We have had a running thread over the past few years with reports from recent trips on any campsite availability issues due crowded area reports. I have found it useful and interesting. Would be interested in hearing any issues (or lack of issues) in finding spots on your 2024 trips,

I went in from Homer for 4 days last week and saw very few people. Spent the first 2 nights on Pipe Lake and saw nobody. Both sites on Vern were occupied when I went by, but there was nobody staying on Homer either.

Traveled the Frost River 5/19-25

Saw a canoe or two from Missing Link to Frost day 1. Took the last available campsite on Frost at 2 pm (SW site nearest portage to River). At least one other group pulled in less than an hour later looking for a site, don’t know what they did that night.

Saw zero sign of humanity from Frost Lake to north end of Little Saganaga the next day.

Down day on Little Sag site. Saw no one.

Little Sag to Alpine. First human I saw was an occupied campsite on Jasper. And a single occupied site on Alpine.

Alpine- Grandpa saw three occupied sites on Seagull.

Saw no one on Grandpa for two days and no one on paddle out on Seagull.

Trip #2 Sag to Alpine to RedRock.
Sag was busy. Saw only one site taken between Monument Portage to Toe Lake. Did see a few canoes headed out of Sag but they also reported minimal activity.

Toe to SAK to Alpine. Nothing taken and no canoes from Toe to Ogish. Two sites occupied on Ogish. Met two groups on the portage from Kingfisher.

Jasper had 1 site filled from what we could see. Met two more groups at that portage headed into Ogish.

Met another two groups at Alpine portage. They were also headed to Ogish.

Alpine was VERY VERY quiet except for trippers headed to the Jasper portage over the couple days we were there.

Red Rock had more open than full sites.

In all, you could have camped on any of the lakes, any day, and found a site at any time, from what we saw over 7 days.

We were on Crooked in early June. It was not super full, but when I got back I found out three different groups from church were also there at around the same time.

We came down to Boot Lake on our last night and we got there early....that lake seems to be a popular stopping point in/out. By the end of the day groups we had passed earlier were coming through looking for sites and it was full.

Our youth group was on Lake One in June as well. We camped at the bottom of the lake and saw no one because all groups were going to the portage and beyond. This being our first-ever trip, we stayed there and had a pretty crowd-free trip on a popular lake.

Overall I'd say we saw people up there but not crowds.

My introduction to canoe camping and tripping was 1998 in Quetico. I've had a few BWCA trips and between the lack of permits, numbers of people, and over-used campsites I just didn't find it as enjoyable. But the price sure is a draw!

I'm just back from 7 days on the Kopka River. No crowds. We saw nobody after the bush pilot dropped us off. Every campsite we saw was available!

Went in at Lizz in early July, making our way to Horseshoe where we basecamped for three nights on the far SE site by the Brule River. Campsite on Caribou directly south of Lizz-Caribou portage occupied on way in as was the site around the point (directly north of Caribou-Horseshoe portage), and NE site on Horseshoe. All others we passed were open on way in and all were open on the way out. This was over the 4th of July week. Only saw 3-4 canoes during our stay on Horseshoe. Just a couple of groups on portages on entry/exit days as well. So very quiet and lots of open campsites during that week.

My group was in BWCA last week. We were on Vista, Horseshoe, and Cairbou on August 7,8, and 9. Coming into Horseshoe every campsite we passed was full. Several groups passed our camp August 7 on the Southwest arm of Horseshoein the afternoon. I think a couple parties were hoping to find our campsite open. The next day was the same. We made a morning fishing excursion into Caribou and saw several campsites occupied as well as passing multiple groups with gear. Easily we saw over 10 separate parties, probably more.

On a related note, I read an atricle about BWCA rule violations this morning. The second most violated rule was being in BWCA without permit or on the wrong date. The most violated rule was operating a motor inside BWCA.

Trip over the 4th of July week. Snowbank entry shooting for Jordan. Lots of people in Disappointment and a few up to Jordan. Met some guys that had left Jordan and had it to themselves. Got there and a solo paddler had grabbed the good site...other 2 were empty, grabbed the south bay site. Heard a group grab the other late in day. Next day on to Fraser....met maybe 3-4 groups. Most sites empty on Fraser....took west site on point for 2 days. Dont think we saw anyone next day. Headed for Kek then, met 2 groups, then up thru Pickle, Spoon, Dix, Skoota....saw nobody. Camped on Skoota. West thru Missionary to Vera....fair number of sites taken, and into Ensign....very full. Last night was on Ashigan and grabbed site at noon and all were taken by 3:00. Lots of groups asking about open sites. Back out thru Disappointment....which was quite full again and 2-3 groups were portaging in from Snowbank. It was about what I expected.

Went in Kawishawi Lake. No problem finding campsites going in Sunday and Monday. Almost all seemed empty.

Going out starting Wednesday, everything was full except a couple right next to the EP. Everything from Kawishawi to Koma. We ended up out early because everything we could see was occupied starting at about 11 am.

I took my 5 year old son on his first trip last week to the South Kawishiwi River and I was pleasantly surprised how quiet it was. I was hoping that at least 1 of the first 4 sites would be open because I didn't want to go very far with him, and to my surprise, all 4 of the them were open so we got our 1st choice of sites. In fact, the other 3 sites near us remained open every night. The most groups we saw any of the days was 2.

My first trip of the year was a solo to Lake One and I had the lake all to myself. There was only one other car in the parking lot, but that was because I was there in April..... LOL.

Spent 4 nights on Iron Lake June 9-12th and 2 nights on LLC in Tiger Bay.
There was at least one site open every day on Iron lake while we were there. We were able to get a site on Tiger Bay and we helped one other group find the last open site the day we moved (Thursday the 13th). Site 172 east of Warrior hill was open the whole time we were there and we noticed a lot of open sites on a daytrip to fish stake narrows and lady boot bay.

Recently camped on Ensign, Missionary, Kekekabic, Fraser, Ashigan, and Sucker. No issue with finding a campsite at any of the locations and only once had anyone even camped near us.

Out of 24 portages, we only met a group on 2 of them and had a group approaching the portage as we left the landing 2 other times.

Early June we put in on Kawishiwi Lake and mostly camped around Malberg. Malberg and River Lakes stayed pretty full for the week but there was always at least one or two open sites. Fishdance was empty and there were a few people towards Makwa. The traffic between Kawishiwi and Polly was pretty heavy. Kawishiwi Lake filled on our last night as well on our way out.

Early August we had Oyster to ourselves and aside from passing a couple groups along the way did not see anyone else camping on Rocky, Green, Ge-Be or LLC until we hit Fish Stake Narrows which was almost full. Tiger Bay looked about half full passing through. Agnes and Nina Moose were mostly empty but passed quite a few groups heading north as we made our way south through the Moose River.

I did a solo the second week of June going in at #14 LIS. The Pauness sites I paddled by on the way in were empty. Shell lake looked to be half full. I met a couple of groups coming out on the long portage to Shell. Little Shell’s 1 site stayed open all week. I based on Lynx and with the exception of the first night I had the lake to myself for the week. I saw a couple of guys that came over to fish 1 evening and 1 canoe passing through on Friday. I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of people. I’m leaving for my next trip in about 10 days. I’m going in at Moose lake so not expecting the same solitude I had on my spring trip.

2nd week of August. Mudro to Jackfish Bay to Horse to Fourtown.

Mudro open both on the way in and out.
Sandpit open both times I paddled through there.
Jackfish bay. I paddled a bunch of this lake almost to the Basswood River and only saw 3 campsites full (and that included the one I stayed on). 2 were busy at the mouth of the Range River and the first island on the south end of Jackfish. Otherwise it was only me.
Tin Can Mike: 1 site filled.
Horse Lake: Full
Fourtown: about 40% full.

Saw lots of paddlers on Horse Lake. It was the busiest of all the lakes I vistited.

#14 up to North/South Lake.
Saw one site full on Loon Lake at the mouth of Little Indian Sioux River.
Did not see another full campsite all the way to Little Loon Lake which is where we stayed the first night. From there we moved north to Slim, Section Pond and finally into South Lake. We had one group pass us on Slim and never saw them again. We stayed on South lake for three days and saw two groups. One stayed at the site near the portage for two days then disappeared. We saw another group come off the portage from Steep and disappear into the portage to Section Pond.

Other than that it was empty. We went out into the entrance to Snow Bay from North Lake channel and saw some motor boats but did not see any of the campsites in Snow Bay occupied (that we could see anyways).

We did encounter a little traffic at devils Cascade on the way out. One group heading in and another headed out with us. Saw a full camp on Lower Pauness.
Passed one group on the LIS on the final stretch.

Overall a very pleasant and quiet trip for a popular entry point.

I just got back from 3 nites on Sag with the BW Rangers, I also talked to the regular USFS LEO whilewe were out. He said that he has never seen it so slow on Sag the last few years. Probably only 1/3 of the sites were taken when we did our patrols during the week.

Was on Lake One last weekend with kids and on basically the first site as you get into the main part of the lake. Tons of traffic, which is to be expected there but we lucked into that site being open when we entered Thursday and we took it because we didn't want to tempt fate with trying to find something better with two little kids in tow. While out paddling on Saturday AM we passed a out 6 other campsites and 2 were open although one was taken while we were out paddling. I'm pretty sure our campsite got taken about 5 minutes after we left it on Sunday. From that campsite back to the Lake One EP we passed 12 canoes coming in.

spent 4 nights between Kawishiwi Lake and Malberg over Labor Day. Parking lot a the EP was packed as was the USFS campground. We saw only one group between EP and Polly. South end of Polly was busy, but the north side was empty. One site on Koma was being used and then we saw no one until we camped on Malberg. One group passed us at the south end of Malberg where we camped. Next day we camped on the north side of Malberg on the Kawishiwi and only saw two USFS Rangers come paddling by. Next day we went to Polly and camped on the north side where we saw no one. Saturday we paddled back south and saw about 5 groups coming into Polly between the portage and Square. We were windbound on Square for a night and took one of the two sites on that lake. The other one was full. But we saw no campers on Kawasachong. Last day we paddled out through Kawishiwi lake and it was pretty full. I am guessing th wind kept people from heading where they were planning the day before so they just parked on the entry lake. We also saw 4 groups headed in as we were leaving the lake. I would say in total it was a 5 on a 1-10 busy scale, but we had no problems finding a site.

We entered Fall Lake Aug 19. Had never been on this route before. We were headed toward Basswood Falls. We would have liked to have stayed just north of the Newton Narrows. It was all full. There were a couple of empty campsites just north of there, but we declined those due to blue/green algae blooms at the landing sites. We found a nice site much further along than we had hoped to have to go. All were tired with low blood sugar before we stopped.

The next day we were headed to the LBF area. The portages took longer than expected. We were able to locate a site later in the day than hoped. It was a nice site right on top of the southern most branch/drop over the falls.

We modified our trip at that point. We didn't want to get south of the Horse River, not be able to find a site, and have to end our trip a day early. We chose to stay in our LBF site an extra night and make the last day a long haul to get out. Low water made it a grueling day of in and out of the canoes. But, we were correct in our choice. We saw no open campsites on Horse or Fourtown Lakes.

It is a beautiful area, but I doubt that our group will choose to return there in the future. The motor boats, the large number of people, and the difficulty finding appropriate/usable/safe campsites were factors in our reduced enjoyment of this part of the BW.

I'm just back from 7 days on the Kopka River. No crowds. We saw nobody after the bush pilot dropped us off. Every campsite we saw was available!"

How does one go about hiring a pilot to drop them somewhere in the boundary waters?

WillandEddy: "

I'm just back from 7 days on the Kopka River. No crowds. We saw nobody after the bush pilot dropped us off. Every campsite we saw was available!"

How does one go about hiring a pilot to drop them somewhere in the boundary waters?"

It's not possible. No private or commercial aircraft are allowed anywhere within the BWCA. You must enter at one of the many numbered entry point lakes or rivers around the periphery of the wilderness area (they are listed on this site at the maps and entry points tab above). The entry is based on obtaining a permit for that entry point for a specific date. You can park at or near most entry points or paddle through non-BWCA water to get to other entry points. There's no fly-ins and the only fly-outs would be in a rescue situation.

WillandEddy: "

I'm just back from 7 days on the Kopka River. No crowds. We saw nobody after the bush pilot dropped us off. Every campsite we saw was available!"

How does one go about hiring a pilot to drop them somewhere in the boundary waters?"

Just to clarify, the Kopka River is in Ontario
Kopka River PP

You wrote: On a related note, I read an atricle about BWCA rule violations this morning. The second most violated rule was being in BWCA without permit or on the wrong date. The most violated rule was operating a motor inside BWCA.

Do you recall what time period that data represented?

Third week in July was v quiet on Homer and Brûle.

Fourth week in July found ourselves spending hours looking for an available site starting at noon every day on Birch, Knife, Ester & Hanson. Portages were backed up in and out of Knife. Not fun. Somebody explained to me that there was a reason why so many scout trips were on the water this year in that location. Whatever the reason, I found conditions to be a bit too crowded.

LaVirginienne: "Third week in July was v quiet on Homer and Brûle.


Fourth week in July found ourselves spending hours looking for an available site starting at noon every day on Birch, Knife, Ester & Hanson. Portages were backed up in and out of Knife. Not fun. Somebody explained to me that there was a reason why so many scout trips were on the water this year in that location. Whatever the reason, I found conditions to be a bit too crowded."

While I have tripped around 30 times over the prior 15 years, recently my PTO has allowed me to take a more than an average number of trips in each of the last three years.

This year I will be fortunate enough to have 6 trips. One in May, June, July, August, September, and next week will be my #6 starting October 3.

In 2023 I tripped in May, June, July, and October.

In 2022 I tripped in May, June, August, September, and October.

Just my perception from the year has reinforced my belief that trips taken between the 3rd week of June through the week of Labor day really are unpredictable where you can just as easy find a full lake as you can a nearly empty lake. Anytime before the 2nd week of June and after labor day it is really easy to find campsites (though you still may find some traffic nearer the EPs), and any time before the fishing opener and after the 1st of October you really have a great chance of picking any site, any where.

I also have come to the belief that the month of August, unless you want to go deep, into obscure areas you run a better chance of finding an open room near the entrance of Disney World than a popular lake in the BWCAW. And if you want to find something near an EP you really have almost a better shot at the lottery.

Not hard/fast rules by any chance--just my experiences. Pretty sure after the last few years I will be hard pressed to ever take a trip between July 1 and Sept 1 for sure.... but again that is just me.

Also have made sure to plan our last day paddles for at least 4 hours out. It seems like alot of the sites on or adjacent to EPs may have longer term campers than some KOAs.

But again--that's just me. I have grown to love early may and mid fall more than anytime in the wilderness for a variety of reasons... I actually spent 4 days on Lake 2 this May before the fishing opener and saw only 1 other canoe the whole trip and only 3 cars were in the Lake One parking lot. For those of you who know that lake--I saw ZERO occupied sites on Lake One the day I entered :)

It seems like the overall crowding has mellowed quite a bit since 2020, but there are still some pretty busy times, EPs and lakes that seem to be as or more busy than ever. I guess that is not a bad thing--just something to keep in mind.

LaVirginienne: "You wrote: On a related note, I read an atricle about BWCA rule violations this morning. The second most violated rule was being in BWCA without permit or on the wrong date. The most violated rule was operating a motor inside BWCA.


Do you recall what time period that data represented? "

The time period was 2000-2023. I read about this on the Paddle and Portage website in an article about BWCA rule violations, dated August 11, after they requested info on the subject from the U.S. Forrest Service.

Just got back from being on Red Rock Lake last week. Just about every site was taken when we arrived on 9/16. Also, because temps got to 89 degrees, mosquitoes came out. Way too warm for our groups.

We are moving back to last week of September. Colder temps, but fewer people, no bugs, and we can actually enjoy a fire (vs a fire when it is 75 to 85 degrees outside)

Ressurecting this thread for the fun of it.

2nd week of May: Slim Lake completely empty.
1st week of June: Bald Eagle 50% full. Gabbro a little less than 50% full and Little Gabbro was empty.

We have been coming up with our groups to the Gunflint for 17 years. We left the Ely area due to crowds.

It seems trippers are discovering September. First and Second week of September on Seagull, Alpine, Red Rock and surrounding lakes has been packed the last couple of years. In 2024 we came up second week and there was only one site left on Red Rock and very few on Seagull.

We moved to third week of September in 2025. Red Rock had most of the sites open. However the only sites open on Seagull were at the far south end of the lake. On top of that the temps were in the 80's and there were still mosquitoes out.

So we voted on 9/27-10/3 this year. Our goal if fewer people, no bugs, great fall colors and camping temps. . .30-40's at night and 50-60's during the day!

It's always interesting to hear the in the field reports of campsite availability, especially in perceived busier areas.

May 23rd North Kawishiwi day trip - Triangle full, Kawishiwi River 50% the handful of sites that I passed.

May 29 - June 6 - From sites I could see or checked out:
Oyster - one other site occupied, Rocky - empty, Green - empty, Ge-Be - empty, Pocket - empty, Lady Boot Bay - full, Fish Stake Narrows - empty (surprisingly), Tiger Bay - nearly full, Boulder Bay - 50%, Agnes - 50%, Nina Moose - 75%

Curious how full Iron/Crooked may have been as this was easily the most tows I saw dropping off or picking up towards Bottle portage in my trips to this part of LLC.

June 12th on Brule, multiple occupied campsites near the EP and one back in Brule Bay. The waves were rough and going west to east so we didn't check the sites on the north side. We ended up going to Vernon and had the lake to ourselves.

June 13th-19th 2026

June 13/14: Stuart Lake only 1 site occupied
June 15/16: Our group occupied Rush Lake but other than that Fox, Rush and Dark were open
June 17-19: Iron Lake 50% full

May 12-28. Man Chain -> Falls Chain -> Kawnipi -> Shelley -> Baird -> Sauk -> Kahshahpiwi -> McNiece -> Yum Yum -> North Bay -> PP exit. Saw two solo paddlers the entire trip, no occupied sites observed.

portagerunner: "


Curious how full Iron/Crooked may have been as this was easily the most tows I saw dropping off or picking up towards Bottle portage in my trips to this part of LLC.
"

I wonder if part of that uptick in tows was the RABC issues the last few years.

I am headed to Bottle this year by tow for a Quetico entry. I booked it in April, my deposites are non-refundable and it was before the new telephone reporting system was announced. With Cache Bay and Prairie Portage numbers way down I wonder if a lot of people moved to the Western Quetico access? Really the only way to access the Western side of the Q is by tow...unless you want to paddle 2-3 days just to get to your entry point and 2-3 days back? I guess I'll see when I go in late July.

T

timatkn: "

portagerunner: "



Curious how full Iron/Crooked may have been as this was easily the most tows I saw dropping off or picking up towards Bottle portage in my trips to this part of LLC.
"

I wonder if part of that uptick in tows was the RABC issues the last few years.


I am headed to Bottle this year by tow for a Quetico entry. I booked it in April, my deposites are non-refundable and it was before the new telephone reporting system was announced. With Cache Bay and Prairie Portage numbers way down I wonder if a lot of people moved to the Western Quetico access? Really the only way to access the Western side of the Q is by tow...unless you want to paddle 2-3 days just to get to your entry point and 2-3 days back? I guess I'll see when I go in late July.


T"

Didn’t mean to respond, but since I did…maybe it’s always been busy entering via a Crane Lake tow. I’ve entered the BWCA and Quetico via that route. I would say the limited number of Q permits via LLC-Bottle and McAree may limit the number of Q entries via that approach for any given day. And you can get a tow to there and stay in the BWCA - no Q permit. I’ve done that a few times.

I just got out today. I spent 4 nights on Shell-one night there were 5 other groups on the lake and the other nights there were two other groups. From Shell to North Lake, I saw only one group. I spent 4 nights on Takucmich and saw nobody. Then went to Gebe saw no one from Takucmich to Gebe and then had the entire lake to myself. I spent 4 nights on Oyster only 2 other sites occupied for two nights. My last night I had the lake to myself.

Wow, that sounds like an awesome trip. I still want to check out that area. Gebe, Takukmich have always been on my bucket list so to speak. Any other things to share.

scat: "Wow, that sounds like an awesome trip. I still want to check out that area. Gebe, Takukmich have always been on my bucket list so to speak. Any other things to share."

Takucmich is a Great Lake to catch Lake Trout with the option to jump over to Trygg for Brook Trout. I spent only a few hours fishing on Ge-be but here’s what I caught: 30 inch walleye and 36 inch pike.

OK, double WOW!

Nice pics, that's awesome. Glad I asked.

scat: "OK, double WOW!

Nice pics, that's awesome. Glad I asked."

The only part of the route I didn’t like was crossing one large section of LLC. This year the lake was fairly calm. Last year I had to deal with 2-3ft swells for about 30 minutes—that gets your heart rate going.

Ya - recently crossed Seagull Lake in 2-3 rollers in my Prism. Got caught twice not pointed right, 2nd time was a bit hairy getting straightened out. Had to dig hard then keep going, concentrate on making good strokes while seemingly getting nowhere. That kinda took a bite outta me I’ll confess but as always keep going and it has to end sometime.

egknuti: "

scat: "Wow, that sounds like an awesome trip. I still want to check out that area. Gebe, Takukmich have always been on my bucket list so to speak. Any other things to share."

Takucmich is a Great Lake to catch Lake Trout with the option to jump over to Trygg for Brook Trout. I spent only a few hours fishing on Ge-be but here’s what I caught: 30 inch walleye and 36 inch pike. "

He has learned the fisherman's technique of holding the fish as far away from you and closest to the camera possible to "enhance" the fish!

ockycamper: "

egknuti: "

scat: "Wow, that sounds like an awesome trip. I still want to check out that area. Gebe, Takukmich have always been on my bucket list so to speak. Any other things to share."

Takucmich is a Great Lake to catch Lake Trout with the option to jump over to Trygg for Brook Trout. I spent only a few hours fishing on Ge-be but here’s what I caught: 30 inch walleye and 36 inch pike. "

He has learned the fisherman's technique of holding the fish as far away from you and closest to the camera possible to "enhance" the fish!"

ha! My arm is not fully extended. Nevertheless, I told you the length of each fish. I wish you were there to see how big they were.

We entered at EP #23 (Mudro) on May 30. Our route was:

Mudro ? Sandpit ? Tin Can Mike ? Horse ? Crooked ? Papoose ? Chippewa ? Nikki ? Wagosh ? Gun ? Fairy ? Boot ? Fourtown ? Mudro

May 30: There were two other parties on Horse Lake, but we were able to secure a nice campsite at the north end of the lake.
June 1–2: We stayed below the falls, where only one campsite was available. The other two sites were occupied.
June 3: We paddled the entire length of Crooked Lake searching for an open campsite, making it all the way to the last site before Curtain Falls. We met another group there who told us they had come from Iron Lake because every campsite there was full. We ultimately had to paddle back to Friday Bay to settle for a mediocre campsite. Crooked Lake was extremely busy.
June 4–5: We took the first available campsite on Gun Lake. When we departed, the remaining campsites on the lake were also occupied.
Exit day: On our paddle out, we observed that most campsites along the route were occupied, and we encountered several groups heading into the wilderness.

I expected this area to be busy, but the level of traffic exceeded my expectations. While the trip itself was enjoyable, I would not choose to return to this route because of the heavy use and difficulty finding available campsites.

We just got back from a trip off of the Gunflint- we went in Seagull, through SAK and then Sag. We were shocked how few people we saw. Seagull seemed busy- and all 8 permits for our day were taken. Saw a few sites occupied on Alpine, 1-2 on Jasper, but Ogish was totally open- not one site taken. No one at Eddy Falls when we passed through, and no sites taken that we could see on SAK- except for the one next to us by the Hanson portage on night 2.

Only lake with 100% occupancy was Cherry.

I was really quite surprised how few people we saw with it being more "high season".

It's interesting reading these comments...the overwhelming majority of people seem to report that they either saw more people than they expected, or fewer people than they expected. Maybe that says more about human nature and the tricky nature of expectations, but I still find it interesting how virtually nobody seems to see about the number of people they expect to.

6/29 thru 7/3. Entered Bower Trout and exit Ram. One group on BT, had our pick of sites on Swan, nobody on Vernon, paddling Brule saw one group at site middle north shore, one group in Cone Bay, took island site on South Cone, pretty sure we only saw one site occupied on Winchel, took SE site on Gaskin as a pair of canoes left it and they went to Mondale site. Couple groups paddled by. Last day saw 2 canoes leave site on Horseshoe then saw nobody from Horseshoe out to Ram.