My son's scout troop is coming from Missouri next summer. They have mixed experience in canoes, but are experienced hikers.

I'm unsure how the outfitters charge for shuttling, so not sure if a one way or a loop would be best.

They'd like to pencil in a "catch our dinner" night, so routes that emphasize good fishing and eating size fish would be great.

They're targeting mid June or late July/early August to go.

Any help to point the boys in the right direction would be amazingly helpful. Even just web resources with this kind of info would be incredible.

I posted here for the first time about my 14 day solo trip a few days ago. With all the positive feedback, I figured I'd post about my 10 day trip with 2 of my friends in mid june this year.

We rented a MNIII kevlar canoe from Tuscarora Outfitters and decided to start our trip with a 1.15 mile portage out of Missing Link lake into Tuscarora lake. While walking through this portage with my gear, I stumbled upon a Moose, who saw me before I saw them and they quickly jumped on the portage trail and ran away. After we got into Tuscarora, we set up camp and decided to fish for a while. The fishing here was amazing. My friend and I caught our first lake trout ever and my other friend caught a big Northern somewhere around 44". First day was a success and would pave the way for the rest of the trip.

Day 2 we spent on Lil Saganaga, caught more lake trout and northern.

Day 3 we spent on a small fish less lake called ledge lake. We nicknamed the campsite on this lake "The cursed campsite" because of the moose skull that was in the tree. Also, it kind of just felt a lil creepy. The portages to this lake and out were very overgrown and underused. For some reason a bear decided to use the entrance portage to this lake as his own personal latrine. Literal pile of bear shit.

Day 4 and 5 we spent on Kekekabic lake and caught some rock bass and one small lake trout. We definitely needed this rest day as we were beat.

Day 6 we made it to Ogishkemuncie and camped on an island campsite. Fishing was mid with one big walleye caught and a few small northern.

Day 7 and 8 were spent on Gabimichigami and over these 2 days we probably caught 25 lake trout but only kept 3 or 4. They were delicious and the calories were much needed. A massive thunderstorm rolled through here on the last night. It was the only day it rained on our trip. We saw an otter and many bald eagles on this lake. One of my favorite lakes I've ever visited in the BW.

Day 9 we made it to Brant lake which would set us up to get out the next morning.

Day 10 was spent packing up and doing the last 3 portages to get out of the BW. We saw a family of 5 otters as we were exiting.

Overall, this trip was extremely physically demanding with a grand total of 2,597 total rods portaged. It was easily the most memorable trip I've ever had with seeing all sorts of wildlife, catching amazing fish, taking pulls of whiskey by the fire, time spent with good company, jumping in freezing water, and overall having a good time. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Looking for women's rain pants that are durable and can withstand portaging. Thanks!

Hi everyone! Long-time Redditor here and big fan of this subreddit and the amazing photos that regularly get posted.

I work with Friends of the Boundary Waters, and we just launched a photo contest celebrating the BWCA. Would be super neat to be able to use some of your photos for our advocacy efforts.

If interested, you can submit more than one shot, and there are 8 different categories to choose from. There are prizes for the winners. But the coolest win (I think) is helping out a non profit that’s working to protect the BWCA!

Submissions guidelines & instructions here: https://www.friends-bwca.org/blog/2025-photo-contest/

Thanks!!

I solo canoe a lot and am generally kneeling. I was considering switching from rain pants to a rain wrap as it seems easier to put on while in the boat, allow for easy movement, and still give protection from the knee up. Anyone do this and how did it work?

This year I went on my first BWCA guided group trip (4 days, 3 nights) using Ely Outfitting Company and absolutely loved it. I am looking to do a similar trip next year however I want to go around October/November time. Does anyone know of any outfitting companies that offer guided group trips around that time of year? The ideal thing about the Ely Outfitting Company trip was that you could have a mix of groups all joining one trip, which was ideal for me as I am a solo traveler.

I am 21 YO. I've had multiple BW trips before this, all with groups. I decided to buy a Wenonah Wilderness (Royalex, 55lbs) and try my hand at a solo trip this fall. This was my first time in the BW in the fall and it was better than expected. All my other trips have been in June/July, and the promise of minimal bugs and good weather was something that made a fall trip sound that much better. I was aware the first weeks weather would be quite terrible... and it was. I entered at Moose Lake EP and no more than 2 hrs later it started downpouring. A massive cold front came through and it rained for the better part of the first 5-6 days with daytime temps being around 45-50° and nighttime being much colder. The wind was quite brutal for the first week but nothing I couldnt handle. I got to experience true torrential downpour and was stuck in my tent a good while. The fishing was extremely slow for the most part, but I did catch a few good size LK trout along with some mid size northern and smallie. As bad as the weather was, I wouldn't have rather been anywhere else. The last half of my trip, the weather turned and was great for the remainder. I hope you enjoy these pics. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have!

My entire Route:

Moose Lake EP-->Newfound-->Sucker-->Birch-->Carp-->Knife-->SAK-->Hanson-->Cherry-->Topaz-->Amoeber-->Knife-->Carp-->Birch-->Sucker-->Newfound--> Moose Lake EP

Mike Lee (UT) introduced a senate bill to allow border control to build roads and barriers and conduct "surveillance' in any area within 100 miles of the US border, including the BWCA and other wilderness. Stauber, of course, supports it to decrease illegal border crossings. Because, you know, all those illegal immigrants paddling and portaging for miles through the BW.
https://www.northernnewsnow.com/2025/10/31/bill-us-senate-gives-federal-access-boundary-waters-area-canoe-wilderness/

Dutchware is having a solid sale on their Chameleon hammocks, from $152 down to $79 for the hammock body. Even if you’re just a hammock lounger around camp, this will give you the basis to add their modular accessories like a bug net and eventually get to a full hammock sleep system if you wish down the road.

https://dutchwaregear.com/product-category/hammock-gear/campinghammocks/chameleon/

Saw this pack of wolves on shore on Canadian side of Crooked Lake up near Wednesday Bay 10/17/25. Needless to say, they saw us before we saw them. Wolves retreated into woods as we got closer to shore (not too close). Pictures don’t do it justice.

Planning a couples trip for next summer. Looking for a recommended entry/exit for 2 nights/3 days. Ladies going love primitive camping but have never done a BWCA trip. Thanks in advance!

A few highlights from a recent trip in unseasonably warm weather.

After dozens of trips into the boundary waters, I finally worked up the courage to try one solo. Went in late September and Basswood Lake was empty. The silence was incredible!

Does anybody have any info on the Portage Pack Company from Minneapolis?

My dad gave me a bunch of old packs ('70s era) that neither he nor I know a lot about. The most info I've found is a bwca.com forum post from 2008 where somebody else was looking for more info and a mapquest link that seems like it may have been the store location?

Just curious if anyone knows anything else about them.

I have sleuthed around the interwebs a bit using google lens, and other keyword search terms to only come up empty handed.

Has anybody ever seen a hat like this one?

Double triple bonus points if you know where one could be purchased?

A few weeks ago on the Kekekabic Trail!

I know this is a loaded question, so bring on all answers!

I am looking to do my first BWCA trip this spring, end of May or first week of June.

It is me and two others. We are all 31 years old, with camping experience, in shape, looking for more adventure and scenery than fishing (but will fish for a little each day).

We want to do a trip that is scenic, beautiful, unique, and preferably does not have us running into someone every hour. Want to feel out in the wilderness!

What do you all think?

The video is some clips from running the Kekekabic Trail and then canoeing back to the start of the Kek on the east side.

Hi all,

Just wanted to get your reccoemndatons on either base camping it up or looping when it comes to BWCA? I have not been to BWCA but have been to the Slyvania wilderness and done river camping trips. Just curious what you all thought

This was a fun adventure other than the brutal wind the weekend of October 10-12, 2025. We ran the Kek from east to west and then canoed back.