Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is located in Northern Minnesota. BWCAW has roughly one million acres of wilderness, over 1000 lakes and over 4000 miles of canoe trip routes. Boundary Waters Canoe Area is one of the few remaining true expanses of pure wilderness, in a world where development and sprawl are constantly encroaching on natural eco-systems, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness remains one of the most pristine examples of wilderness preservation. In order to stay inside the boundary waters canoe area wilderness, you must have a permit. Your permit will grant you access to a particular entry point, but will not reserve a campsite. During the off season (October 1st through April 30th) over night permits are not necessary and you may pick up a day permit. Similarly during the summer, you may get a day permit if you do not plan on spending the night.

The BWCAW is a great place for backpacking and camping with over 2,200 back country campsites available for use (most of them only accessible by water, canoeing being the best mode of transportation). The BWCAW is one on Minnesota’s top tourist attractions drawing visitors from all over the United States, Canada and Abroad. The BWCAW is managed by the USDA-Forest Service, under principles of ecosystem management and multiple use, the forest provides for a diverse community of plants and animals. The most popular recreation activities in the area include fishing, hunting, camping, canoeing, swimming, hiking, snowmobiling and skiing. Over 445,000 acres of the forest is surface water. In addition, more than 1,300 miles of cold water streams and 950 miles of warm water streams flow within the boundaries of the Superior. The most abundant fish that can be found in the BWCAW are walleye, northern pike, small-mouth bass, lake trout, brook trout, rainbow trout, and brown trout.

If you do decide to take your kayak on a trip that is going to involve a couple of portages there a couple of ways to do it. You can buy wheel sets that you rest your kayak on while you pull it through the portage trail. Simply find the balance point of the boat, secure the wheels and start pulling. These wheels are not generally really big so it’s a good idea to know before you leave what kind of terrain you will likely be encountering to be sure your wheel set will be adequate. Another option is to pack very light and simply haul the boat up the portage trail with your gear in it. I’ve done this and although it works it can be quite laborious and generally requires two people to carry the boat. The third option of course is to unpack the boat every time you come to a new portage trail. The beauty of the kayak is that as you paddle along it will cut through waves with relative ease and your things will remain generally dry, unlike using a canoe, that would have a tendency to take on water.

You need to use a proper sea kayak really. One with hatches that open into sealed bulkheads where you can keep your gear. They can be somewhat unstable and if you’re new to operating a kayak then you should be sure you stay fairly close to shore in the event that you capsize. You really should learn how to brace or even roll, although longer kayaks are harder to roll than shorter ones are. So you can see that it’s not simply a matter of jumping in your boat and heading out for your camping trip. You need to be able to foresee the types of problems you may run into and plan accordingly to make it easier. Generally your trip is far more enjoyable when you don’t have any problems and standing at the beginning of a portage, wondering how your going to get all of your gear across into the next lake is a sure-fire way to help make your trip go downhill fast.