The FS starting 6/16 is closing a good-sized portion of the BWCA from travel. They have not canceled any permits yet, but stay tuned as this could change. This could change if the fire grows or campsite availability appears an issue. As of yesterday, the fire does not appear to be growing fast so let's hope the firefighting crews can knock this out and mother nature comes in with some surprise rain on Sunday. The next significant forecasted rainfall is at the end of next week.

"Duluth, Minn., June 13, 2023—Due to the Spice Lake Wildfire on the Superior National Forest (SNF), Forest Supervisor Tom Hall is closing a portion of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) with an Emergency Forest Order - effective June 16 – prohibiting visitor entry at specific campsites, portages and lakes, and Pristine Management Areas (Forest Order 09-09-23-03#). The restrictions will go into effect beginning Friday morning (12:01) a.m., June 16, 2023; see Exhibit A of the Forest Order for a map of the area. The closure may be modified or extended as conditions allow.
The Forest Order closures include:

All trails, portages, rivers, and lakes within the closure area (see in Exhibit A), including but not limited to 47 locations as noted.
All zones of the of the Pitfall Pristine Management Area (1 through 3), and the Mugwump Pristine Management Area (1 through 5).
The Kekekabic Trail- the area from the BWCAW boundary west of the Gunflint Trail to the series of portages between Thomas Lake and Ima Lake (see Exhibit A).

The Forest Service has notified permit holders and outfitters and is encouraging permit holders to seek an alternate area of the BWCAW or consider non-wilderness areas of the SNF (see below) for similar experiences. At this time overnight paddle, day use and motorized day use is not permitted in the closure area."

FAQ about the Spice Lake Closure

This fine print in the announcement needs to be noted:

“ Political/Cooperator Notification:
“With health and safety in mind, please see attached a closure order going into effect this Friday, June 16. We encourage you to work with your visitors who have permits to enter Moose, Snowbank, Sananaga and Seagull entry points to change their plans away from the affected area. Once the public is aware of the closure, we are anticipating an organic reduction in permits due to visitor-initiated cancellations. However, we will review the permits levels for these points of entry on June 19 and if the levels have not decreased to a manageable level, we may be forced to cancel reservations to ensure we do not experience crowding or lack of campsite availability in the area of the BWCAW near the closure area.”

That's really an interesting thought about permit cancellations. They are right though. With the current closure, seagull permits are forced to stay on Seagull or take Red Rock into Sag, backing up into traffic jams, because I doubt everyone formerly heading to Ogish is going to be willing to take Paulsen instead! Haha

gravelroad: "This fine print in the announcement needs to be noted:


“ Political/Cooperator Notification:
“With health and safety in mind, please see attached a closure order going into effect this Friday, June 16. We encourage you to work with your visitors who have permits to enter Moose, Snowbank, Sananaga and Seagull entry points to change their plans away from the affected area. Once the public is aware of the closure, we are anticipating an organic reduction in permits due to visitor-initiated cancellations. However, we will review the permits levels for these points of entry on June 19 and if the levels have not decreased to a manageable level, we may be forced to cancel reservations to ensure we do not experience crowding or lack of campsite availability in the area of the BWCAW near the closure area.”"

thanks for putting up the fine print gr. I have a 7/22 permit for Seagull entry. It will be interesting - to say the least - to see how this plays out.