We have sadly experienced several dirty sites in BWCA. Toilet paper around campsites. What has been your experience in Quetico?

I've been traveling Quetico for many years and have found trash even in the deepest parts of Quetico.

I just got back from a 10 day Quetico trip to some very remote areas. Just on this trip alone, I found trash in several places. On one occasion, paddling along a remote lake, we noticed something on the shore. As we approached we realized it was a cardboard box with some old tortillas, a squeeze tube of yellow mustard, and some miscellaneous trash. It was nowhere near an established campsite.

On another lake, we found a beautiful campsite with an abundance of burnt and melted plastic and aluminum foil in the fire pit along with aluminum cans and abandoned silverware. There were also people's initials carved into live trees.

We found another campsite with a man-made monstrosity of a bench made from notched logs lashed together with rope. We reported the bench to the Quetico office in Atikokan.

Luckily, I've never encountered a toilet paper mess. We always carry out more trash than we create, but we have limits to what we're willing to carry out. I'd say overall, there is less of these "dirty sites" in Quetico than the BWCAW, but there is no escaping it, even in Quetico. Some folks just don't get it.

The same.

In the past I have reported the campsite to the ranger station after we left the area. Hopefully people will report issues.

Everything further in was good last year. Entry lakes on the Northern side had trash left. Campsite we stayed in on Pickerel had 3 grills to go over the fire. Also assorted silverware. We did not note toilet paper being an issue though. I guess the Canadians are used to burying it in the Quetico. It’s not just Americans leaving stuff. I will say in my experience it’s significantly less than the BWCA. Fewer people in means fewer idiots! It’s just a math thing!

I’ll have to ask my son who just got back from a long trip in Quetico.

Ryan

This year on my seven day Q trip I found my campsites to be rather pristine. There was a little foil in one fire ring and I did find TP in the woods which I always find. It’s females since it’s several clean piles of TP. I understand all of that but they aught to bury it before they leave. Not ripping on females but I do see the little piles of clean TP every so often.

Otherwise I had clean sites thankfully, and I left them pristine when I departed.
Tom

tumblehome: "...and I did find TP in the woods which I always find....they aught to bury it before they leave.,,,"

Spend a minute, use a Bic lighter, and burn the TP before burying the main job.

I thought QPP staff were saying burn tp in fire pit. All I can find is " bury, burn, or carry out" in one of their guides. We carried our backpacking and no big deal. Double zip lock with a little powdered bleach in inner bag. Wish both QPP and BWCAW would go that way.

Guestman: "Burn it,really.During these times of climate change and wildfires.Please people don’t listen to this terribly irresponsible advice,bury your t.p. Like a good citizen."

Dear guest, Quetico Parkrangers request that you burn your TP when you pick up your permit.

I bury my TP because I don’t like to smell poop twice.

Tom

Believe it or not, I've seen human poop/tp piles literally right on the campsite on several different trips. Once on Beaverhouse, one on Saganagons. Just came out from the Prairie Portage area- Agnes, S-Chain, and North Bay. Campsites were nice and clean for the most part. Saw one on North Bay where somebody had stripped the bark off a cedar and left it laying on the ground. Likely killed the tree. Not sure why they'd do that. At one Burke Lake campsite it looked like someone had a very recent fire before we got there, definitely during the fire ban.

In all though, most sites looked great with no litter or damage.

Just got back. It was a literal highway of people and canoes on inlet bay, sheesh. That said, didn’t see any toilet paper. I think it should always be packed out in some kind of ziplock, myself. Agnes sites were somewhat messy but we went north out of there and had great experiences.

We have done four 10 day trips to Quetico since 2019, only 1 to the BWCA. We will never step foot in the BWCA again, partially due to the amount of trash relative to Quetico.

In our first three Quetico trips, we did not find one piece of garbage with the exception of an occasional lost piece of rope or tent stake - always at a campsite. We recall, quite fondly, paddling great distances to pick up what looked like a white paper cup or someone's lost map floating in a lake only to find that it was a flower!

We had always entered Quetico from the U.S side via a shuttle from Anderson's and got pretty deep in to the park in the first 24 hours. That has a lot to do with the amount of trash, and people, we did not see. Three 10-day trips and we only saw four other canoes total after getting a few lakes away from our drop off. And those trips were in late August.

Our last trip (2022) we entered at Beverhouse in early June and it was quite different. We saw multiple people every day until we made our way in to Bentpine. We also found out, must to our disappointment, that the portages and campsites closer to the more popular entry points were not quite the same as those deeper in the park. Still, the trash was not horrible, but we did find more discarded stuff - like broken fishing rods, and old water jug, and several makeshift grills. On one island on Quetico, a group before us has laid two logs across a ravine, lined the logs with some old carpet, and used this as their community latrine. It was, needless to say, a disgusting mess.

Not trash related, but disappointing nonetheless...we found two other sites on Quetico lake that had massive furniture-like structures built onsite. One site had a complete tiki bar made of plywood with a roof over the top and everything! Looked like it had been there for years. NOT what we want to see in a "wilderness" area, but better than trash I suppose.

My only complaint was moving into an adjacent site for the second day of a layover on Batchewaung and finding hot coals and a smoldering pack of smokes on the fire. I don't mind finding minor bits of refuse in a firepit but it shouldn't be burning when we arrive.

I went on a mid June trip. Sites were pristine.

Argo: "My only complaint was moving into an adjacent site for the second day of a layover on Batchewaung and finding hot coals and a smoldering pack of smokes on the fire. I don't mind finding minor bits of refuse in a firepit but it shouldn't be burning when we arrive."

Do smokers carry their used butts out? I've always wondered, since far too many just leave them on the ground after finishing...

No one I know ever does that any more, even in the city or their own backyards.

A 35mm film canister makes a great traveling ashtray. Very smell proof and one will hold a pack of field stripped filters from kings. I'd empty mine in every fire but I believe burning garbage may be against the rules in the BW so ymmv.

What I know for sure is I'd always enjoyed the disappointment on the face of any BP person who looked into my eyes and then thought I'd be stupid enough to leave a roach in either ashtray going in either direction.

uqme2: "
A 35mm film canister makes a great traveling ashtray. Very smell proof and one will hold a pack of field stripped filters from kings. I'd empty mine in every fire but I believe burning garbage may be against the rules in the BW so ymmv.

"

What is this "film canister" you speak of? How does one acquire such an object?

Banksiana: "

uqme2: "
A 35mm film canister makes a great traveling ashtray. Very smell proof and one will hold a pack of field stripped filters from kings. I'd empty mine in every fire but I believe burning garbage may be against the rules in the BW so ymmv.


"

What is this "film canister" you speak of? How does one acquire such an object?"

LOL !

I smoke and take a ziplock bag in my pocket. 9 days in bwca and I didn't leave a butt behind. I saw one or two buttons on the ground my whole trip. Don't know what other people do but rope , aluminum foil, cans and discarded gear seem much more a problem ??

Just returned from a 10-day Quetico trip and didn't see a single cigarette butt the entire trip. Did see used snus in one site; the same site appeared to have been a base camp for a group with several kids who assumed lifting moss was sufficient burial for TP and the associated waste. We cleaned up a quart bag of TP that had seen enough rain to become pine needle filled paper mache; burned it in a later campfire.

TZ

Northern Q is better than Southern Q or the BWCA when it comes to trash, just fewer people so less trash. However, I was on Fern Lake last year and one of the Island sites was a mess. Firepit was full of trash and odd trash. A case of juice boxes and stuff like that. No fires allowed at the time. The Island also had a canoe left there. Great condition, a 15' or 16' canoe make for Whitewater more than Lakes. It couldn't have been there too long. I'm guessing someone wanted to run the rapids along the B Chain but didn't want to paddle it back.