Our daughter is 14 and this is her first trip to the BWCA. We leave Monday and we're looking for something special to do for her first time. Any suggestions?

I love tripping with my daughters and your post makes me smile!

A few suggestions:
1. Photo Calendar: Have her choose 15-20 favorite spots, activities, scenery, fish, etc. and then turn them into a 12 month calendar for next year.
2. I highly recommend a trip journal. It helps if you find time to do it as well so she can use that same time for writing down her experiences.
3. Our last video of the day is a recording of our favorite things from the day. Works well to send by text with links later on. For example, my two oldest daughters are now in college. When they have a tough day, I send them pictures from the day we did a dozen beaver dam liftovers with lots of mud and hard work. Brings a smile when it is needed and gives them confidence they can do things that are difficult.
4. Outfitters usually have plenty of things you can pick up if that kind of memory is important to her.
5. I've gifted first timers a True North map. When they are family, I write a note on the back about our trip, my love for them, and best wishes for future trips or life in general.

Hope you have an awesome trip and find the perfect way to remember it for her! I'm headed into Baker Lake next week with my 11 and 9 year old daughters (fifth and fourth trip respectively) and this is a good reminder to still find ways to make it special and memorable...the time goes too quickly.

YetiJedi: "I love tripping with my daughters and your post makes me smile!


A few suggestions:
1. Photo Calendar: Have her choose 15-20 favorite spots, activities, scenery, fish, etc. and then turn them into a 12 month calendar for next year.
2. I highly recommend a trip journal. It helps if you find time to do it as well so she can use that same time for writing down her experiences.
3. Our last video of the day is a recording of our favorite things from the day. Works well to send by text with links later on. For example, my two oldest daughters are now in college. When they have a tough day, I send them pictures from the day we did a dozen beaver dam liftovers with lots of mud and hard work. Brings a smile when it is needed and gives them confidence they can do things that are difficult.
4. Outfitters usually have plenty of things you can pick up if that kind of memory is important to her.
5. I've gifted first timers a True North map. When they are family, I write a note on the back about our trip, my love for them, and best wishes for future trips or life in general.


Hope you have an awesome trip and find the perfect way to remember it for her! I'm headed into Baker Lake next week with my 11 and 9 year old daughters (fifth and fourth trip respectively) and this is a good reminder to still find ways to make it special and memorable...the time goes too quickly."

A+ Post response. I have a 1 and 4 year old daughter and can't wait to take them to the BWCA.

Exciting stuff. I'm bringing my 5 y.o. in for her second canoe trip later this week. My wife was with last time, so I'm hoping I can make it another good one without her ma. I love the trip journal idea, recording the happy and crappy of each day and trying to take pics that tell the day's story.

My goal is always to help her feel strong and empowered as she wants to be, so the backcountry is a great place to do that. Good luck on your trip!

Make it her trip. Let her help plan and let her make the decisions during the trip. When and where to camp, when/what to eat, when to fish, when to explore or stay in camp etc. We’ve had times that we didn’t go as far as planned/ I wanted to go, but we still had fun and more importantly they had fun. We’ve also had trips where we went further than planned. Be flexible and let it be her trip.

My younger (15 yo) daughter and I are heading to Wood Lake in a couple of weeks. She did her first trip with me when she was 5. I love the one on one bonding time. My oldest daughter did her 1st trip at 4 yo and I alternate each year which one goes with me. Our 4 yo son will do his first trip next year after camping at the edge of the bwca last summer and this summer.

The only times I’ve overridden their decisions was when safety was involved. Like the times they’ve wanted to go out fishing and I could see a storm was coming in.

Have fun. My favorite thing in the world is spending time in the bwca with my kids.

Each of the girls have their own ccs rucksack and in addition to a souvenir, they get a patch each trip to put on the pack.

Great suggestions already. The only thing I would add is make it about the journey, not just the destination. When our kids come along, we stop at fun/local places to eat, not just the chains we can eat at home. On the way up and back we stop at local places (they're old enough with their smart phones to find places). In Ely we eat at the local places, not at Subway and DQ that we can get at home (unless that's what they really want).
While you are for a first timer it's a balance. She won't necessarily know how to do everything, make it a point to show by example (how to portage, how to setup camp, how to collect firewood, etc). She'll learn to do things on her own eventually. Keep it fun, schedules are a guideline not a rule.

I like gsfisher13s suggestion about local joints. The girls’ all time favorite places to eat are also part of our journeys. When we are up the Gunflint they beg to eat at Trail Center, Grand Marais The Worlds Best Donuts and My Sisters Place or Hippie Tacos, Sawbill Trail area The Trestle Inn, and in Ely the Ely Steak House and Brittons. Sometimes they pick our EP based on which restaurant they want to eat at. Even when we go to Duluth they want to eat at Burrito Union.

So exciting! I have been going with my dad since I was about your daughter's age. I was anxious pulling away from home for the first trip, and my dad helped by letting me know what to expect- he was honest with me when a portage would be easier or harder, and let me know when I was doing well or needed to paddle on the other side. The worst thing that happened was I didn't know the eating schedule, and I was rather hungry when he was wanting to keep fishing- I didn't realize the plan was to make breakfast last until dinner :)

I think we were both pleasantly surprised how well the trip went and have gone together every year since. Picture is our fall 2020 trip.

sconnie84:



A+ Post response. I have a 1 and 4 year old daughter and can't wait to take them to the BWCA."

Thank you, Sconnie! I appreciate the kind words. :)

My best to you when you start taking your own daughters to the BWCA!

I've done a bunch of trips with daughters. As Ducks said, give them some ownership. That's a biggie. The promised meal at the end is a good one, too. Poplar Haus burgers are our favorite.
Also, plan and cook "fun" meals. Fish tacos, pizza, curried fish, grilled summer sausage and cheese sandwiches, quesadillas, etc, are all do-able and fun. Jiffy Pop. Dessert. Candy. Games. LET HER SLEEP IN.

And finally: clear expectations, guidelines, and protocols surrounding menses.