Once permit are available on Jan 28th at 9am. We will publish availability by entry point again throughout the season. Example:

Lake One Availability

Or you can view a summary of available entry points permits at: Permit Availability Summary

You can currently find the find availability link on the entry point home pages.
Entry Point Home Pages

Permit Alerts
17,000+ permits were released back into the system through cancellations during the 2025 season!

That's:
- 115 permits released EVERY SINGLE DAY of the 153-day season
- 220 cancellations per entry point on average
- Nearly ONE PERMIT CANCELLING EVERY 13 MINUTES 24/7!

Everyone focuses on January 29th. Smart paddlers focus on the 17,000 opportunities that come AFTER.

The new permit alerts feature allows you to get updates on released permits for an opportunity to snag an otherwise sold out permit.

You will find a link and information at the bottom of the entry point permit availability pages to learn more about how to sign up for that entry point. Drill into the Entry Point Home pages to find permit availability.

This is such an awesome service. Thank you to all who have made it happen!

A quick look at popular entry points and availability for June, July, August as of this morning.

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2026 SUMMER AVAILABILITY: MOST POPULAR OVERNIGHT PADDLE PERMITS
Analysis based on 2025 popularity rankings (>70% booking rate)
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OVERVIEW
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This analysis examines the 23 most competitive overnight paddle (OP) permits from 2025
and shows their availability status in June, July, and August 2026.

'Popular' = entries with >70% booking rate in 2025 (highly competitive)

MONTH-BY-MONTH SUMMARY
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JUNE 2026
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Popular permits tracked: 23
Permits with ANY availability: 15 (65%)
Total available permits: 465 out of 2,955 (15.7%)

BEST AVAILABILITY in June:
Rank Entry Point District Available % Avail
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#37 Brant Lake Gunflint District 66 55.0%
#12 Cross Bay Lake Gunflint District 38 42.2%
#31 Brule Lake Tofte District 85 40.5%
#26 Kawishiwi Lake Tofte District 77 36.7%
#28 Farm Lake Kawishiwi District 30 33.3%
#33 Snowbank Lake Kawishiwi District 61 25.4%
#35 Baker Lake Tofte District 15 25.0%
#18 Seagull Lake Gunflint District 47 19.6%
#21 Snake River Tofte District 4 13.3%
#16 Wood Lake Kawishiwi District 7 11.7%

JULY 2026
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Popular permits tracked: 23
Permits with ANY availability: 14 (61%)
Total available permits: 467 out of 3,054 (15.3%)

BEST AVAILABILITY in July:
Rank Entry Point District Available % Avail
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#37 Brant Lake Gunflint District 66 53.2%
#21 Snake River Tofte District 16 51.6%
#26 Kawishiwi Lake Tofte District 94 43.3%
#33 Snowbank Lake Kawishiwi District 74 29.8%
#23 Daniels Lake Gunflint District 9 29.0%
#12 Cross Bay Lake Gunflint District 27 29.0%
#31 Brule Lake Tofte District 59 27.2%
#16 Wood Lake Kawishiwi District 16 25.8%
#28 Farm Lake Kawishiwi District 23 24.7%
#18 Seagull Lake Gunflint District 53 21.4%

AUGUST 2026
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Popular permits tracked: 23
Permits with ANY availability: 10 (43%)
Total available permits: 114 out of 3,053 (3.7%)

BEST AVAILABILITY in August:
Rank Entry Point District Available % Avail
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#37 Brant Lake Gunflint District 30 24.2%
#16 Wood Lake Kawishiwi District 10 16.1%
#31 Brule Lake Tofte District 22 10.1%
#28 Farm Lake Kawishiwi District 9 9.7%
#26 Kawishiwi Lake Tofte District 14 6.5%
#33 Snowbank Lake Kawishiwi District 12 4.8%
#18 Seagull Lake Gunflint District 11 4.4%
#12 Cross Bay Lake Gunflint District 4 4.3%
#21 Snake River Tofte District 1 3.2%
#19 Moose/Portage River North LaCroix District 1 0.6%

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KEY FINDINGS
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AVAILABILITY TRENDS:
• June has highest availability (15.7%) among popular permits
• July maintains similar availability (15.3%)
• August shows dramatic drop (3.7%) - most competitive month

CONSISTENTLY AVAILABLE (2+ months):
Rank Entry Point District Months w/ Avail
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#12 Cross Bay Lake Gunflint District 3
#16 Wood Lake Kawishiwi District 3
#17 Lake One Kawishiwi District 2
#18 Seagull Lake Gunflint District 3
#21 Snake River Tofte District 3
#23 Daniels Lake Gunflint District 2
#24 Sawbill Lake Tofte District 2
#26 Kawishiwi Lake Tofte District 3
#28 Farm Lake Kawishiwi District 3
#31 Brule Lake Tofte District 3
#33 Snowbank Lake Kawishiwi District 3
#35 Baker Lake Tofte District 2
#37 Brant Lake Gunflint District 3

MOST COMPETITIVE (ZERO availability all summer):
Rank Entry Point District 2025 Booking
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#8 Duncan Lake Gunflint District 91.7%
#9 Little Gabbro Lake Kawishiwi District 91.1%
#22 Clearwater Lake Gunflint District 80.0%
#25 Little Indian Sioux North LaCroix District 78.3%
#29 Pine Lake Gunflint District 76.7%
#34 East Bearskin Gunflint District 74.4%

AVAILABILITY BY DISTRICT (Popular OP permits only):
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District # Permits Available Quota % Avail
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Gunflint District 9 353 2484 14.2%
Kawishiwi District 7 250 3174 7.9%
LaCroix District 2 1 828 0.1%
Tofte District 5 442 2576 17.2%

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STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS
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FOR HIGHLY COMPETITIVE PERMITS (top 23):

1. JUNE offers the best chance (15.7% overall availability)
• Best bets: Brant Lake (55%), Snake River (52%), Brule Lake (41%), Kawishiwi Lake (37%)

2. AVOID AUGUST if possible - only 3.7% availability across popular permits
• Competition peaks in August across nearly all popular entries

3. MONITOR CANCELLATIONS for zero-availability permits:
• Duncan Lake, Little Gabbro Lake, East Bearskin, Pine Lake show NO availability
• These require either opening day booking or aggressive cancellation monitoring

4. TOFTE DISTRICT shows relatively better availability for popular permits
• Kawishiwi Lake, Brule Lake, Snake River all show consistent availability

5. GUNFLINT popular permits are extremely competitive
• Most Gunflint top-tier permits show little to no availability
• Exceptions: Cross Bay Lake (June only), Brant Lake

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More detailed look at Kawishiwi District.

LaCroix District Availability Detail

Tofte Entry Point Permit Availability Summary

And last but not least, the Gunflint District Data