My wife, 10 year old daughter and I visited the BWCA in the late summer of 2005. We selected a 4 day, 3 night fully outfitted canoe trip that took us to the heart of the BWCA and we were basically going to canoe our way out of the place.. about 21 miles and more than 15 portages. The unfortunate part of the trip was the rain, of which it either rained hard or lightly sprinkled 60% of the time we there.

This place is exceptionally beautiful and quiet (except the chatter of crickets at night). After the first 2 hours we didn’t see another sole for more than a day and maybe saw another 3 more groups that quietly canoed past our camp. The entire time I bet we ran into no more than 15 people. If you are looking for a place to get your mind off of the hussle and bussle of a city, this place will definitely do that for you. It does come at a price though. You need to be prepared for any type of weather and by all means travel as light as you possibly can. Most of the lakes are rather small and they are interconnected by small, shallow streams that cannot be navigated. That means you need to port all of your belongings from one late to the other. The longest portage we made was over 3/4 of a mile, which we did several times, one to carry the canoe and the other to carry three packs. Admittedly, we brought too much (and strangely enough the thing we brought too much of was food).

I’d recommend a couple of things. Prepare to take your time and get a lot of rest. You should be in good physical condition as these are lakes you are either paddling or you not going anywhere. Bring mosquito repellent or be prepared to be eaten alive, we were pretty well covered so didn’t have a problem. Also be prepared to see some beautiful wildlife and incredible scenery.

I would definitely like to do this again. I think it be fun with more people and without such a long distance to travel in a short period. We felt pushed and really only had one day were we stayed in the same place and enjoyed our camp. Had the weather been better we would have enjoyed it much better. Alas, that’s not something anyone can control.