Hi Everybody,

I'm looking for recommendations for routes in Quetico for mid-September. Will car-camp at Dawson Trail Campground night before and after trip. Thinking of entering at Beaverhouse, but open to others not too far from Dawson.

My girlfriend and I are interested in a low-portage trip. We are first-timers to Quetico/BWCA. 5-night, 6-day trip, but hope to stay put one night just to relax or because of weather. Looking for an easy trip. Don't plan to fish this time. Pictographs a requirement. Will arrange a shuttle if non-loop trip.

Any help greatly appreciated!

Might try posting this in the Quetico section too.

I think Southern entry going through Prairie Portage and into Agnes Lake Quetico would be a pretty awesome trip. Agnes Lake Quetico has a multitude of Pictograph sites. Louisa Falls. I didn’t think it was to hard of portages for Quetico either. We came off the South end this year made it to Prairie Portage. Waited for a food pack with half our food in the middle of a 14 day trip and made it back North into Burke Lake in a day. This is an easier access southern trip. You could come back out the same way or loop into the S Chain to come back out.

If you went North entry you could enter multiple places and have some fun not to hard options. Beaverhouse lake entry into Quetico lake in the North has multiple really good pictograph sites. Would be a pretty easy trip with some mild effort to get into Quetico lake.

I’ve been looking at Quetico permits and the two dates I’ve looked at have had permits open for every entry!

Ryan

the only entry points i am aware of close to dawson (other than french lake of course) are stanton bay, nym, and lerome (sue falls).
stanton bay and nym would both require a shuttle as you would not be able to park your car there.
i believe both only require one easy portage to access pickerel lake and you could go any number of ways once there.
i have done the sue falls entry twice (many years ago). there are multiple portages so i assume that one is off the list.

You can park your car at Nym. Stanton Bay is just for Canadian licenses for parking or an outfitter could drop you off there.
With the trip you describe, just go in at Nym. One medium portage takes you into an area with many options.

Eyedocron: "You can park your car at Nym."

i thought only canadians could park at nym and stanton. i knew nym was outside the park. so is the stanton parking area actually within the park boundary? is that why the rule only applies to stanton?

Anyone can park at Nym.
Tom

tumblehome: "Anyone can park at Nym.
Tom"

i was just curious why the different rules for nym and stanton.

Stanton Bay is the only parking entry site restricted to Canadians for parking. Why? I do not really know, but probably to help the Canadian outfitters, which is not unreasonable. They provide good services at a fair price (We have used Canoe Canada in Atikokan once and they were very nice and complete).
If you need an outfitter, they can drop you off and pick you up at different entry sites.
If you self-outfit, you have excellent options to do a loop entering Beaverhouse, Nym, or Dawson. Remember that both Quetico Lake on the west and Pickeral Lake on the east are "big water" and plan into your schedule an extra day in case you get wind-bound.

MountainMaple: "Hi Everybody,

I'm looking for recommendations for routes in Quetico for mid-September. Will car-camp at Dawson Trail Campground night before and after trip. Thinking of entering at Beaverhouse, but open to others not too far from Dawson.

My girlfriend and I are interested in a low-portage trip. We are first-timers to Quetico/BWCA. 5-night, 6-day trip, but hope to stay put one night just to relax or because of weather. Looking for an easy trip. Don't plan to fish this time. Pictographs a requirement. Will arrange a shuttle if non-loop trip.

Any help greatly appreciated!"

Easiest pico sites I know of from the north would be on either Beaverhouse or Doré. Both routes feature some big water and the portages involved are rather similar in effort and distance.

Stanton Bay is not in the park. The park starts mid portage.

mapsguy1955: "Stanton Bay is not in the park. The park starts mid portage."

yes i did eventually find that on a map. thx
i will have to ask the staff at the dawson park office next time i am up there to satisfy my curiosity about why stanton would be the only spot where u.s. vehicles cannot park overnight. if the idea (as suggested above) was to help the outfitters in the area, then why not prohibit parking at all know entry points?
i will post the answer if i get one. lol

rick00001967: "why stanton would be the only spot where u.s. vehicles cannot park overnight. if the idea (as suggested above) was to help the outfitters in the area, then why not prohibit parking at all know entry points?
i will post the answer if i get one. lol"

I'm sure we'd all like to hear about it if you do get an answer.

Flip side is that at least some outfitters will not help with a shuttle unless you are also renting a canoe. There may be some that will - not sure.

Is the parking area at Stanton Bay on Crown land or private land? In either case, it might not be Quetico Park that makes the decision. Of course, some of the other parking spots are also outside the park, and the question still is who makes the decisions.