I have been going to the BWCA for over 10 years, and I love it. For several reasons, my family is considering a Quetico trip with a strong interest in Kawnipi. I’m sure I can figure it out through Google, but I would like to know what you would think would be an ideal route, length, or trip, entry point, and whatever permit info we should know. Again, I am ignorant about the Quetico except for looking at maps and listening to everyone who’s been telling me how much they love it.

We've been tripping in Quetico since 1979, usually entering through Prairie Portage. Our 'standard' trip is 10 days and usually covers 100+ miles. You don't say how long you want to stay in the park, how many miles you want to paddle, etc, so it's a bit tough to give you more detail. You can apply for permits online, with permit applications opening 5 months before your entry date (no BWCA "all permits available in late January" BS). Southern entry requires a Remote Area Border Crossing (RABC) permit, whose system was suspended for 2025, but those of us who saved our 2024 RABCs could use it for entry through Prairie Portage.

We've also entered Quetico from the north a few times, which requires more driving, but lets us visit more parts of the park. I'm hoping that Canada resumes some sort of RABC for 2026, but we'll see...

This year's trip we entered via PP, paddled along the US-Canada border through Birch, then entered Quetico proper in Carp Lake. After leaving the US border, we saw seven people during the first 8 days of the trip! You can't find that sort of solitude in the BWCA.

I have several Quetico trip reports on BWCA.com, each with maps, and several with routes through Kawnipi. Check them out and feel free to email me with questions.

TZ

This trip will be a couple years when my kids are older, so I have time to plan. Going to Kawnipi how many days would you recommend to not feel rushed. We like base camping but happy to move around too.

I will start looking are your trip reports. Thanks for getting me started.

I would figure one full day and about 3-4 hours the next to get to the heart of Kawnipi, same coming out unless you really want to push it. Then just figure how many days you want in between. Pretty sure the most common route from the south entry via cache bay and up the falls chain, there are other routes as well, but most are +- the same or near the same amount of time.

Day 1 tow in to hook island, up the falls chain, camp in route on Kenny Lake or somewhere earlier.
Day 2 in route and then at your base camp on Kawnipi
Day 3 at base
Day 4 at base
Day 5 at base
Day 6 at base
Day 7 Leaving camp in route out.
Day 8 Take out or pickup at hook island.

Add or subtract days.

I once did a loop from Prairie Portage to Kawnipi (and Lemay Lake), back through the S-chain to North Bay, and then out via PP. It took seven days. The first day we stopped in the south part of Agnes and visited the bathtub at Louisa Falls. The second day we visited several of the pictographs on Agnes and camped on that lake's north end. The third day we went to Kawnipi via Keewatin. Stayed two nights there. Then went south through Agnes and the S-chain lakes, stopping for a shore lunch and more pictograph/petroglyph exploration before stopping for the night on Noon. Then we went to North Bay, making a detour to visit the thunderbird pictograph on Shade. We went back to Prairie Portage via Burke, etc.

Since you're new to Quetico, you probably don't have a valid RABC permit. If that's the case, you won't be able to enter Q at PP or Cache Bay. Either one would work great for a trip to Kawnipi, but those options aren't in play right now.

What I would suggest is to enter from the north at Stanton Bay. It offers the most direct route to Kawnipi, although you could get there from Nym or even Beaverhouse depending on how far you want to travel and what the goals of your trip are.

If you decide to enter at Stanton Bay, you will need an outfitter to take you in. We've used Camp Quetico and they charge $100 per trip (not per person). There is a parking lot there, but cars must have Canadian license plates. Hence the reason for the outfitter shuttle. The road is kind of rough so you'll appreciate someone else driving their vehicle in there instead of taking your own. :)

I've been to Kawnipi two different times from different directions, and close to it a couple more times from other directions. Here are your main routes. The first three will require RABC permits, which will require that program to restart.

1) Out of Prairie Portage, the easiest route is through Sunday, Meadows, and into Agnes. The two portages into and out of Meadows are moderately long and rocky, but well used and well maintained. Agnes is a very long paddle. I usually stay somewhere mid Agnes when I'm going up this way. There are a number of reasonable camps to choose from.

An alternative route is up through the Man Chain and into the Falls Chain into Kawnipi. I would recommend this route if you have 10+ days as the Man Chain and Falls Chain are Quetico classics.

2) Out of the southeast side of the park, you can get a tow to Hook Island, check in at the Cache Bay ranger station, and then go up through Saganagons and the Falls Chain. Take care in this area, especially early season as there is a lot of water moving through. This is probably the second easiest route to Kawnipi. The southern 1/3 of Kawnipi was burned about 25 years ago though, so the camps are more sparse and less established trees. That's a nice thing about entering via Agnes - that mid to northern part of the lake is prettier with established trees.

3) Also out of Cache Bay, you can take a route up the southeast edge of the park through Ross, Cullen, Mack, and the Wawiag River. This is probably one of the harder routes to Kawnipi, and you can't camp close to the mouth of the Wawiag due to it being a historical site for the native population.

4) Stanton Bay might be your best bet, especially if the RABC program doesn't open back up. You can get to Kawnipi in 2-2.5 days from this side going through Dore, Sturgen, and the Poets Chain (Russell, Chatterton, Keats, Shelley). Really a great route, just takes a bit more time.

Ausable: "I once did a loop from Prairie Portage to Kawnipi (and Lemay Lake), back through the S-chain to North Bay, and then out via PP. It took seven days. The first day we stopped in the south part of Agnes and visited the bathtub at Louisa Falls. The second day we visited several of the pictographs on Agnes and camped on that lake's north end. The third day we went to Kawnipi via Keewatin. Stayed two nights there. Then went south through Agnes and the S-chain lakes, stopping for a shore lunch and more pictograph/petroglyph exploration before stopping for the night on Noon. Then we went to North Bay, making a detour to visit the thunderbird pictograph on Shade. We went back to Prairie Portage via Burke, etc."

What was Lemay Lake like? we are wanting to check this lake out.

“An alternative route is up through the Man Chain and into the Falls Chain into Kawnipi. I would recommend this route if you have 10+ days as the Man Chain and Falls Chain are Quetico classics.”

The Man Chain and Falls Chain are areas I’d love to see. Anything I wouldn’t want to miss along this route?

What was Lemay Lake like? we are wanting to check this lake out."

Lemay is a destination lake, not a through lake...meaning it's not on a route from anywhere to somewhere else. Unless you're bushwhacking, which is another story. Typically accessed from Lemay Creek on Kawnipi - it's a decent paddle up stream with several pull-overs and floating logs, but nothing terribly difficult, that takes you into the east side of the lake. There is an unmaintained portage in/out of the far southwest corner of the lake that some maps still show, but it's fairly overgrown and not easy to find. The only campsite is on the west side, north end of the peninsula splitting the lake into two main basins, so if it is not occupied, you would have the lake to yourself. It faces west and is a very nice campsite with plenty of tent pads and tarp trees, decent fire ring. Not all maps will show it. If you want solitude, this is a great spot to spend several days. The fishing is very good with lots of walleye, bass and at least one monster pike. It does not get used very much as most people prefer to just fish Kawnipi (and why not, right?) and it's just more work to get into. I think it's worthwhile.

The only time I took the southwest portage was in 2009 going out of Lemay (went in via the creek) and it comes out in a very shallow bay into Kawnipi across from Kasie Is. That whole SW bay is only about 8 feet deep max, from the pinch point south. There are points in the lake upwards of 80 feet IIRC. This summer we came in from the north via Cache River, Tario Creek/Lake to Quinn - a bushwhack route. The creek from Quinn is navigable with one pullover.

pd

CanoeViking: "“An alternative route is up through the Man Chain and into the Falls Chain into Kawnipi. I would recommend this route if you have 10+ days as the Man Chain and Falls Chain are Quetico classics.”


The Man Chain and Falls Chain are areas I’d love to see. Anything I wouldn’t want to miss along this route?
"

Hmmm plenty of things as always. This Man was probably my favorite lake in the Man Chain, although many people also like the great island camp on Other Man. All great four species lakes. Bock is supposed to be a fun walleye day trip from Other Man, but I haven’t done it.

On the Falls Chain, the camp by Bald Rock Falls is a common favorite. I enjoy paddling through the Falls Chain, but I prefer more solitude than it typically offers. It’s definitely still worth seeing though, and it’s rarely crowded enough to be a bother, especially if you’re not already spoiled by the low crowds of the Q.

I’d plan to camp on Kawa Bay or McKenzie Bay on Kawnipi. The southern 1/3 or so was burned a couple decades ago, so it’s not quite as scenic or as good of camps. The pinch point going towards McKenzie Lake and the outflow from Murdoch can be real fishing hotspots. There are some very faint pictographs, but I’ve never been able to locate them, but I’ve never tried that hard.