Thanks for having this forum and letting me in. I am new to anything related to Wabakimi. My son and I have taken 4 trips to BWCA and the Q we are looking for a little more adventure and a true wilderness trip so have been considering Wabakimi for our trip this spring.

Having no experience with the area I have some basic questions. We are basically base campers who enjoy fishing more than traveling, is this a good area to try? If so any suggestions on a lake or general area?

We have been camping in the hammocks for 3 years now and prefer it, but I have heard that may not be suitable up there due to shallow soil and trees to hang from, is that right?

What is the best mode of transport into the park? I think the train sounds cool but not a must. How much expense involved and also how much driving from Indiana?

Lots of questions I know, just trying to figure if the trip is even possible at this time.

I will try again. I have been to Wabakimi a total of three months..cant remember how many trips..some were one week and some two.

No roads touch the park. Thats where the train comes in but regrettably VIA swopped the nice westbound schedule they used to have and the train leaves Armstrong at ten at night(sometimes it is late). Regrettably you get ejected off therefore at midnight and you are not allowed to camp on the railroad right of way.(law aside the freight trains during the night would dissuade you anyhow).

Hammocks can be iffy as black spruce as you have read are shallow rooted. But I would think that with a little care you could hammock. Not all trees are spindly.

Well you cant drive into the park. The train is not as convenient as it used to be. Most folks fly. There are a number of fishing lodges in the park. However fishing traffic falls off in August and some of the lodges shuttered. Ice out is around May 20. I do not know how to fish but have no problem getting two walleye in about ten minutes.

Fly in can be expensive.. Figure about a thousand to get in and out. You are charged for two round trips a person. Yep you have to pay for the empty going back to town plane.

Some of the lakes are quite large. Wabakimi Lake has a few outlets that are interesting to explore.

Check out my trip report - One Less Item on the Bucket List.
YC knows this area a whole better than I do, but we just planned and executed a trip this summer. He is correct. Train-in option is not very a good option.
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it is possible to drive to wabikimi from armstrong station by using the caribou lake road and access. no float planes or trains required. from duluth it is about nine hours. also a decent entry point as it is immediate wilderness and involves some nice lake / river travel. we've used this access several times and have never had any problems, though i admit i am uncomfortable with leaving a vehicle is a spot like this.

quote jwartman59: "it is possible to drive to wabikimi from armstrong station by using the caribou lake road and access. no float planes or trains required. from duluth it is about nine hours. also a decent entry point as it is immediate wilderness and involves some nice lake / river travel. we've used this access several times and have never had any problems, though i admit i am uncomfortable with leaving a vehicle is a spot like this."

Yes but you are a day out of Wabakimi. That is known as a real bad spot to leave cars. I have gone in and out there and always use a shuttle.

Its is a FN meeting site and sometimes outside vehicles are unwelcome. Not going to start an argument, but there are incidents. Once I have passed a local unconscious on the road from ETOH and another time a mugging was attempted (but the fella was too drunk and missed). There is a problem there..lets just say be vigilant.

The route up to Big Lake and Hollingsworth and the Raymond River out of Little Caribou has been finally cleared I believe this year( though I did not go to Wabakimi this year. We started working on it in 2007).

Don;t forget that end of the park and the Crown Lands that surround the park. There really is no requirement to stay in Park boundaries.

The route up the Caribou River to Smoothrock through LC and Caribou Lake is getting beat to death and the campsites I have seen all look like they need thunderboxes. There is one awful structure on an island in the river.

Are there shuttles available at reasonable cost so you can leave your car in town? What about from the west side? I thought I had seen some outfitters on the west as well.

to the OP's question, I suggest you make the progression BWCA/Quetico/Woodland Caribou, then Wabakimi.
The primary routes into Wabakimi require river travel, then you can base camp. The nice thing about Woodland Caribou is that it is actually wilder near the boundary since the interior has many fly in fishing camps.
just my .02

quote BillConner01: "Are there shuttles available at reasonable cost so you can leave your car in town? What about from the west side? I thought I had seen some outfitters on the west as well."

I have used Mattice Lake Outfitters several times. The car is NOT left in town..Ever..especially at the site of the former train station.

MLO stores the car on their property..guarded by Thunder.

Phil Cotton (Voyageur over on CCR) has as head of the Wabakimi Project used a shuttle on the west side. I am not sure but believe the outfitter is a shuttle service only and not complete outfitter and is out of Pickle Lake.

jcavenagh I really enjoyed the trip report great pictures, that is just the kind of thing I was looking for to get a feel for the area. Thanks everyone for the invaluable information it really helps a guy get started on a trip that will require so much planning. I hope we can make this work out for us this year. Another question I have is, what is the weather like that far north in mid June? That is when we have traditionally gone to BW or the Q.

Buggy. And it can get hot.. Bring a cotton shirt as well as your normal canoe tripping wear.

It often gets near 100 and you can also get a freeze. Just be prepared for anything.

Phil Cotton of the Wabakimi Project will be at Canoecopia. No one else knows the park like he does.

I may be wrong, but I think US citizens have to pay a fee to use Crown Lands. Is that correct?? We paddled right through and did not stay overnight on Crown Lands so we didn't pay a separate fee, but I think I was told that if you stay overnight you have pay like $10 or something??

I would not leave a car at the Little Caribou put in. The outfitters will keep your vehicle at their place and shuttle you in/out. The put in there is just a wide spot in the road by a little bridge. Pay the $10 for the shuttle...money well spent.

Also, in my research last year I remember seeing somewhere that you can hire a shuttle from one outfitter or another to take your vehicle from one side of the park to the other. That way you can enter on the west and come out on the east. We briefly considered it, but decided that the train in the woods was just too cool to pass up.

quote jcavenagh: "I may be wrong, but I think US citizens have to pay a fee to use Crown Lands. Is that correct?? We paddled right through and did not stay overnight on Crown Lands so we didn't pay a separate fee, but I think I was told that if you stay overnight you have pay like $10 or something??"

that is correct, but if you rent a tent from an Ontario commercial outfitter, you are exempt

I have always wondered if there was a $10 tent option where you "accidentally" forget to bring the tent, this would allow the outfitter to keep the 10 bucks

jcavenagh: who do you go to a shuttle for $10? if that's all it is, I can't see leaving your car at the bridge.

you have to pay to camp on crown land in ontario if you are non-canadian. as i understand it this fee does not apply in manitoba, and manitoba has better canoeing, go figure.

as I understand it, this was the last year you could camp for free, starting next year it will cost non-residents 10 bucks like Ontario

quote jwartman59: "you have to pay to camp on crown land in ontario if you are non-canadian. as i understand it this fee does not apply in manitoba, and manitoba has better canoeing, go figure."

Here is the official link

Better is subjective.. Northeast Ontario is spectacular.

And watch the greenzones. US citizens cannot legally camp there period.

There is a link to the greenzone map on the above page.

ZSpOOk - We [partially outfitted with Wildwaters and the shuttle from the lodge was $10 I believe, as part of the package we signed up for. But on their website I think they mention that you can park at their place and shuttle even if you have your canoes and gear. For us parking was included, but if parking is all you need they will charge something per day I believe.

Anyway, K2, I think you should go. It really is a wilderness and there are very few other folks around, even in the most popular part of the park. Fishing, of course, is better earlier in the summer.

I really think that you will have very little problem with 2 hammocks. I would bet that you will hang warm and dry every night. We had 2 tents and so there was actually at least 2 good hanging spots at every campsite we were at. The tents just had to go in a good hanging spot because there were no other good tent sites.

Would anybody be willing to give any good ideas on which lakes I should be looking at. My thought is we will do the fly in, fly out thing and base camp all week. I would like to be able to do some day trips to other lakes and explore and fish. Not asking anyone to give up their favorite fishing spots, unless you want to, of course.

How big a lake are you comfortable on?

It sounds like you are looking for one with lots of inlets and outlets.

Wabakimi has several but is a very big lake.

Kenoji has Ogoki River coming in an also out and the Palisades River enters there too. Whitewater Lake has a number of inflows and outflows though the inflow from the south is a trickle by August.

I would contact Mattice Lake Outfitters for more about flights and ...fishing.There are a number of opportunities out of the park too.

That said fishing in the evening and catching anywhere against the windward shore or in a pool eddyline was always productive.

smoothrock, granite, brennan & heathcote are large lakes with many bays, arms, and islands that you could spend a week exploring

elf is a bit smaller but more off the beaten track, if you are going for fishing from a fly in base camp, that's what i'd look for, a lake that isn't on a main route like alan water, flindt, or ogoki

not because the fishing would be better, but because sometime later you can hit those other places by paddling in and out

if you aren't particular about being in a designated park and just want to base camp / fish, i would call an outfitter in this area and tell them your desires. this is a bigger than a huge area, bigger that alaska by ***, almost all real wilderness. untouched lakes, willing fish. north of wabakimi you don't need to be in a park, it is still as wild as ever. let the outfitter know what you desire and i am sure they can help you out. don't wait though, this area is a hotbed of natural resources, minerals, the geologists are all over it. get your son up here, tomorrow, someday he will thank you forever.

Reality check:
There are 43 outpost cabins in Wabakimi and most are used by fishermen.They were grandfathered in.

In fishing season ergo those lakes will have people in Lunds with outboards. If you go after June, not so much fishing traffic.

If you go outside the park you may find some campsites that have been used by locals for years. Some of them are not very pretty( We filled a 20 foot freighter canoe we found on shore with all the junk we found on an island in Velos Lake. But all of them are not dumps.

Just want to warn you that Wabakimi is not all wilderness all the time and not all pristine.

Smoothrock is not my favorite though the lower end toward the Lookout River is very pretty. You can train to Shultzs and go up Onamakawash Lake to the Lookout River. A series of waterfalls on that river to Smoothrock. Access points here for the VIA

Wabakimi access

More info here. Do not bring your 18.5 foot canoe on the train if you use it. Max 18 feet. Otherwise its freight and the rates go up twenty fold.

Wabakimi map

We traversed Smoothrock and down to Schutlzs Trail in Aug 2011. Very pretty. But for fishing, earlier in the season is what you want. Say June.
JWart is right. Call an outfitter. Mattice Lake caters to fly in/out fishermen and will really be able to guide you to what you want.
Again, if you go outside the parks and are on Crown Land there are specific rules. The outfitter knows those better than I ever will and will keep you kosher.

Good point yellowcanoe, if your tolerance for boaters is low, better stay away from the lakes with outposts, and as has been pointed out, an outfitter in the area would be your best bet to point you in the right direction of what the OP is looking for.

It took me less than 10 minutes to catch my first Wabakimi walleye and within a half hour had 3 that ran 2 ½ to 4 pounds. Fish where the river/stream inlet is in the spring and you’ll be eatin’ good no matter what lake you are on. Trolling will catch a Northern just about anywhere within a half hour, if not the first couple minutes. And the northerns there are much tastier than you'll find back home. And bigger too.

quote jwartman59: "it is possible to drive to wabikimi from armstrong station by using the caribou lake road and access. no float planes or trains required. from duluth it is about nine hours. also a decent entry point as it is immediate wilderness and involves some nice lake / river travel. we've used this access several times and have never had any problems, though i admit i am uncomfortable with leaving a vehicle is a spot like this."

I've parked my vehicle at the Caribou Lake landing and left it there while on a 22-day paddle. No problems. Several other vehicles were there, too. There used to be a lodge there, but I don't know if it still exists. I've also put in at Little Caribou for a trip up to the Albany River and James Bay, but left the car at the OPP station in town and got a ride back to the put-in. Don't even think about leaving a car at Little Caribou.

Although you will need to backtrack some, a Caribou Lake put-in isn't bad at all. Who cares if you're not immediately in the park? The terrain is the same anyway. On a long trip it won't matter one bit.

As for hammocks. If you like using them there are plenty of places in the park where the sandy soils are thick enough to support good-sized jack pines and black spruce.

It sounds like the park is getting far more use than it did 15 to 25 years ago, when you could paddle for weeks and not see another canoe...

quote ZaraSp00k: "The primary routes into Wabakimi require river travel, then you can base camp."

True, but these are pool and drop rivers, and the rapids are bypassed by portages. No problem.

quote arctic:
It sounds like the park is getting far more use than it did 15 to 25 years ago, when you could paddle for weeks and not see another canoe..."

just the reverse. i've spoken with don elliott on the subject several times. flying his float planes all over that area, in years past it was unusual not to see a canoe, now it's unusual to see a canoe. besides a trip with cotton, i've seen only two canoes in the last seven weeks of paddling in the park and around the park boundary. cotton only saw two canoes all season this year while documenting portages in the area, although it was not the best year for travel with fires and then very low water.

wildwaters sends trips down certain routes in wabakimi pp, if you're off those traveled routes, you probably won't see canoes.

Yes. Even though our route this year went through one of the most popular areas of the park, we only saw one other canoe party. And those folks were wildwaters customers, too.
I would like to spend a week or so in the NE section of the park, e.g Gremm, VanCleaf and Sollows. I suspect I would never see another human up there. Has Cotton's group mapped those portages?

We only ran into one other canoe party of four guys- all from Switzerland- during our Sept trip.

But...we saw plenty of float planes and helicopters which sorta made up for the lack of paddlers. :{

Yes. I think if there were no big fires, we would not have seen or heard any choppers. A few float planes, probably...