I’ve been tracking this closely as I’ve been sitting on an 8/10 entry permit. The alert just updated - new target reopening date is 8/21 for backcountry travel.

On a personal level, I’m massively disappointed. This was to be my son’s (9yo) first Q trip, and we’ve been planning this for a long time.

I was dreading an extension on 8/8, but the bad news came early.

I have a 9/18 entry, which felt quite risk-free, but now feels very much in doubt. It's time to make a realistic plan B. This sucks.

My dad and I were among the very first visitors back to a Canadian lodge in Sept 2021 after Covid. The fishing was spectacular. Fingers crossed that 8/21 reopening actually happens.

yes it has been extended to aug 21st. but on a positive note the campgrounds at french lake are shooting for aug 14.
so maybe we will see at least a partial opening of the back country on the 21st. hopefully a full opening.
we cancelled all quetico plans awhile back.
we have a fishing resort trip booked for a week in sept and will be hopefully in quetico for a week in october.

I posted this on their FB page:

Crown Land all around Atikokan is open. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW - directly across the border from Quetico) has been open for back country camping in areas unaffected by their big fires in Minnesota for almost a week. Quetico will open Dawson near the largest fire for day-use in nine days but the areas from Beaverhouse to Nym that were unaffected will remain closed for at least two more weeks! How does this make sense?
Why can't the vast, pristine zone in the NW part of Quetico open up now for back-country camping? You don't even need to staff the ranger station on Beaverhouse. Just instruct the visitors to pick up their permits in the park office in Atikokan as is common practise.
Could an official from Quetico or ON Parks come to this page and provide more substance to these extended closure bulletins other than "public safety is our top priority"? Verily, that implies the MNR and the US Forest Service (the stewards of Crown land and the BWCAW respectively) do not hold public safety as a priority which I highly doubt. Why is Quetico so out of step with adjacent authorities for access or specifically restricted access to back country camping?

i do agree and have said as much myself. i personally had expected a partial reopening of the park by now.
the only reason i can think of, may be due to how over stressed our resources are due to the whole situation.
perhaps they just felt that the park is a "want" and not a "need" for relatively few people. so why take any risk by allowing access.
just a thought.

rick00001967: "i do agree and have said as much myself. i personally had expected a partial reopening of the park by now.
the only reason i can think of, may be due to how over stressed our resources are due to the whole situation.
perhaps they just felt that the park is a "want" and not a "need" for relatively few people. so why take any risk by allowing access.
just a thought.
"

Rick, What are the resources you speak of?

The park staff were sent home. They aren't fighting the fires and that's not their function anyway.

If you need an emergency air evac they don't do it. Local private air operators from Atikokan are procured.

Reservations are done over the phone or online. Does it take more than one staffer in the Atikokan office to issue a physical permit?

How many ranger stations need to be manned? The answer is zero if they just open Beaverhouse to Nym now. Just force people to check in at Atikokan.

Do we need portage clearing crews at this moment? No. It's a wilderness park and visitors know to take it as it comes.

So now they put all their effort and available resources into opening a campground ??? Is that how Quetico defines and promotes itself??? Wasaga Beach North with showers and flush toilets???

And the risk part...people drive for hours or days from all over the continent to reach Quetico. Safe travel TO and FROM Quetico is going to be the biggest risk.

This process bears all the hallmarks of the kind of high-handed bureaucratic overreach we had to endure for the first part of this decade. What they understand south of the border and what we fail to understand in Canada are the second and third party effects of this form of administration. Park management appears to have no clue the of the logistical hurdles required to plan a trip to Quetico for so many of its visitors nor the injury they're inflicting on the local tourist trade. The government workers get to go home and get paid while the local small businesses get stiffed. The well-fed, pensioned bureaucrats operate in the shadows and signal their great virtue by facelessly issuing further shutdown bulletins in the name of "safety" with little visibility on when the great unwashed can resume normal lives.

The Americans have Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. In Canada, it's Peace, Order and Good Government. That tells you everything you need to know about why the BWCAW is open for business and Quetico is shut down.

Ranger.: "I’ve been tracking this closely as I’ve been sitting on an 8/10 entry permit. The alert just updated - new target reopening date is 8/21 for backcountry travel.

On a personal level, I’m massively disappointed. This was to be my son’s (9yo) first Q trip, and we’ve been planning this for a long time.
"

Ranger - I was faced with a similar situation for a trip with my daughter (20 yo) during the last two weeks of July. We ended up pivoting to Woodland Caribou on very short notice because I could not change my time off work. You can drive up and park at Onnie or Leano Lakes as a put-in for a nice loop trip and still access areas outside the 2016 and 2021 burns to camp. I am SO THANKFUL that she and I headed to WCPP and didn't scrap the idea of doing a canoe trip this summer. Definitely don't miss out on the opportunity to share time camping with your son!

FYI - the road from Red Lake, ON to these lakes is a little rough, but has no major obstacles. Sounds like it's best to always go through Red Lake for access and avoid the 100ish km of bad road going south/south east from Leano.

I'll second what Sunburn said about WCPP. We ran into each other on Mexican Hat Lake about midway through both of our trips. Nice to meet you and your daughter Sunburn! The day they closed QPP (and Wabakimi....), we called Goldseekers to get some canoes lined up and changed our park reservation from Q to WC - VERY easy to do online. If we hadn't made the pivot, we would have had to cancel our trip altogether because of scheduling. WCPP gets less than 1000 visitors per year. That was a Tuesday and our Q entry was for Saturday. Due to the extra drive time, we went in that Sunday, 7/19.

Our crew of 6 had a great time, great fishing and saw few other paddlers. It's about 5 hours north of Quetico. Biggest differences - no big pines (White, Red) - mostly Jack, White Spruce, and balsam; fewer campsites (but fewer campers), and there are some outpost cabins, though we never saw a boat on the water. Oh, and NO smallies (mostly). Fishing is pike, walleye and lake trout in most lakes. Also, WC was heavily burned during 2016 and 2021, so there is a LOT of bare rock. On the 11-day trip, we only had to camp once on a burned site on Agean. Bonus was that burn areas provide great opportunities for berries to grow. We had tons of blueberries, raspberries, saskatoon berries and even some red currants. Also, mapping resources aren't heavy as they are for Q and BW, but there are enough. And one paddling website for planners is very helpful.

I will agree about the gravel road to Leano Lake, where we put in- about a 70k, 2 hour van ride from Red Lake. We took out at Johnson Lake - just a 45 minute drive and the road to there or to Onnie are fairly suitable for most vehicles. Going past Onnie, it gets a lot rougher and washout's common. Check with the park office or local outfitter for current conditions.

Just get out there!

We have a 9/4 permit for Beaverhouse......I thought we'd be good. Now.....???

Argo: "

rick00001967: "i do agree and have said as much myself. i personally had expected a partial reopening of the park by now.
the only reason i can think of, may be due to how over stressed our resources are due to the whole situation.
perhaps they just felt that the park is a "want" and not a "need" for relatively few people. so why take any risk by allowing access.
just a thought.
"

Rick, What are the resources you speak of?


The park staff were sent home. They aren't fighting the fires and that's not their function anyway.


If you need an emergency air evac they don't do it. Local private air operators from Atikokan are procured.


Reservations are done over the phone or online. Does it take more than one staffer in the Atikokan office to issue a physical permit?


How many ranger stations need to be manned? The answer is zero if they just open Beaverhouse to Nym now. Just force people to check in at Atikokan.


Do we need portage clearing crews at this moment? No. It's a wilderness park and visitors know to take it as it comes.


So now they put all their effort and available resources into opening a campground ??? Is that how Quetico defines and promotes itself??? Wasaga Beach North with showers and flush toilets???


And the risk part...people drive for hours or days from all over the continent to reach Quetico. Safe travel TO and FROM Quetico is going to be the biggest risk.


This process bears all the hallmarks of the kind of high-handed bureaucratic overreach we had to endure for the first part of this decade. What they understand south of the border and what we fail to understand in Canada are the second and third party effects of this form of administration. Park management appears to have no clue the of the logistical hurdles required to plan a trip to Quetico for so many of its visitors nor the injury they're inflicting on the local tourist trade. The government workers get to go home and get paid while the local small businesses get stiffed. The well-fed, pensioned bureaucrats operate in the shadows and signal their great virtue by facelessly issuing further shutdown bulletins in the name of "safety" with little visibility on when the great unwashed can resume normal lives.


The Americans have Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. In Canada, it's Peace, Order and Good Government. That tells you everything you need to know about why the BWCAW is open for business and Quetico is shut down."

perhaps you missed the part where i said i actually agree with you??

i apologize as i thought the resources i was referring to would be obvious. my bad. i meant the hard working men and women who have been killing themselves to try and control the horrible fire situation we have in this area.

For those used to Canadian bureaucracy: If no new fires present themselves in the park is an opening on the new date likely?

Just a guess, but my assumption is they want time to assess the burn areas, clear some portages, and shut a few areas down or make the burned over campsites safe from deadfall.

How long was the park shut down during the last major wildfire?

rick00001967: "

Argo: "

rick00001967: "i do agree and have said as much myself. i personally had expected a partial reopening of the park by now.
the only reason i can think of, may be due to how over stressed our resources are due to the whole situation.
perhaps they just felt that the park is a "want" and not a "need" for relatively few people. so why take any risk by allowing access.
just a thought.
"

Rick, What are the resources you speak of?



The park staff were sent home. They aren't fighting the fires and that's not their function anyway.



If you need an emergency air evac they don't do it. Local private air operators from Atikokan are procured.



Reservations are done over the phone or online. Does it take more than one staffer in the Atikokan office to issue a physical permit?



How many ranger stations need to be manned? The answer is zero if they just open Beaverhouse to Nym now. Just force people to check in at Atikokan.



Do we need portage clearing crews at this moment? No. It's a wilderness park and visitors know to take it as it comes.



So now they put all their effort and available resources into opening a campground ??? Is that how Quetico defines and promotes itself??? Wasaga Beach North with showers and flush toilets???



And the risk part...people drive for hours or days from all over the continent to reach Quetico. Safe travel TO and FROM Quetico is going to be the biggest risk.



This process bears all the hallmarks of the kind of high-handed bureaucratic overreach we had to endure for the first part of this decade. What they understand south of the border and what we fail to understand in Canada are the second and third party effects of this form of administration. Park management appears to have no clue the of the logistical hurdles required to plan a trip to Quetico for so many of its visitors nor the injury they're inflicting on the local tourist trade. The government workers get to go home and get paid while the local small businesses get stiffed. The well-fed, pensioned bureaucrats operate in the shadows and signal their great virtue by facelessly issuing further shutdown bulletins in the name of "safety" with little visibility on when the great unwashed can resume normal lives.



The Americans have Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. In Canada, it's Peace, Order and Good Government. That tells you everything you need to know about why the BWCAW is open for business and Quetico is shut down."

perhaps you missed the part where i said i actually agree with you??


i apologize as i thought the resources i was referring to would be obvious. my bad. i meant the hard working men and women who have been killing themselves to try and control the horrible fire situation we have in this area. "

No apology required. As I re-read my post I see it was tonally maladroit in my opening question. Sorry for that.

portagedog09: "I'll second what Sunburn said about WCPP. We ran into each other on Mexican Hat Lake about midway through both of our trips. Nice to meet you and your daughter Sunburn! The day they closed QPP (and Wabakimi....), we called Goldseekers to get some canoes lined up and changed our park reservation from Q to WC - VERY easy to do online. If we hadn't made the pivot, we would have had to cancel our trip altogether because of scheduling. WCPP gets less than 1000 visitors per year. That was a Tuesday and our Q entry was for Saturday. Due to the extra drive time, we went in that Sunday, 7/19.


Our crew of 6 had a great time, great fishing and saw few other paddlers. It's about 5 hours north of Quetico. Biggest differences - no big pines (White, Red) - mostly Jack, White Spruce, and balsam; fewer campsites (but fewer campers), and there are some outpost cabins, though we never saw a boat on the water. Oh, and NO smallies (mostly). Fishing is pike, walleye and lake trout in most lakes. Also, WC was heavily burned during 2016 and 2021, so there is a LOT of bare rock. On the 11-day trip, we only had to camp once on a burned site on Agean. Bonus was that burn areas provide great opportunities for berries to grow. We had tons of blueberries, raspberries, saskatoon berries and even some red currants. Also, mapping resources aren't heavy as they are for Q and BW, but there are enough. And one paddling website for planners is very helpful.


I will agree about the gravel road to Leano Lake, where we put in- about a 70k, 2 hour van ride from Red Lake. We took out at Johnson Lake - just a 45 minute drive and the road to there or to Onnie are fairly suitable for most vehicles. Going past Onnie, it gets a lot rougher and washout's common. Check with the park office or local outfitter for current conditions.


Just get out there!"

Portagedog - Nice to meet you as well!

You are spot on with the berries - absolutely phenomenal. We didn't have a single campsite without blueberries and the portages in the previous burns were just loaded with raspberries and blueberries.

Just received notice that my 8/18 permit (Kahash) is no more.
Bummed.

Something else to consider, when we crossed at cache Bay July 5th we used the new system to check in with customs. At that time it sounded like there wasn't a plan mentioned to the rangers on crossing after the ranger station closes in early September. So even if they reopen the park, southern entry after the ranger stations close may not be possible unless they have worked out a plan while dealing with everything else with the fires. In the past I self permitted crossing at cache or prairie portage, but that was before RABC is was to expire in early September. In July using the new system, The phone used was just a cell phone in the ranger station, perhaps they have a solution but with nothing mentioned yet I think it's not likely southern crossing will be allowed after stations are closed up.

Addendum:

Attempted to make a new reservation for 8/21 but could not since it overlapped with my 8/18 reservation the park canceled but has yet to pull from the system.

Argo: "

rick00001967: "i
"

The Americans have Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. In Canada, it's Peace, Order and Good Government. That tells you everything you need to know about why the BWCAW is open for business and Quetico is shut down."

Permit me to amuse myself for a moment. I would give good money for a Canadian viewpoint right now. Peace, Order, and good Government. From my chair around the campfire, we have no peace down here, certainly very little order, and I think we lost the good government part some time ago.

I live close to the Canadian border and I often long for your rose colored glasses viewpoint. Perhaps it’s a bit crummy on both sides of the line.

Tom

Is the phone (I have read it’s just an iPhone) connecting to 4G/LTE, or is it connected via WiFi at the ranger station?

I get it - it’s Canada - but seems like an off-season entry would be as easy as dialing the number while in town and advising you are entering on X (current) date at approx. Y time at Z specific location and getting approval.

campnfish: "Something else to consider, when we crossed at cache Bay July 5th we used the new system to check in with customs. At that time it sounded like there wasn't a plan mentioned to the rangers on crossing after the ranger station closes in early September. So even if they reopen the park, southern entry after the ranger stations close may not be possible unless they have worked out a plan while dealing with everything else with the fires. In the past I self permitted crossing at cache or prairie portage, but that was before RABC is was to expire in early September. In July using the new system, The phone used was just a cell phone in the ranger station, perhaps they have a solution but with nothing mentioned yet I think it's not likely southern crossing will be allowed after stations are closed up."

Correct just an iphone, i would assume its using wifi. I understand what might appear as simple solutions, call in advance or using wifi at the ranger stations with your own phone. But, for whatever reason I have not seen any information on how that would work even prior to the fires. I think at least for 2026 the southern entry after ranger stations close is not going to be possible, that would probably be the same for early spring trips next year 2027.


I got lucky and made it into the southern entry in July, and it would be nice to do that again this fall, but right now my plan is northern entry.

I’m hopeful I wont have to change plans. A southern entry closure will cause a few people to change to northern entries and potentially fill those entries up. I have a few other alternate plans, but I’m not willing to double-book on maybes just yet.

campnfish: "Correct just an iphone, i would assume its using wifi. I understand what might appear as simple solutions, call in advance or using wifi at the ranger stations with your own phone. But, for whatever reason I have not seen any information on how that would work even prior to the fires. I think at least for 2026 the southern entry after ranger stations close is not going to be possible, that would probably be the same for early spring trips next year 2027.



I got lucky and made it into the southern entry in July, and it would be nice to do that again this fall, but right now my plan is northern entry."

Northern entries will not fill up, especially post ranger station closure.

portagedog09: "I'll second what Sunburn said about WCPP. We ran into each other on Mexican Hat Lake about midway through both of our trips. Nice to meet you and your daughter Sunburn! The day they closed QPP (and Wabakimi....), we called Goldseekers to get some canoes lined up and changed our park reservation from Q to WC - VERY easy to do online. If we hadn't made the pivot, we would have had to cancel our trip altogether because of scheduling. WCPP gets less than 1000 visitors per year. That was a Tuesday and our Q entry was for Saturday. Due to the extra drive time, we went in that Sunday, 7/19.



Just get out there!"

Portagedog and Sunburn, what maps did you use for WCPP? Thanks, -- Larry

Larry,

We had four different types of maps for the area. The first one you want is the Chrismar Adventure Map for Woodland Caribou Provincial Park. It covers the entire park, has all the lake names, portages with distances, lots of good details and a 1:50K topo index telling you what Quad maps will cover the area you are interested in. It does NOT have any campsite info. It does cover the roads into the access points. Arguably, you could navigate your trip with just this map but it's best and great for planning. We also had the 1:50K Energy, Mines and Resources Canada (Canada's USGS?) topo quads we needed and took but really didn't use. They have no portages, no campsites and mostly only the major bodies of water named. Might be fun for planning and have topo, but not of much use for us. We had some color topo maps from some of our paddling buddies' previous trips there which covered most of our route, which had marked portages, lake names camp sites, fishing spots, and some other details that we mostly used. They were made up by one of the guys, very good quality, waterproof paper and larger than 1:50K, but not by a lot (1km = about 1 1/16"). Lastly, Magic Paddler laid out and printed our route with planning software on one of the popular website planning tools for paddlers. We were also able to load that data onto our GPS units and track that way, but honestly, for me the printed maps were best. Campsite information is generally reliable, but not guaranteed. In the burn areas, there it's very hit or miss. On our way out, staying on Douglas Lake, we found 2 of 3 campsites marked did not exist and there was no burn damage there. YMMV.

There's one more really good map that is a free download that I got really too late to use but it looks very good and had burn areas shaded by year. Go to https://mywoodlandjourneys.com/ and just scroll down to get to the map.

We had just two days to make our pivot before we flew into Minneapolis but we were grateful we did. With more planning time, it could have been easier and we may have picked some different routing, but overall a great trip.

Side Note - the Chrismar map notes the paddle from Nutria Lake east into Mexican Hat as "seasonally shallow". That would be ANY season. Maps show it as a wide, presumably paddle-able body of water, when it's actually a very windy creek barely wider than a canoe through tall sedges and hummocks that you can barely see above standing in a canoe. Be sure to scope it out on Google Earth so you know what you're in for.

LarryNC: "

portagedog09: "I'll second what Sunburn said about WCPP. We ran into each other on Mexican Hat Lake about midway through both of our trips. Nice to meet you and your daughter Sunburn! The day they closed QPP (and Wabakimi....), we called Goldseekers to get some canoes lined up and changed our park reservation from Q to WC - VERY easy to do online. If we hadn't made the pivot, we would have had to cancel our trip altogether because of scheduling. WCPP gets less than 1000 visitors per year. That was a Tuesday and our Q entry was for Saturday. Due to the extra drive time, we went in that Sunday, 7/19.



Just get out there!"

Portagedog and Sunburn, what maps did you use for WCPP? Thanks, -- Larry "

Since I decided to go to WCPP on a Thursday afternoon and had to start the long drive 72 hours later, I was limited to only what I could access electronically. I used print outs of my route from Padd1e P1anner and I loaded all the padd1e p1anner route, campsite, and portage data into the Gaia GPS app on my phone. Normally, I primarily navigate using topo maps (Fisher and/or McKenzie maps for Quetico), but that wasn't an option for this trip and what I had available ended up working very well.

portagedog09: "Larry,


We had four different types of maps for the area. The first one you want is the Chrismar Adventure Map for Woodland Caribou Provincial Park. It covers the entire park, has all the lake names, portages with distances, lots of good details and a 1:50K topo index telling you what Quad maps will cover the area you are interested in. It does NOT have any campsite info. It does cover the roads into the access points.

...

Super helpful portagedog. Do you think we could do it just with Chrismar, marked with campsites from Pdl Plnr? That is what we use for Quetico.

Since I decided to go to WCPP on a Thursday afternoon and had to start the long drive 72 hours later, I was limited to only what I could access electronically. I used print outs of my route from Padd1e P1anner and I loaded all the padd1e p1anner route, campsite, and portage data into the Gaia GPS app on my phone. Normally, I primarily navigate using topo maps (Fisher and/or McKenzie maps for Quetico), but that wasn't an option for this trip and what I had available ended up working very well.

That is a great idea Sunburn. We have not tried to use GPS yet -- kinda low tech over here -- but maybe this is the year for the upgrade.

Would you be willing to list the lakes in your route? We will have either 11 or 13 nights, like to travel every day and typically single portage on decent trails.

South of the border has a tyrant in charge. I also don’t understand the reasons for this and we might get a clearer message at some point, but suggesting that the US government does anything better is specious at best.

mapsguy1955: "South of the border has a tyrant in charge. I also don’t understand the reasons for this and we might get a clearer message at some point, but suggesting that the US government does anything better is specious at best. "

I couldn’t agree more.

mapsguy1955: "South of the border has a tyrant in charge. I also don’t understand the reasons for this and we might get a clearer message at some point, but suggesting that the US government does anything better is specious at best. "

On the evening of November 5, 2024, 49.9% of Americans also couldn't understand the reasons for placing a tyrant back in the White House. The fact that the executive branch of our government continues to be abusive towards Canada is also completely perplexing, since it would be hard to come up with a better neighbor than Canada. And mapsguy1955 is spot on - no one should use U.S. management of public lands and wilderness areas as a model for success.

LarryNC: "

Since I decided to go to WCPP on a Thursday afternoon and had to start the long drive 72 hours later, I was limited to only what I could access electronically. I used print outs of my route from Padd1e P1anner and I loaded all the padd1e p1anner route, campsite, and portage data into the Gaia GPS app on my phone. Normally, I primarily navigate using topo maps (Fisher and/or McKenzie maps for Quetico), but that wasn't an option for this trip and what I had available ended up working very well.

That is a great idea Sunburn. We have not tried to use GPS yet -- kinda low tech over here -- but maybe this is the year for the upgrade.


Would you be willing to list the lakes in your route? We will have either 11 or 13 nights, like to travel every day and typically single portage on decent trails."

I significantly "under-planned" our route with only six travel days over a nine day trip due to a nasty flare up of lower back problems and sciatica the first couple weeks of July. Our loop consisted of:
Day 1: Leano - Bunny - Bootjack - Unnamed - Unnamed - East Lunch - campsite JV
Day 2: East Lunch - Lunch - Jake - pond - unnamed - pond - Mexican Hat - campsite GV
Day 3: Mexican Hat - Burnt Rock Lake (unnamed on PP) - pond - SW corner of Jake - unnamed - Paull - campsite MN Paull lake had excellent lake trout fishing the day we paddled through.
Day 4: Paull - Sturgeon River - Upper Kilburn - Middle Kilburn - campsite PB
Day 5: Middle Kilburn - Kilburn - campsite NT Note: we were on Kilburn for two days and it is common to see small motorboats from a nearby lodge
Day 6: Kilburn - pond - creek - Leano - and back to the truck.

If we had it to do over again, we would probably spend much less time on lower Kilburn and more time somewhere between Mexican Hat and Middle Kilburn.

I significantly "under-planned" our route with only six travel days over a nine day trip due to a nasty flare up of lower back problems and sciatica the first couple weeks of July. Our loop consisted of:
Day 1: Leano - Bunny - Bootjack - Unnamed - Unnamed - East Lunch - campsite JV
Day 2: East Lunch - Lunch - Jake - pond - unnamed - pond - Mexican Hat - campsite GV
Day 3: Mexican Hat - Burnt Rock Lake (unnamed on PP) - pond - SW corner of Jake - unnamed - Paull - campsite MN Paull lake had excellent lake trout fishing the day we paddled through.
Day 4: Paull - Sturgeon River - Upper Kilburn - Middle Kilburn - campsite PB
Day 5: Middle Kilburn - Kilburn - campsite NT Note: we were on Kilburn for two days and it is common to see small motorboats from a nearby lodge
Day 6: Kilburn - pond - creek - Leano - and back to the truck.


If we had it to do over again, we would probably spend much less time on lower Kilburn and more time somewhere between Mexican Hat and Middle Kilburn."

Thanks Sunburn, greatly appreciated. We are still figuring out a plan as we pivot from Quetico. What lures do you like for lake trout?

Looks like this thread is coming off the rails no??

rick00001967: "Looks like this thread is coming off the rails no??"

Sorry about that Rick, I got sidetracked thinking about WCPP due to the closure that cancelled our Quetico permit, as with others, and then got a little too excited thinking about lake trout. ;>]

LarryNC: "

rick00001967: "Looks like this thread is coming off the rails no??"

Sorry about that Rick, I got sidetracked thinking about WCPP due to the closure that cancelled our Quetico permit, as with others, and then got a little too excited thinking about lake trout. ;>] "

haha who could blame you right??

campnfish: "Correct just an iphone, i would assume its using wifi. I understand what might appear as simple solutions, call in advance or using wifi at the ranger stations with your own phone. But, for whatever reason I have not seen any information on how that would work even prior to the fires. I think at least for 2026 the southern entry after ranger stations close is not going to be possible, that would probably be the same for early spring trips next year 2027.



I got lucky and made it into the southern entry in July, and it would be nice to do that again this fall, but right now my plan is northern entry."

This year in January I was able to make a short jaunt across the border because I still had a valid RABC and they said for the off season that your printed reservation was a valid permit. No detour to a ranger station necessary. I’m really hoping that this is possible again this year with the new phone reporting system.