After a trip chasing down campsites that were no longer there and questioning my ability to navigate while finding fire grates in bays and on points that shouldn’t have be there, I realized my maps were no longer accurate. That winter I purchased the bundle pack of Voyageur Maps from BWCA.com.

I’ve used them now for two seasons and they are much better than what I’ve used in the past. On my last trip another group had gotten turned around after navigating some islands. We compared maps to get the group reoriented when I noticed the map they were sent out with was terrible. It was new and probably purchased at an outfitter, but there wasn’t a single island on their map. I thought to myself, this map is like a placemat drawn from memory by a toddler whom has yet to camp and is still learning how to hold a crayon, no wonder the group got turned around. It probably cost them two to three hours of paddling (been there, done that), plus getting separated from their party.

Anyways, using Voyageur maps for your trip planning and navigation will make the trip more manageable.

Are you by chance employed by Voyageur Maps? ;)

Just kidding, I use them for trip planning and the accuracy seems pretty good. I use True North cloth maps on trips because I hate having to unfold and refold paper maps while on the water. I have not noticed a big difference in accuracy between the two.

Relying on canoeing maps to be accurate is always a bit of a stretch, regardless of the brand. Researching different websites and gathering information from places like BWCA.com and others, and marking your maps with the information gathered, are all good things to do in advance of your trip.

I'm a Quetico guy and have always been a McKenzie map user, mainly because of the large scale and detail. However, my maps are all marked up with campsite locations, portage information and, in some cases, hot fishing spots, all of which have been gathered over the years.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter where you paddle - the BW, Q, WCPP, Wabakimi or anywhere else. Maps only get you so much information. The rest is up to you to find. Half the fun of a canoe trip is the planning.

I was in Quetico last week and had plenty of down time to look at my maps as I sat in a chair pondering everything in my life.

My Fisher maps look pretty old. And there are some old portages that I know arn’t there. I looked at the copyright of my map. 1983.
Tom

We used these maps for years. They weren’t great but they served their purpose. We learned to read the landscape to find portages. There was no internet. Planning mostly involved meals.

tumblehome: "I looked at the copyright of my map. 1983.
Tom"

I was an avid backpacker in college in the 70's. My friend and I had mapped out a nice trail in the Appalachians along a ridge. We got there in the dark, and I was driving erratically looking for a trailhead or an semblance of a trail nearby. We were pulled over by a park ranger, and I described what I was doing, with obvious apologies. I pulled out my map to show the ranger, should he be able to steer us correctly. Yes, we were where we thought we were, but there was no trail. I looked at the date of the map (USGS I'm sure), and it was 1945! The trail had turned into the Blue Ridge Parkway, on which we were driving. Check yer dates!

This is how we ended up going through a PMA unexpectedly once. Dad had been through their in the 80s, prior to it becoming a PMA, and we were using those same maps. We got home and did some research and thought no wonder those portages were so tough!

We now make sure our maps are updated, and I prefer to have two different brands along for the route to compare and reference if possible.

At least one of the big 3 maps for the BW has a disclaimer in red print on some portion of the map that says the map is "not for navigation."

Just what do they think I am going to use that map for?

Voayageur Maps don’t cover Quetico…so not an option for me…

T