I am currently in the process of planning my first trip to WCPP and I am beyond fired up! If you had one word of wisdom to offer what would you pass on to a first timer to the park like me? Looking forward to your thoughts! BTW as I write this we are getting slammed by 10-22 inches of snow in Grand Forks! Ice out mid July? :)

C-

As an individual that has traveled through WCPP on 4 occasions, not that many, compared to some people, I would first and foremost make sure you have a good compass, map, and planning for the trip.
There are so many wonderful things in the Caribou, but you need to be prepared

This a wilderness area, not like the BWCA, there is a very good chance you will not see anyone else on your trip, so you need to be prepared for everything. On average, I have found the portages to be shorter, in good shape, but also harder to find. You'll need to look for blazes on trees, openings, and just be patient if you can't find the portage.

Fishing, for me, has always been beyond fantastic, wildlife spectacular. On my first trip, I had only been on the water for 5 minutes, and I came across a big beautiful moose.

Have fun, ask a bunch of questions, and don't be afraid to get ahold of Harlan at Red Lake Outfitters. He lives and breathes the Caribou, and can answer all your questions.

Since you are in Grand Forks you are a candidate to use the two accesses from Manitoba for Woodland Caribou. There is enough info at canoestories.com to get you started.

How many are going? How long? When? Which EP?

One word of wisdom. Plan!

At this point, there will be four of us and we plan to go from June 13th to the 18th. I have been in contact with Harlan and he is a really nice guy. Given our geography we are thinking we will go in at Wanipigow River.

C-

A couple of things.

If you have never tripped in Canada before be sure to read up on the regulations before you cross the border. Each person is limited to how much alcohol can be brought across, no live bait, any prescriptions need to be in original bottles with doctors name, drug name etc. If anyone in the group has had a DUI in the past few years you need to get that cleared before the trip as it may end up not allowing that person or you into the country.

As far as the trip itself be prepared for some great campsites and some small ones. Finding room for 2 or 3 tents can be a challenge on some sites. My self imposed group limit is 4, anything more than that and I think space might be a bigger issue. Portages are generally fairly easy to walk, but the landings can often be the hardest part of any portage. In general I find you will see less wildlife in WCPP than Quetico or BWCAW. Woodland Caribou are there but hard to find. I have seen Moose and heard of bears up there but I have never seen one.

Enjoy the solitude and adventure. It is an amazing place to spend some time.

quote Chross16: "At this point, there will be four of us and we plan to go from June 13th to the 18th. I have been in contact with Harlan and he is a really nice guy. Given our geography we are thinking we will go in at Wanipigow River.


C-"

If you go into the Wanipigow you could consider coming out on Garner and either leave a vehicle there or catch a ride back to Wallace. That would leave you a some nice route options. I don't know of any formal shuttle there but I am sure you could arrange one.

I really appreciate all your time and info! You have all given me some great stuff to think about.

C-

Yet another source of info for western WCPP
Mihun09's Wanipigow to Broken Arrow

quote Marten: "Since you are in Grand Forks you are a candidate to use the two accesses from Manitoba for Woodland Caribou. There is enough info at canoestories.com to get you started. "

... and then there is the Bird River entrance which also starts in Manitoba, also at least 3 reports on canoestories

It is nice to hear there are other ND paddlers out there! We lived in Grand Forks for a while but now live in Fargo. You guys did get hit with the snow and somehow we escaped with mostly wind. Anyways, it is always nice knowing there are other ND paddlers nearby.

Our first trip to Woodland Caribou and every one since then has been amazing. The fishing has been top notch and the solitude is perfect. We have seen bears and moose on our trip as well, no caribou, but one of Harlan's paddlers last year took an amazing photo. So you never know!

Our best advice is to understand your maps and that as others said, the portages seem shorter but slightly harder to find. You need to use your instincts, GPS, and maps. And after some time in the park you will understand how things work.

Another bit of advice...plan for wet feet. Several areas and portages land on floating bogs and you won't be having dry feet.

Enjoy planning and feel free to contact us with questions. We are just down the road and have lots of awesome WCPP stories.

Thanks for the links! the trip reports and stories get a guy hooked! I will have to spend more time on those sites reading all the goodness :)

McVacek it IS good to hear about more ND paddlers! I would love to catch up with you sometime and swap stories. It is always nice to make more paddling connections.

I am getting really fired up for June. It sounds amazing!

quote Chross16: "Thanks for the links! the trip reports and stories get a guy hooked! I will have to spend more time on those sites reading all the goodness :)


McVacek it IS good to hear about more ND paddlers! I would love to catch up with you sometime and swap stories. It is always nice to make more paddling connections.


I am getting really fired up for June. It sounds amazing!"

That would be fun! We travel to Grand Forks fairly often with friends in Buxton and our original paddling friends (Hence the "Vacek" portion of our name) live up there still. Or if you plan to be in Fargo, let us know. At least we know there is more than 2 ND paddlers (myself and my husband) around!!!

sounds great! I love talking paddling and meeting others that enjoy it as well. Stay Warm!

quote McVacek: " Or if you plan to be in Fargo, let us know. At least we know there is more than 2 ND paddlers (myself and my husband) around!!! "

I just delivered a canoe to I think his name is Raptor66 in west fargo. I know he's pretty pumped to go paddling this year.

Bogwalker; unless they have very recently changed the law you can take crawlers into Canada [they can't be in dirt only commercial bedding] and of course not into the commercial. That said I can't imagine why you would want to try to haul crawlers into WCPP, the fish really like plastic. A couple quick thoughts, watch your speed, Red Lake is the Ontario's highway patrol teaching area, lots of new officers about. It is illegal to haul anyone in the back of a pickup truck even with a topper on. FRED

There is no need to take any bait into the Caribou. Plastics, daredevils, spoons, rapalas, you name it work.