We are looking to explore some PMA's north of Mudro this fall. Is the special issue permit required if you camp overnight in a PMA during October? We will have a regular permit as we are entering in September, but are staying into October. I don't think we will get to Ely before the ranger station closes on the day we enter.

I appreciate your insights.
paddinjoe

Good question. May want to run it by FS with a phone call. I believe you can phone in "reservations" for a PMA stay so they can write it in their book and refer to it when other groups stop in and may possibly pass through that PMA. It's not so much a "permit" as it is a "record" to limit "crowds". Just make sure you call the appropriate ranger station that the PMA is in.

That is a good question.

I did phone mine in a couple days beforehand and "reserved" the PMA, but because I was camping, I had to show up at the Grand Marais Ranger Station to pick up a PMA permit.

Thanks for the comments . I did contact the Kawishiwi Ranger Station. A reservation is not required in October. The ranger did mention that if we did run into someone camping in October it would be courteous to move on and stay in a different zone. He also offered to make a reservation regarding a September overnight stay but, even though we'd made the reservation ahead of time, we'd still need to stop by the ranger station to pick up the PMA permit for legal PMA overnight access. He also confirmed that the PMA permit could not be picked up from an outfitter even if reserved ahead of time.

If we arrive in Ely priority the ranger station closing we will pick up an overnight PMA permit. If not, we will just explore during the daytime and possibly camp overnight in October.

Thanks for the report.....now we know

Yep, thanks for the update. Good info to know.