I don't know how to track such a thing but I'm sure some of you do. In regards to last years Covid surge, compared to this year's permits already reserved, is there a drop off or are we looking at another busy year? Is there a way to tell this early?

Talking with outfitters and such it sounds like another banner year in the works. Outdoor activities in general will be very busy. Try to buy a canoe! A bike! Anything like that. It’s pretty crazy out there! Book your plans early. I’d also plan to go in a little deeper as I’d imagine the ep lakes will be crowded.

Log into the recreation.gov site and look for an OP permit in the BWCAW. Select a date and you will be able to see available permits for all EPs. I agree with Ben; this year is going to be another really busy year.

Here were the available permits as of April in 2019.

Here were the permits that went unclaimed last year (NOTE this is at the very end of the year though so it includes all permits that were booked in the months to come all the way up to entry date).

Here's a little more for comparison. I randomly selected 10 EP's and found the available permit count for each from April of 2019 and compared them to how many are listed available on rec.gov as of today. I selected the first full weekend and then the week following of June for analysis, so for June 2019 (1st-7th) for June 2021 (5th-11th), here are the results, I might run the numbers for July & August and see if the same trends exist.

ENTRY POINT - [TOTAL POSSIBLE PERMITS IN WEEK] - (AVAILABLE IN 2019) - (AVAILABLE IN 2021)

EP 14 - LIS North [42] (14) (0) +14 for 2019
EP 20 - Angleworm [14] (11) (5) +6 for 2019
EP 24 - Fall Lake [98] (58) (11) +47 for 2019
EP 25 - Moose Lake [189] (82) (0) +82 for 2019
EP 27- Snowbank [56] (19) (0) + 19 for 2019
EP 37 - Kawishiwi [63] (47) (14) +33 for 2019
EP 49 - Skipper & Portage Lake [14] (13) (12) +1 For 2019
EP 52 - Brant [28] (22) (21) +1 for 2019
EP 57 - Magnetic [21] (16) (10) +6 for 2019
EP 61 - Daniels [7] (5) (3) + 2 for 2019

Short conclusion: 2021 is definitely booking up faster than 2019.

I did my own quick look at number of permits remaining
for June / July / August (with sort of a random grouping of EPs)
then found the percent remaining for the 3-month period:

8-Moose River South 8 / 16 / 19 -- 43 left of 92 -- 46.7%
9-Little Indian Sioux River South 5 / 10 / 12 -- 27 left of 46 -- 58.7%
14-Little Indian Sioux River North 3 / 7 / 29 -- 39 left of 552 -- 7.1%
16-Moose/Portage River North 6 / 30 / 30 -- 66 left of 644 -- 10.2%
19-Stuart River 4 / 16 / 14 -- 34 left of 92 -- 37.0%
22-Mudro Lake-Restricted 0 / 5 / 11 -- 16 left of 184 -- 8.7%
23-Mudro Lake 0 / 0 / 1 -- 1 left of 552 -- 0.2%
25-Moose Lake 33 / 127 / 205 -- 365 left of 2,484 -- 14.7%
26-Wood Lake 7 / 21 / 29 -- 57 left of 184 -- 31.0%
27-Snowbank Lake 8 / 57 / 69 -- 134 left of 736 -- 18.2%
29-North Kawishiwi River 4 / 12 / 10 -- 26 left of 92 -- 28.3%
30-Lake One 1 / 5 / 5 -- 11 left of 644 -- 1.7%
30F-Lake One-Restricted 4 / 25 / 45 -- 74 left of 644 -- 11.5%
31-Farm Lake 1 / 24 / 29 -- 54 left of 276 -- 19.6%
32-South Kawishiwi River 1 / 5 / 5 -- 11 left of 184 -- 6.0%
33-Little Gabbro Lake 0 / 0 / 0 -- 0 left of 184 -- 0.0%
62-Clearwater Lake 0 / 0 / 1 -- 1 left of 276 -- 0.4%
64-East Bearskin Lake 31 / 47 / 21 -- 99 left of 368 -- 26.9%
68-Pine Lake 0 / 1 / 0 -- 1 left of 92 -- 1.1%
84-Snake River 2 / 8 / 10 -- 20 left of 92 -- 21.7%

No surprise to see Little Gabbro and Mudro leading the way on the west side, but permits for Clearwater and Pine are just as depleted in the east...

schweady: "I did my own quick look at number of permits remaining
for June / July / August (with sort of a random grouping of EPs)
then found the percent remaining for the 3-month period:

8-Moose River South 8 / 16 / 19 -- 43 left of 92 -- 46.7%
9-Little Indian Sioux River South 5 / 10 / 12 -- 27 left of 46 -- 58.7%
14-Little Indian Sioux River North 3 / 7 / 29 -- 39 left of 552 -- 7.1%
16-Moose/Portage River North 6 / 30 / 30 -- 66 left of 644 -- 10.2%
19-Stuart River 4 / 16 / 14 -- 34 left of 92 -- 37.0%
22-Mudro Lake-Restricted 0 / 5 / 11 -- 16 left of 184 -- 8.7%
23-Mudro Lake 0 / 0 / 1 -- 1 left of 552 -- 0.2%
25-Moose Lake 33 / 127 / 205 -- 365 left of 2,484 -- 14.7%
26-Wood Lake 7 / 21 / 29 -- 57 left of 184 -- 31.0%
27-Snowbank Lake 8 / 57 / 69 -- 134 left of 736 -- 18.2%
29-North Kawishiwi River 4 / 12 / 10 -- 26 left of 92 -- 28.3%
30-Lake One 1 / 5 / 5 -- 11 left of 644 -- 1.7%
30F-Lake One-Restricted 4 / 25 / 45 -- 74 left of 644 -- 11.5%
31-Farm Lake 1 / 24 / 29 -- 54 left of 276 -- 19.6%
32-South Kawishiwi River 1 / 5 / 5 -- 11 left of 184 -- 6.0%
33-Little Gabbro Lake 0 / 0 / 0 -- 0 left of 184 -- 0.0%
62-Clearwater Lake 0 / 0 / 1 -- 1 left of 276 -- 0.4%
64-East Bearskin Lake 31 / 47 / 21 -- 99 left of 368 -- 26.9%
68-Pine Lake 0 / 1 / 0 -- 1 left of 92 -- 1.1%
84-Snake River 2 / 8 / 10 -- 20 left of 92 -- 21.7%

No surprise to see Little Gabbro and Mudro leading the way on the west side, but permits for Clearwater and Pine are just as depleted in the east...
"

Schweady, as usual, your analysis is detailed and very informative. And thanks to Marrowoflife also.

It's gonna be a big campground up there this year.

Mike

Thanks all for the fabulous input and feedback as always!

Slightly disappointed in the higher numbers to be completely honest with you. Makes me wonder if the covid surge from last year got a lot of people hooked on their probable, first trip, and now they want to return (who could blame them right?).

I think it will be interesting to watch numbers for the next couple of years to see if it drops off or remains popular. It appears that those in the camp of wanting more people to explore the wilderness will be happy. Personally I've always been in the opposite camp. I understand the need for more interest however.