCA. All sites were taken so we portaged to Rice.

When we got to Rice we saw people directly across from the portage. They appeared to be illegally camping on a point, because the campsite is around the corner and out of sight from the portage. That site was also full so onto Hook. At this point the father and daughter we brought along we’re losing faith we would find a campsite. They were exhausted so my daughter and I set off to scout ahead, to see if a campsite was open on either Hook or Keneu. We had walk-in talkies with and it was fun to radio back to them that we secured the campsite.

Fortunately the Hook campsite was open. My backup plan was to camp in the pine duff at the end of the Rice to Hook portage and backtrack out the next day with the intention of finding a campsite on Burntside, Across the road from the turnoff to the Slim entry.