I'm considering doing a western entry the first week of June 2025. I've studied the map of the fire intensity, and I'm considering a route that would start at Bottle Portage, come up through Argo, Brent, Conmee, Poohbah, and out through Tanner and the Maligne River. I've been through the portions of my proposed route up to Conmee, but that was before the 2021 fire.

The two concerns I have are the severity of the burn through the Memory Lane Portages and the Maligne River. We're strong portagers, but it would be nice to get a report of the Memory Lane Portages so we're not walking into a totally brutal situation. We'd have probably half of a day to dedicate just to the Memory Lane Portages easily (and we single portage), but if we're likely talking about portaging over hundreds of downed trees over the course of the Memory Lane Portages, that might be enough to talk me out of it. I've backpacked over hundreds of downed trees in a day, but portaging is a different animal. It's pretty unlikely the portage crews will be through the Memory Lane Portages before we get there I'm guessing.

And the second concern I have is the Maligne River early in the season. My paddling buddy and I have some whitewater experience (mostly Class II-III), but obviously that wasn't in 18.5' flatwater touring canoes. Is the Maligne ok to travel downstream on average to lower water years? If the water levels are above average, I'll plan a different route out definitely. We're also planning to start and end our trip with tows out of Crane Lake, so I'll check in with the outfitter as well of course.

Thanks for any information and tips you guys can provide!

As far as the Memory Lane portages, from what I've heard and seen from the Poohbah end it would be a tough go, if possible at all, unless crews have been in there. As far as the Malign, it can be pretty gnarly in high water, which is pretty common that time of year. A lot of the river below Poohbah creek would not be too bad, but the bad areas are pretty dangerous. Your plan of talking to Anderson's or Zups is a good one as they usually both know what is going on and can advise. Good luck, and be safe!

Thanks for the reply! I think we’ll end up just portaging south out of Tanner Lake into the Darkwater River and exiting through Minn to avoid the lower part of the Maligne. We’ll plan to do the Memory Lane Portages and if they won’t go through we can always exit back through Brent, Darkwater, Wicksteed, etc.

The Maligne is a very scenic and historic river. At least it was very scenic, not sure how the fires changed that. Large old pines and lovely forest for long stretches.

There are portages through all the non- canoeable water if that’s a word.
That said, There are some spring events that make the Maligne very treacherous if there has been a lot of rain.

I am all for anyone doing what they wish when it comes to paddling Quetico. But for me, I would not want to plan a trip where I have to paddle UP that portion of the river. Then again, I’m a solo paddler in a little canoe with limited experience and desire to paddle strong currents and boiling waters.

Tom

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When I picked up my permit at the Atikokan office this past August, I told the ranger I was anxious to get back to the western part of the park. I asked her what feedback they'd had from paddlers or from portage crews.

She told me it is still in very rough shape and they're not encouraging travel in that area. She said many of the portages, although flagged by maintenance crews, are still difficult to cross. She also said that camping in the burn area is dangerous because of the number of dead, standing trees that could topple at any time.

It's obviously not closed so one could travel there. I'll keep looking for first-hand accounts here to make my decision about when to return there.

I really want to get back to that part of the park.

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pcallies: "When I picked up my permit at the Atikokan office this past August, I told the ranger I was anxious to get back to the western part of the park. I asked her what feedback they'd had from paddlers or from portage crews.


She told me it is still in very rough shape and they're not encouraging travel in that area. She said many of the portages, although flagged by maintenance crews, are still difficult to cross. She also said that camping in the burn area is dangerous because of the number of dead, standing trees that could topple at any time.


It's obviously not closed so one could travel there. I'll keep looking for first-hand accounts here to make my decision about when to return there.


I really want to get back to that part of the park."

Google maps and bing maps on satellite mode show with some detail (and referencing the Quetico burn severity map) what areas were burned badly, which has given me a pretty good idea of what campsites are likely to be usable. I would greatly prefer not to camp around trees whose canopies burned.

Check out Solo Schmitty on YouTube. He did a big Quetico loop a couple years ago that crossed through parts of the burn including the Maligne/Tanner Lake, through Minn, McAree, Wicksteed, Darkwater, Brent, McIntyre, Sarah, etc.

My tripping buddy is asking for a third layover day, so I’m starting to think we likely won’t attempt the Memory Lane Portages this time, and will instead stay more southwest comparatively. At least that’s the plan six months out!

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pcallies: "When I picked up my permit at the Atikokan office this past August, I told the ranger I was anxious to get back to the western part of the park. I asked her what feedback they'd had from paddlers or from portage crews.


She told me it is still in very rough shape and they're not encouraging travel in that area. She said many of the portages, although flagged by maintenance crews, are still difficult to cross. She also said that camping in the burn area is dangerous because of the number of dead, standing trees that could topple at any time.


It's obviously not closed so one could travel there. I'll keep looking for first-hand accounts here to make my decision about when to return there.


I really want to get back to that part of the park."

I travelled through a big chunk of the burn area last summer and found the portages difficult to find, overgrown, and full of deadfalls. Reminded me of parts of Wabakimi. On the flip side, we didn't see another soul for six days.

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arctic: "

pcallies: "When I picked up my permit at the Atikokan office this past August, I told the ranger I was anxious to get back to the western part of the park. I asked her what feedback they'd had from paddlers or from portage crews.



She told me it is still in very rough shape and they're not encouraging travel in that area. She said many of the portages, although flagged by maintenance crews, are still difficult to cross. She also said that camping in the burn area is dangerous because of the number of dead, standing trees that could topple at any time.



It's obviously not closed so one could travel there. I'll keep looking for first-hand accounts here to make my decision about when to return there.



I really want to get back to that part of the park."

I travelled through a big chunk of the burn area last summer and found the portages difficult to find, overgrown, and
full of deadfalls. Reminded me of parts of Wabakimi. On the flip side, we didn't see another soul for six days."

Arctic, any regrets about traveling through the burn area? Any areas that were particularly bad for traveling/portaging?

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cburton103: "

arctic: "

pcallies: "When I picked up my permit at the Atikokan office this past August, I told the ranger I was anxious to get back to the western part of the park. I asked her what feedback they'd had from paddlers or from portage crews.



She told me it is still in very rough shape and they're not encouraging travel in that area. She said many of the portages, although flagged by maintenance crews, are still difficult to cross. She also said that camping in the burn area is dangerous because of the number of dead, standing trees that could topple at any time.



It's obviously not closed so one could travel there. I'll keep looking for first-hand accounts here to make my decision about when to return there.



I really want to get back to that part of the park."

I travelled through a big chunk of the burn area last summer and found the portages difficult to find, overgrown, and
full of deadfalls. Reminded me of parts of Wabakimi. On the flip side, we didn't see another soul for six days."

Arctic, any regrets about traveling through the burn area? Any areas that were particularly bad for traveling/portaging?"

No regrets. I've done a lot of paddling in northern Ontario and Manitoba where burn areas, bushwacks and zero portage maintenance are the norm. Hit or miss. If the portaged burned and there were no portage crews through in the last year or two, the portages were fairly gnarly.