I did, but still thinking going up to Beaverhouse or French Lake entry point. Have done Prairie Portage all my life.

Also, years ago, they had a Customs on the Canada side, then they did away with it. It will be interesting to see if that comes back.

Or how many have, like you, switched plans to enter into from the north?

Argo: "Or how many have, like you, switched plans to enter into from the north? "

I think many will be heading to the north end. Gives them an excuse to try something new.

Be interesting if I get time to look at the reservations in Quetico and see where and what people are doing, although it's tough to compare with last year without info at hand.

Well, the other side of border is staying home. 30% of Canadians have cancelled trips to U.S. according to news.

Pinetree,

Go North my son :)

You’ll miss the vibe of Ely…unfortunately Atikoken is not even a shadow of Ely, but the North side entries are cheaper, great Lakes and options, as well as a new adventure. You’ll enjoy it!

Especially if you are entering the BWCAW during the summer season.

T

Just booked with my outfitter in Atikokan. Two points:

1) They confirmed demand has increased markedly.

2) Despite the coming lopsidedness of entries either anticipated or experienced, the park management has confirmed there will never be an upward adjustment to the amount of permits available from the north.

Argo: "Just booked with my outfitter in Atikokan. Two points:

1) They confirmed demand has increased markedly.

2) Despite the coming lopsidedness of entries either anticipated or experienced, the park management has confirmed there will never be an upward adjustment to the amount of permits available from the north."

Thanks for the update

Since I’ve got an RABC that is valid makes me tempted to do a southern entry now. All our other trips into Quetico we’ve done from the North and I have to say is my preference now. I’ve tripped out of Ely in the BWCA so I do have something to compare to. Ely is definitely a big step up from Atikokan though but you get way more people and that is why you have the shops and restaurants!

Ryan

I had two trips to Quetico planned for this year prior to learning of the pause on RABC processing.

The first, in early June, would be a southern entry through Prairie Portage with a friend who has never been to Quetico and never had an RABC. We went ahead with planning and reservations in early January anyway, hoping that RABC processing would be resumed. Because we’ve already reserved a tow, a place to stay the night before and my friend’s rental canoe, we have decided to switch that trip to a BWCA Moose Lake entry (instead of a Quetico northern entry) so that we don’t have to cancel on the Ely outfitter, etc. If CBSA resumes processing RABC applications in time then we’ll likely do a trip involving a route in both the BWCA and Quetico since we will also have a BWCA permit.

The plan for my second trip, a longer solo in July, always has been for a northern entry. I have that permit reserved and will keep my plans in place even though I do have a valid RABC issued last year and might find more solitude than usual in the southern part of the park. I’ve never entered through the north and have been really looking forward to it!

My buddy and I moved our June Quetico trip from south to north because of the RABC fiasco. We've always entered from the south, but it was on our bucket list to do the northern part anyway so it worked out. With our existing RABC permits valid now we will probably do an August trip through Cache Bay and head back up to Kawnipi.

Usually there are permits open in the north end, maybe not this year. Will be a big plus for outfitters on the north end, but will hurt Ely and Gunflint outfitters big time.

Pinetree: "Usually there are permits open in the north end, maybe not this year. "

As of a couple weeks ago, 99% of the available dates/entry points in the north were available. Hasn't changed a lot since then. Maybe it's dropped to 98%. :)

Ontario Parks reservations

How do you know its 99%, I ask because there is an issue with the Ontario permit site showing a Null value for consumed permits, I have already talked to them about it and they are working on it, so your numbers may be off depending on how you acquire them.

Jackfish: "

Pinetree: "Usually there are permits open in the north end, maybe not this year. "

As of a couple weeks ago, 99% of the available dates/entry points in the north were available. Hasn't changed a lot since then. Maybe it's dropped to 98%. :)

Ontario Parks reservations "

Thanks

cowdoc: "Well, the other side of border is staying home. 30% of Canadians have cancelled trips to U.S. according to news."

as a canuck....this sounds about right. the first reason of course is political and should be pretty obvious. we wont open that can of worms.

but also is due to the poor exchange rate. when you couple the rising costs of just about everything due to crazy inflation the last few years, with the poor exchange rate, it becomes quite expensive to travel south of our border.

i remember a trip to florida many years ago where we were paying about 55% exchange. which was nuts. but the cost of things were cheap enough (golfing, accommodations, theme parks etc) that the over all cost of the trip was still affordable. some places were even accepting CAD at par with the USD back then in order to attract canadian tourists.

campnfish: "How do you know its 99%? "

In preparation for my presentation at Canoecopia a couple weeks ago, I used the reservation website to count the available dates/entry points, as well as the closed dates/entry points, for the northern entry points only. From June 1 to August 8, 99% of the possible entry dates/entry points were open for reservations.

cowdoc: "Well, the other side of border is staying home. 30% of Canadians have cancelled trips to U.S. according to news."

You wouldn't believe that number if you were in Las Vegas right now.

Rick is right though. US holidays have become increasingly unaffordable for average Canadians. Back in the nineties when the $C was just as depressed you could still count on the drastically cheaper prices of good and services in the US. Crazy cheap compared to Canada. Not any more.

We pulled a nine-night permit for Prairie Portage/Carp Lake entry this morning, and will be using our 2024 RABC (now extended to December 31, 2025). I'm curious about the potential 25% tariff on our food supply, but don't see how that can be done with no CBSA facility/staff at Prairie Portage.

TZ

We considered changing to a northern entrance into Quetico, and maybe it would be nice to see some new terrain, but we already had a reservation with LaTourell's and I would not feel right cancelling. If I want them to be there in the future it makes sense to support them during what will be a tough year economically. We used to use CBO and they are gone, so it happens. We're still going to get the tow, probably to the Birch lake portage if our Carp lake permit is unusable and find a place a bit more remote if possible. We already had a Moose lake permit as well so we could go to BWCA on the same trip.It's a bummer, but I don't blame them for flipping us off right now.