My son and I would like to try Wabakimi next year but do not know where to start. I have read several threads on in this section and have noted that the WBakimi trip planning map is sold out. So what I need is ideas on how to proceed.
Here is our background:
1). Son is very athletic but I am in moderately good shape.
2). We are experienced at flat water but limited in River experience.
3) Self outfitted.
4). Limited budget. A plane is probably out of the question but wouldn't that be great!
5). We have seven days available launch to exit.
6). It's all about fishing and photography for us. Base camp works but we enjoy some travel.

We will drive up from Michigan so Armstrong seems most sensible to me. Beyond that is a labyrinth . Quetico would be easier but Wabakimi beckons ...for now.
Please send me in the right direction.

Hi Thwarted,

I have done 10 trips with the Wabakimi Project, www.wabakimi.org
I am familiar with many areas in and around Wabakimi Park, and can be helpful in planning your routes.

I suggest you start with the Wabakimi Project website and then get back to me, mrcanoe or Phil Cotton at info@wabakimi.org
Our knowledge at the Wabakimi Project is unsurpassed in this huge and relatively untouched canoeing paradise.

And I have spent nine weeks with Uncle Phil and also three on my own in Wabakimi.

There are places with good fishing you can paddle to from Little Caribou just out of Armstrong or you can train in and paddle out. Or vice versa.

The Lookout River is a good option. Since VIA flip flopped the schedule training out may be better than getting dumped in in the middle of the night.

given your requirements the best bet is to experience it for the first time thru the Wabakimi Project

and if that wets your appetite, you'll be better prepared to self outfit the next time

There is a nice loop route on Crown Land off Caribou Lake that the Wabakimi Project mapped (and cleared old portages) in 2011. You could probably arrange shuttle via Caribou or Little Caribou through Wabakimi or Mattice Lake outfitters, then you could leave your vehicle with them in the Armstrong area. Walleye fishing was good on that loop and I doubt you'll see anyone, once off Caribou Lake. Some really pretty lakes and moose/bear siting reasonable. Check with Phil Cotton, if interested.

Are you kidding me! Uncle Phil himself responded. Now we are really cooking. Thanks guys.

Remember that for U.S. citizens, if camping on Crown land you must either rent your tent from a Canadian outfitter or pay the Crown Land permit fee. Since you are self-outfitted and on a tight budget, staying within Wabakimi PP may be a better option. You can easily enter at the bridge at the far south end of Little Caribou and then go around to catch Via Rail out or do an out and back. The out and back would be the least expensive option. The southern end of the park is just about all flat water paddling with a good mix of bigger and smaller lakes. Both Mattice Lake and Wabakimi outfitters can shuttle in/out and park your vehicle.

What kind of thinking is that? Rent a tent from an outfitter or pay a fine? That's extortion!
How about I just pay off an outfitter and use my own tent? I bought my stuff so that I know my gear is reliable. The BWCA is starting to look better all the time. First the stupid train fee for the canoe and now this. I don't mind paying for canoe transport if it is prorated like the rider fees. But $100.00 to go 25 miles? Come on. Who thinks this stuff up? It is so stupid it's funny!

quote Thwarted: "What kind of thinking is that? Rent a tent from an outfitter or pay a fine? That's extortion!
How about I just pay off an outfitter and use my own tent? I bought my stuff so that I know my gear is reliable. The BWCA is starting to look better all the time. First the stupid train fee for the canoe and now this. I don't mind paying for canoe transport if it is prorated like the rider fees. But $100.00 to go 25 miles? Come on. Who thinks this stuff up? It is so stupid it's funny!"

If you camp on Crown land and are a non resident of Canada you must pay $10 per person per night. One way around this is to rent a tent from an outfitter then you do not have to pay $10 a night. Sometimes I rent my own tent from an outfitter if I am staying several days on Crown Land. Tent rental is less than the Crown Land fee; if it is not I pay the ten bucks. Don't want to get a permit? Don't want to rent a tent? The CO's are active in Wabakimi. I think the fine is over two hundred fifty bucks per transgression.

Here is the MNR link



You don't like the VIA charges? You could just paddle in and paddle back. Its been pretty widely discussed that VIA is making canoeists lives miserable.

There is a price to pay for total solitude. All the chatter about campsite competition, portage etiquette in the BWCA is non applicable to Wabakimi. Camp where you like and eat your lunch on the portage. No one will notice.

I think of it as waiving the fee for citizens of Canada and supporting their tourism industry.

I get that. You guys have the better way to look at it and Crown Land is a bargain compared to a PP. Just hit me the wrong way. It seems like Wabakimi is determined to be difficult. I gladly pay the fees for the Q and understand the need to collect from users for land use. I'll just have to make my choices according to my budget. I am still going to go up and check it out. Maybe I can start a saving kitty for a fly in/paddle out every five years and go to the Q in other years. No doubt Canada offers the best wilderness experience in North America and it is affordable even with the extortion. ;)

No offense intended. Thanks to all of you who have worked hard to make the area viable.

Don't give up so easily. Anyone who has been on the Wabakimi Project trips knows you can access the Crown Lands from Hwy 599 on the west side of the park and avoid the train fees and do a nice 7 day loop trip. Save the $100+ train fees and put it toward the Crown Land fees. And like somebody said, rent your tent from an outfitter and avoid the crown land fees (wink wink). Canoeing Wabakimi really isn't as difficult as it may seem.
P.S. I say camp on the crown lands because they are no different from the park proper and offer everything you can find inside the park. I've done 10 trips, 6 of them outside the park on Crown Lands and the Albany River, and really can't tell the difference.

Sounds good to me.

Just to throw my two cents in here, I'm going into the park next June with the Wabakimmi Project for the first time. Seemed like an excellent way to get some paddling and fishing in while experiencing a "new" wilderness. I've looked at the web site for the WP and the pdfs on 'work to be done' and it looks like some nice trips laid out! Actually looking forward to the trail maintenance piece and "divining the portages" which I've found to be challenging --- and rewarding -- in other places such as the QP :)

Anyway, I'm sure that some if not many of you are already familiar with the WP and are making similar plans.....good to have a couple of these things in the works to keep motivated for this onset of winter and "ice-in" :)

Mrcanoe, I'm just curious if there is an 'electronic version' in pdf for example of an old WP trip planning map? Or is what is on the website pretty much what everyone has (who doesn't own a paper copy)? Would love to take a look at something with a bit more detail....but then again I suppose that I could just buy the topos for what I want to look at! Let me know if there is somewhere that I haven't thought to look for that --- realize that the 'current version' is being prepared for publication shortly as well...

I'll take a stab at that one...As far as I know, there is no online planning map like WCPP has.
However, there is an Ontario MNR Topo map site

You can play around with that and then decide which topos to buy.

The Wab Proj maps are very good for planning a trip. They show existing campsites and portages. The portages have blowup maps to give detail about distance and river right or left.

quote jcavenagh: "I'll take a stab at that one...As far as I know, there is no online planning map like WCPP has.
However, there is an Ontario MNR Topo map site

You can play around with that and then decide which topos to buy.

The Wab Proj maps are very good for planning a trip. They show existing campsites and portages. The portages have blowup maps to give detail about distance and river right or left."

Thanks! That's actually very helpful. I can manipulate jpegs and pdfs in my Adobe Acrobat and have downloaded all the WP maps of work completed --- which give me a pretty fair idea of what's out there (and what will need to be done in 2014 :) and allows me to edit them as I will need.

I'll also take a look again at the MNR topo site. I've seen some sites that will allow you to purchase cheaper -- but my google chrome & antivirus didn't trust them --- so I've gone with outfitters to get some of these cheaper. Thanks again for the suggestions!

Another great site for online Ont. Gov. Topos is Gmap4

http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.html

Especially t2 and t5 in their terrain drop down menu.

Hey! That Gmap4 is nice! Thanks.

you can get free topo if you print them yourself, that's what I do
and better yet I can pan & zoom so I get them looking exactly as I want

So, Thwarted, did you paddle Wabakimi this summer?

I can manipulate jpegs and pdfs in my Adobe Acrobat and have downloaded all the WP maps of work completed --- which give me a pretty fair idea of what's out there (and what will need to be done in 2014 :) and allows me to edit them as I will need.

Thwarted: I'm delighted the maps on The Wabakimi Project website were of value in helping you plan your canoe trip. You are welcome to download and print them and even edit them for your own personal use but, please be advised, they are protected by copyright and cannot be sold or distributed. Thanks for your consideration in this matter.