In short, an Ontario Provincial Parks promotion, 3 nights in each Quetico, Wabakimi, and Woodland Caribou. Quest There is a prize drawing for all who complete it but hardly the reason. I'm thinking about attempting it, all in one two week oddesey, probably with my new-to-me solo.

I wondered if anyone here had done it or was thinking about it.

I did this last summer. Sent in the application form completed. WCPP park administration gets a hold of you to confirm receipt.

Anyone know who won?

The four year promotion period ended last week. Be a fun, unique thing to do anyway though.

Should be interesting to see how many participated. I thought it originally was set for three years however it look like they extended it. I've been intending to get back to WCPP and Wabakimi for the past two summers so they might be a possibility for next summer -- win or lose this drawing.

I think they had less than ten - maybe way less - going into third year. No idea how many actually qualified but I'll bet less than 100 - and less than 20 would not surprise me.

Why so few entries? I would be interested in doing this, with or w/o the contest.

Quetico pulls the most visitors. WCPP a fraction of that total and Wabakimi less than 700 or so canoeists a year if I remember correctly. It's harder to qualify for the quest simply because not many are interested in doing Wabakimi (in comparison to the other parks). At least, that's my guess.

Yeah, I had every intention of trying to do this but to somebody who's used to planning and outfitting my trips 100% on my own, Wabakimi is a tough nut to crack. Very little planning information available, very few ways to enter the park without paying an outfitter. WCPP may in fact be just as remote, but there's so much more planning information out there, it feels much more approachable.

In the end I didn't get to either WCPP or Wabakimi before the promotion ended. Maybe they'll do it again, and I'll get all three in.

There is plenty of trip planning information available for Wabakimi Provincial Park and the entire Wabakimi area. In the last 15 years an area of 6 million acres has been explored, and mapped. It has been promoted both through the Ontario Parks system and through the Wabakimi Project at Canoecopia, the Midwest Mountaineering Show and other shows in the upper midwest. The Friends of Wabakimi has a Face Book page and website, and there is a Wabakimi Forum on this website. Where have you been?

goatroti: "Where have you been? "

Me personally, I've mostly been under a rock called "my career". :) It is really wonderful, as wonderful as everyone told me it would be, to be crawling out from under its weight. Thanks for the ideas and the resources! I love this forum so much.

goatroti: "There is plenty of trip planning information available for Wabakimi Provincial Park and the entire Wabakimi area. In the last 15 years an area of 6 million acres has been explored, and mapped. It has been promoted both through the Ontario Parks system and through the Wabakimi Project at Canoecopia, the Midwest Mountaineering Show and other shows in the upper midwest. The Friends of Wabakimi has a Face Book page and website, and there is a Wabakimi Forum on this website. Where have you been?
"

Sure, I'm aware of the Wabakimi Project. When I get serious about planning that trip I'll definitely use their maps. I also had a nice conversation with one of the outfitters last year at MWM's expo, and I bought an overview map. But Wabakimi is still much less approachable than the other two, in my opinion. Maybe I'm just intimidated by it. Part of it is logistical - it seems way easier to get in to WCPP, and of course the Q is easy to get into.

I agree TominMpls. Number of entry points and roads to them, number of outfitters, options for lodging and eating, map series.

Wabakimi is not as hard to get into as some may think. The Wabakimi forum on this board contains some info. Check it out. In particular check out the “Drive Up Access” thread - jcavenagh and HighnDry have made a number of trips using drive in access in the Wabakimi area. And look at the most recent post by OregonDave. He and his daughter did a nice trip which can be accessed off the railroad and exited via road pickup and can be easily completed in a week. In fact, most paddlers access the park and surrounding Crown Lands via the railroad (Canadian National Via Rail).

Thanks for the shout-out deerfoot. You've done far more trips into Wabakimi than I have but the 702rd off of the highway just north of Savant Lake is pretty easy way to get into the west end of the park. That's the completely self-outfitted route. There are also a couple of ways to get into the Ogoki river area south of the railroad. I've traded electronic correspondence with at least one other member about their annual trips up into the that general area. So there's more than one option for getting into the park that does not included rail or air via Armstrong. Nothing wrong with the latter either -- just a few more dollars :)

...and 702 can get you into the crown land west of the park. Silver Lake, Pride Lake, Virginian Creek, Savant Lake and the area south of there, Smye Lake, Jutten Lake, Harold Lake etc.. endless routes... all mapped. Wabakimi Project, Volume 2.
The crown land lakes and routes are beautiful in there. A little overgrown since 2009-10. There is really no need to go into the park.

With all the knowledge and first hand experience available on this board there is no reason to not try a Wabakmi area trip if you are just a bit adventuresome. The solitude is so worth it.

But who won the Canoe?

My wife and I completed the Wilderness Quest together. We experienced some incredible adventures in three beautiful wilderness areas. We are both extremely proud of our souvenir stickers, but we are anxiously awaiting the results of the grand prize drawing. If anybody sees the results of the drawing posted somewhere then please share it here.

Thanks.