We are planning trip to Lac la Croix Tiger Bay area in July. I have not camped on many islands and was wondering about bear issues/firewood/camp availability in the Tiger Bay area of Lac la Croix. I have heard of bear issues in the area and on Agnes. We have never had bear issues in over 20 years in BWCA/Quetico, but we keep a clean camp. I was also wondering if Agnes would have campsites available if we stop early around 2:00 the first day in. I have heard Agnes can be very crowded. Thanks so much for your help!

Bears are a crap shoot on the year and how people have done before you in that area.

As for the islands, stuff gets picked over right nearby but plenty of other shorelines to head for and walk in to find it or just wander the island.

Agnes at 2pm....could have 5 sites open or could be full. I've seen it both ways.

Bears will show up on islands, too. I am hoping to do this area one more time in my life, but we have always stopped off on Agnes. I am hoping that pushing a bit further into LLC would reduce the chances of bear encounters, not sure. Last year, we stopped short and stayed on Nina Moose due to multiple nuisance bear stories on Agnes. Love the north peninsula sites and fishing, but that seemed to be the epicenter.

Bears love to swim and love islands because foolish campers get lazy with food storage. Paddle away from camp 300 yards and there will be tons of firewood.

Jaywalker: " Paddle away from camp 300 yards and there will be tons of firewood."

TuscaroraBorealis: "

Jaywalker: " Paddle away from camp 300 yards and there will be tons of firewood."

"

German Shorthair?

cyclones30: "

TuscaroraBorealis: "

Jaywalker: " Paddle away from camp 300 yards and there will be tons of firewood."

"

German Shorthair?"

My friends chocolate lab.

As mentioned above, campsites could be available on Agnes at mid-afternoon or not. There were a lot of open campsites last mid-August when I was there. I stayed for a night on site 1801 before moving on to Boulder Bay/Tiger Bay. The latter was completely full, however 2 weeks earlier when I paddled through that area at least 2 or 3 sites were open around midday. So, much depends on how busy this upcoming season will be. I'd suggest that midday and midweek could be easier finding sites than the weekend. Firewood is probably better sourced away from your camp. I was on Boulder Bay at 1820 and I collected firewood while out fishing further to the north. It was easier to paddle up to a shoreline and pick up some driftwood or walk back into the woods to gather enough wood for a small fire. There weren't many bear reports for that area if any at all last summer. I could be wrong on that though.

Both LLC and Agnes can be crowded, but assuming you are entering via EP16 and barring any bear issues I would stay on Agnes for the first night as I typically tend to arrive there in the early afternoon. I really like all of the campsites on the NE part of the lake. Staying shy of LLC and pushing off for there the next morning will give you plenty of time to check to see what sites are available in Tiger Bay. I've been there in June and scored the site across from Warrior Hill, I've been there in July and scored an awesome island site, and I've been there in mid October and every site on Tiger Bay was taken and we ended up getting the only available of the two sites on Boulder Bay. It really is a crap shoot, but I love that route! Enjoy!

Seems to me you should be more worried about tigers on "tiger bay"! ??

pswith5: "Seems to me you should be more worried about tigers on "tiger bay"! ??"

Lions, tigers, AND bears...

Getting into LLC isn't too much of a push. We've been there a handful of times. A good rule of thumb is 2 hours Nina Moose, 4 to agnes and 6 to LLC.

Never had any bear issues on LLC.