I have been on many bwca trips before with my dad and recently the last two years we have taken my son who will be seven next year. I've about had it with the Bwca and want to try out the Q. My question is can you suggest a good Five day four night route for my son and father and me? We enjoy fishing But it's not our main priority, my son really likes finding new campsites and exploring them the most. I don't want to kill him with portages as he sometimes gets tired, but I don't mind doing a few of day. Not a real rugged trip I'm looking for, something simple and easy. I'm open to either base camping or a short loop or backtrack the same way I came in. Entering at either side of the park does not matter to me either.

Thanks for all your help

Beaverhouse entry: long waters with few portages
excellent fishing, many possible routes from here
really, for your trip length I wouldn't consider any other entry

Thanks I normally get canoe from ely. Any outfitters near there you recommend to rent canoe / bunk house night before? How much farther drive from ely area?

quote ZaraSp00k: "Beaverhouse entry: long waters with few portages
excellent fishing, many possible routes from here
really, for your trip length I wouldn't consider any other entry"

+1. Try Morris Camp outside of Atikokan for overnight accommodations and drop-off / pick-up.

Another happy Morris Camp user here. Moose has Shuttle service to all northern access points for quetico park, canoe rental and overnight lodging. He also can whip you up a great breakfast before your trip. Beaverhouse into Quetico lake would be a great idea beautiful lake, rock cliffs, pictographs, good campsites. some with sand beaches. Anthony

quote moose664788: "I have been on many bwca trips before with my dad and recently the last two years we have taken my son who will be seven next year. I've about had it with the Bwca and want to try out the Q. My question is can you suggest a good Five day four night route for my son and father and me? We enjoy fishing But it's not our main priority, my son really likes finding new campsites and exploring them the most. I don't want to kill him with portages as he sometimes gets tired, but I don't mind doing a few of day. Not a real rugged trip I'm looking for, something simple and easy. I'm open to either base camping or a short loop or backtrack the same way I came in. Entering at either side of the park does not matter to me either.

Thanks for all your help"

+1

quote ZaraSp00k: "Beaverhouse entry: long waters with few portages
excellent fishing, many possible routes from here
really, for your trip length I wouldn't consider any other entry"

+1

I am taking my 7 year old son up for the first time June 5 or 6, we were going for 10 - 12 days any suggestions. I was thinking of Beaverhouse, but just wanted to see if any other options. I was thinking of going out of Staton Bay and head down through Dore, Russell and into Kawanipi. I haven't been all the way to Kawanipi but went to Russell last year and had a great time with my wife and it was her first time. We had 10 days too. Thank you all any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Moosehopper: I second the Beaverhouse suggestion -- I would opt for that -- not Kawnipi from Stanton -- with your son. --Goose

Moosehopper: Maybe start a new thread for your trip? (Kind of confusing having 2 "moose" names posting about 2 different trips on the same thread, IMO. --Goose

If you want to start from Ely, Carp L and Basswood are good possibilities.

Beaverhouse is great, though hard to avoid all big water. If you wanted to go out of Ely a Man Chain and border return is not too hard for 5 days. I've always been around dead Mans Portage on night two, so if turning south it would seem you could be on Jasper or Ottertrack by night two.

Hard to beat Louisa falls for a boy also - and while the Meadows portages are longish, they're not that hard, or go through North to West and into Agnes - again facing possibility of big water on Bayley.

Beaverhouse

Thank you all for your wonderful comments. I'm sorry about the confusion on the "Moose" name thing.

It is great to have such a supportive community of like spirited people, you guys/gals are great.

I agree with the Beaverhouse idea. Its a haul to get there, but worth it. If you want to go out of Ely, though, I would suggest making Agnes your destination. Kids love Louisa falls. Last summer I did a 3 night, 4 day trip to Agnes with 2 7 year olds and a newbie. We did the Meadows portages both ways. Got 1/2 up Agnes the first day, spent 3 nights and came back. Kids did great. Another option, particularly if you have another couple days, is to head up to North Bay on day 1 (there are some great campsites), and then do the S chain to Agnes and then back down. Yes, its more portages, but other than the Meadows, none are long, and the Meadows really aren't bad as long as its a dry day. Enjoy!

Thanks alot you guys are awesome.

quote mahltc: "I agree with the Beaverhouse idea. Its a haul to get there, but worth it. If you want to go out of Ely, though, I would suggest making Agnes your destination. Kids love Louisa falls. Last summer I did a 3 night, 4 day trip to Agnes with 2 7 year olds and a newbie. We did the Meadows portages both ways. Got 1/2 up Agnes the first day, spent 3 nights and came back. Kids did great. Another option, particularly if you have another couple days, is to head up to North Bay on day 1 (there are some great campsites), and then do the S chain to Agnes and then back down. Yes, its more portages, but other than the Meadows, none are long, and the Meadows really aren't bad as long as its a dry day. Enjoy!"

Was also going to suggest the S-chain up to Agnes, then down through Louisa. Not a lot of portages and can be done in 5 days. Even do a tow up to PP on Moose.

Another Beaverhouse vote here.

I stayed on BH with my granddaughter's first trip 2 years ago. Was a zero portage trip, had 100% solitude (in August) and caught great fish.

You can paddle to the West end (pictos there) and fish for days without seeing a soul.

Can also portage (100 yards) into Quetico for more variety.

Old Hoosier

Hey moose664788 - did you go? OP was November of last year. Curious minds want to know.

quote billconner: "Hey moose664788 - did you go? OP was November of last year. Curious minds want to know."

We did and what an awesome trip it was.

Got the tow to Prarie Portage, then since I was a unaware portaged all my gear across finding out later that I did not need to do it since I was heading towards Carp, LOL.

We settled on an easy trip, My Dad (68) is in great shape but doesn't want to be in a Canoe all day, and my son only 7 (but his third trip) made only sense.

We went into Emerald the first night, by far my favorite lake, on first night. Night 2 & 3 That Man small island site but awesome view. Night 4 back on Carp.

Being my first Q trip but being a seasoned BWCA tripper, I am now sold on the Q. What I truly appreciated the most was not having to feel so rushed and hurried to find a campsite by noon. We were able to mess around camp, eat breakfast explore, and still find an awesome sites. Ohh and maybe the fact that we Saw only 1 canoe in 5 days helped and that the fishing was unbelievable made a differnce.

Thanks for all your help again. My cousin wants to go next year on a trip and I was orginally going to take him to BWCA, but after this trip, I think I will always be going to the Q.

quote moose664788: "

quote billconner: "Hey moose664788 - did you go? OP was November of last year. Curious minds want to know."

We did and what an awesome trip it was. "

Great to hear, Moose. What a great three-generation canoe trip, too. Hope you took lots of pics. The memories will be priceless.

quote moose664788: "We did and what an awesome trip it was."

The first time I went that way it was amazing how it was crowded and not very pleasant till we hit Carp and turned north and suddenly - aha - solitude. But even Basswood river on a Q permit is much more pleasant than on a BWCA permit.

I've got a lot of places I want to go but I'm sure the day will come - too soon - that I'll be happy spending a week basing on Carp and environs. With a tow to PP, few weather worries, and there are a couple of nice Q site on Birch!

quote billconner: "

quote moose664788: "We did and what an awesome trip it was."

The first time I went that way it was amazing how it was crowded and not very pleasant till we hit Carp and turned north and suddenly - aha - solitude. But even Basswood river on a Q permit is much more pleasant than on a BWCA permit.

I've got a lot of places I want to go but I'm sure the day will come - too soon - that I'll be happy spending a week basing on Carp and environs. With a tow to PP, few weather worries, and there are a couple of nice Q site on Birch!"

Totally agree heading to Carp I was like wow it is really busy here, after Indian portage walla instant solitude.

Then on the way out I was reminded passing through birch how crowded BWCA can be.

Basswood river sounds in Quetico sounds great. Is it a good trip for kids? What entry do you use? Very far from pp?

My second trip on the Basswood River began at PP and ended at EP14. First day paddle up Moose in afternoon to camp near PP, and next day enter Q and a long paddle down Basswood to top of falls; horse portage in the am, and I think 3 camps to LLC and Fish Stake Narrows. Lots of paddling versus number of portages (after the horse portage). Upper and Lower Basswood Falls, Wheelbarrow Falls, Rebecca Falls, Curtain Falls, Bottle Rapids. Lots of island campsites, great bays to explore, and Warrior Hill. We had entered on a BWCA permit re-entered BWCA at Fish Stake Narrows on that permit, so I think 4 nights in the Q.

Other trip was from Sarah through Gardner and back to PP. I have paddled most of length of Basswood several times and enjoy it.

Is it real good for beginner paddlers? One of those was with first timers and it was fine but pleasant weather. You'd have to accept that you might loose a day or two if bad weather persisted on Basswood Lake. Or catch a two to end of motor zone I suppose.

I do recall one portage was like 50 yards of clay soup.