Just returned from a trip last week. Loop from Moose up through Basswood and the falls area than back down. It was a great trip and we had a ton of fun, but man alive - Basswood = Complete circus!

In the 40 trips I've taken, I can count on one hand the number of trips taken during the busy season (June-August). I say that only to let you know...I may not have known exactly what to expect this time of year.

Day 1 - We entered on Weds. Plan was to paddle from Moose and pick up a site on either Wind or lower/middle basswood. Pretty easy day. All sites taken on Wind, all sites taken on Wind Bay of Basswood. First 5 sites checked on Basswood - all taken. We found an open site on Norway Island. Big pile of fish guts just siting next to one of the tent pads. We decided to keep looking. We saw a group of two motor boats leave site 1641 on Lincoln Island and paddled over. We found the fire pit area completely covered in grease, a large pile (3 foot diameter) of potatoes, beans and franks just dumped at the back of the kitchen area in the weeds. We decided to keep moving. We eventually took the sand beach site on Washington Island and talked to some folks paddling away from it - they were just out looking for open campsites to do reviews - fella posts elsewhere. I hadn't thought about it much, but in a time that's super busy with multiple canoes paddling around looking for campsites...I'm not sure I'd give the impression of occupying a campsite just to do a review. They were nice enough, but something to think about. Oh ya - we found a whole ham sandwich in the woods behind the kitchen at the sand beach site.

While we were going from campsite to campsite, we were hit with the wake of a motor boat who seemed to clearly move closer to us to cause wake. Exact distance was probably around 200-300 feet from us.

Day 2 - out of the motor zone and up around US point over to the falls. Started checking sites after we rounded the point - paddled by 11 occupied sites prior to finding an open one.

I've paddled through Basswood twice prior, coming in from Fall and from Mudro - both times not busy, both times both times no issues with motor boats.

This was about the busiest I've seen any area in the BW. There were canoes and motorboats all over...many canoes loaded and likely looking for sites. Also really surprised by the amount of food left behind from folks likely stopping for shore lunch. Every site we stopped at in the motor area had food or fish guts dumped around camp.

Did we just have an unusual run of bad luck? As of right now - no plans to ever return to that area. Curious as to others' experiences.

Not all, maybe a minority but it is a large minority of the motor boat group have a different mode of wilderness manners to say the least.
Yes I have taken on water in my canoe from a boat heading to Basswood. More than any wave in 70 years.
A certain percent care little about the BWCA. Yes their are responsible ones also.

Was also surprised by the business of it all. There were canoes everywhere. We ran into people on every portage. The Miler by Upper Basswood falls had people and gear scattered all over the portage. The landing was clear when we first approached from the east, but then on the portage - there were three other groups on the portage. two older fellas making decent work leapfrogging it, a group of 9 girls in thier 20's and 30's with gear and boats all over the portage and group of outward bound kids with gear and kids down all over the place. It was crazy!!!

I forgot to mention - Day 2 paddled by two campsites with 5 boats - one had 11 people in it and the other had 10.

It wasn't just the motor contingent - it was chaos everywhere we went.

Speckled: "Was also surprised by the business of it all. There were canoes everywhere. We ran into people on every portage. The Miler by Upper Basswood falls had people and gear scattered all over the portage. The landing was clear when we first approached from the east, but then on the portage - there were three other groups on the portage. two older fellas making decent work leapfrogging it, a group of 9 girls in thier 20's and 30's with gear and boats all over the portage and group of outward bound kids with gear and kids down all over the place. It was crazy!!!


I forgot to mention - Day 2 paddled by two campsites with 5 boats - one had 11 people in it and the other had 10.


It wasn't just the motor contingent - it was chaos everywhere we went."

Looks like a time for some enforcement personnel, but probably not much available right now with the cuts and some shipped out west for fires.

I'm sorry to hear about your experiences with the motor boats. As a fellow motor boater on Basswood annually, that's very disappointing to hear. You mentioned the wake/waves from the motor boat and I've always meant to ask this question....is it better for me as a motor boat to slow down to almost no wake as I pass a canoe (which is what I always do), or if I have room to swing very wide (100 yds+) is it ok to maintain my speed with a large distance between boat & canoe? I always slow down (idle speed) when approaching a canoe and usually get a hand wave as we pass, but have always wondered what is preferred by those who are paddling that we pass. We portage the boat into Basswood all 6 days during our trip (2nd week of Sept) and this will be our 27th year. Thanks!

BasswoodFan: "....is it better for me as a motor boat to slow down to almost no wake as I pass a canoe (which is what I always do), or if I have room to swing very wide (100 yds+) is it ok to maintain my speed with a large distance between boat & canoe? I always slow down (idle speed) when approaching a canoe and usually get a hand wave as we pass, but have always wondered what is preferred by those who are paddling that we pass. "

I personally prefer when a motorboat stays on plane and passes quickly, as long as they are far enough away to be safe.

MidwestFirecraft: "

BasswoodFan: "....is it better for me as a motor boat to slow down to almost no wake as I pass a canoe (which is what I always do), or if I have room to swing very wide (100 yds+) is it ok to maintain my speed with a large distance between boat & canoe? I always slow down (idle speed) when approaching a canoe and usually get a hand wave as we pass, but have always wondered what is preferred by those who are paddling that we pass. "

I personally prefer when a motorboat stays on plane and passes quickly, as long as they are far enough away to be safe. "

My biggest pet peeve is like on big water and they come from behind or from the other direction some will still stay in a straight line and go super close to you causing a unnatural wave, They had a half mile or so to at least give a 100 yard wide berth.
Also a motor boat wave is more turbulent than natural wind blow waves.
Each motor-boat is different-some are so loaded down or not trimmed well make a huge wave.
I always appreciated one outfitter whom a young gal ran the tow boat, she was so courteous and if the situation needed she would stop and let us pass.
Than there is one outfitter on Moose lake who had a person whom yes put water in my canoe and swamped others.
I never understood and never seen like the CO wardens or County Sheriff water safety be up on the Moose chain watching boaters and their habits.

I would say that you hit Basswood during the absolute peak season. Because it's a relatively easy reach from Fall Lake, it's not surprising that even the no-motor-zone was swollen with visitors. Groups trekking across Iron/Crooked eventually all end up at the Horse Portage, too.

I've been through Basswood twice in high season, most recently in 2021 when the entire Iron/Crooked area was closed due to the Quetico fires. We did not approach UBF but we did see nearly every campsite from EP24 to the NMZ was occupied. We lucked into a good one and there were several unoccupied on both sides of US Point, but once we paddled back down to Washington Island and into the motor zone, we struggled to find a campsite. Again, we lucked into a great one, but we would have taken anything that was open.

Last year, we went into EP24 the second week of September and we saw a fair amount of traffic between there and the NMZ, sharing the portages etc. All of the really good campsites were occupied but we ended up getting a decent one just south of UBF. Pipestone and Newton were pretty empty on our way out, though.

As far as campsite debris...for better or worse, that's probably a direct result of how popular the BWCA is now.

I have been completely grossed out by the behavior of motorboat travelers in the motor sections of Basswood. I won't camp there and barely even like to travel through. Fish guts and debris left in water by landings or spread out on a sandy beach. More garbage than any other lake. Rude behavior and general idiocy...loud music, illegal campsites, large wakes close to canoes and more.

soundguy0918: "...for better or worse, that's probably a direct result of how popular the BWCA is now."

Outside of the covid bump years, hasn’t the BWCA seen consistently decreasing use since 1994? Something like one-third the amount of visitors. Last year saw a 9% decrease, though available permits were reduced.

No RABC's means more trippers on the US side, too.

Kawishiwashy: "No RABC's means more trippers on the US side, too."

Do you have data to support this? Wouldn’t paddlers impacted by changes to the RABC rules just enter Canadian waters from an interior EP instead? I don’t think they just stopped paddling Canadian waters and defaulted to the BWCA. Not the folks I know. A lot of people still have active RABC permits too.

YaMarVa: "

Kawishiwashy: "No RABC's means more trippers on the US side, too."

Do you have data to support this? Wouldn’t paddlers impacted by changes to the RABC rules just enter Canadian waters from an interior EP instead? I don’t think they just stopped paddling Canadian waters and defaulted to the BWCA. Not the folks I know. A lot of people still have active RABC permits too. "

While an n = 1, our group did not go into Quetico this May. Rather, we did a BWCA trip. Not everyone in the group had a past RABC that was eligible for extension and we didn’t want to drive to the north side of the park. I suspect we are not alone in this approach. That said, I will be doing a trip into Quetico next month with my 2024 RABC entering at PP.

YaMarVa: "

soundguy0918: "...for better or worse, that's probably a direct result of how popular the BWCA is now."

Outside of the covid bump years, hasn’t the BWCA seen consistently decreasing use since 1994? Something like one-third the amount of visitors. Last year saw a 9% decrease, though available permits were reduced. "

Not sure the data you are drawing on but below is a link to the 2020-2024 data from the USFS. The discussion (complaint) lately seems to be the number of cancellations and no shows.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/superior/passes/permit-and-visitor-use-report

plander: "

YaMarVa: "

Kawishiwashy: "No RABC's means more trippers on the US side, too."

Do you have data to support this? Wouldn’t paddlers impacted by changes to the RABC rules just enter Canadian waters from an interior EP instead? I don’t think they just stopped paddling Canadian waters and defaulted to the BWCA. Not the folks I know. A lot of people still have active RABC permits too. "

While an n = 1, our group did not go into Quetico this May. Rather, we did a BWCA trip. Not everyone in the group had a past RABC that was eligible for extension and we didn’t want to drive to the north side of the park. I suspect we are not alone in this approach. That said, I will be doing a trip into Quetico next month with my 2024 RABC entering at PP."

Thanks Plander, that's what I was thinking. Obviously if you still had an RABC you'd likely trip Quetico, but if yours expired or you didn't renew it and you tripped, you would be adding to the existing pool of US trippers.

People not having RABC access is not a reason why Basswood Lake is busy and a lame excuse to not paddle Canadian waters. I wont let it stop me.

I started avoiding Basswood in 2003, same as it has always been. Busy.

YaMarVa: "People not having RABC access is not a reason why Basswood Lake is busy and a lame excuse to not paddle Canadian waters. I wont let it stop me.

I started avoiding Basswood in 2003, same as it has always been. Busy. "

Yamarva.
What do you mean. Go to quetico without an RABC?
Help me out here.
Tom

tumblehome: "

YaMarVa: "People not having RABC access is not a reason why Basswood Lake is busy and a lame excuse to not paddle Canadian waters. I wont let it stop me.


I started avoiding Basswood in 2003, same as it has always been. Busy. "

Yamarva.
What do you mean. Go to quetico without an RABC?
Help me out here.
Tom"

Going to a foreign country without a RABC permit or a Quetico permit. All I say fine the heck out of them and confiscate the canoe. Were guests of Canada and like having Prairie portage open is a gift to us and a privilege.

tumblehome: "

YaMarVa: "People not having RABC access is not a reason why Basswood Lake is busy and a lame excuse to not paddle Canadian waters. I wont let it stop me.


I started avoiding Basswood in 2003, same as it has always been. Busy. "

Yamarva.
What do you mean. Go to quetico without an RABC?
Help me out here.
Tom"

Correct. There are other ways a US Citizen can access Canadian waters beyond using remote access.

YaMarVa: "

tumblehome: "

YaMarVa: "People not having RABC access is not a reason why Basswood Lake is busy and a lame excuse to not paddle Canadian waters. I wont let it stop me.



I started avoiding Basswood in 2003, same as it has always been. Busy. "

Yamarva.
What do you mean. Go to quetico without an RABC?
Help me out here.
Tom"

Correct. There are other ways a US Citizen can access Canadian waters beyond using remote access."

Beaverhouse, Nym, Stanton Bay, French Lake...

YaMarVa: "

tumblehome: "

YaMarVa: "People not having RABC access is not a reason why Basswood Lake is busy and a lame excuse to not paddle Canadian waters. I wont let it stop me.



I started avoiding Basswood in 2003, same as it has always been. Busy. "

Yamarva.
What do you mean. Go to quetico without an RABC?
Help me out here.
Tom"

Correct. There are other ways a US Citizen can access Canadian waters beyond using remote access."

So true, just the way it came down, was like you did as you pleased, regardless of the rules, which is not what you meant.

I can see how you read it that way. I’m a rule follower.

YaMarVa: "I can see how you read it that way. I’m a rule follower. "

Got it.
Yes northern entries.
Thanks.
Tom

Anecdotally, the west side of the park, specifically Quetico Lake adjacent to the Beaverhouse entry was as busy as I've ever seen this year. Surprisingly, from Jesse east it was quieter - including Batchewaung Lake.

Jesse was abandoned when we arrived and we saw no evidence of anyone else on the lake for the day. When we arrived on Batchewaung, we only saw one other campsite occupied and we were able to secure the "Hilton" site on the east end of the lake even after arriving around 2:00 p.m on the Thursday before the holiday long weekend. We did see a couple of groups arrive later that day.

By the way, the portage to Nym had about four trees down on it after the storms a couple of weeks ago. A bit of a nuisance but entirely navigable.