Exploring the Boundary Waters

A Trip Planner and Guide to the BWCAW

2005
Author:

Daniel Pauly

The indispensable, comprehensive guide to the Boundary Waters

Exploring the Boundary Waters is the most comprehensive trip planner to the BWCAW, giving travelers an overview of each entry point into the wilderness area. It provides detailed descriptions of more than one hundred specific routes—including a ranking of their difficulty level and maps that feature the major waterways, portages, and the designated campsites.

Exploring the Boundary Waters: A Trip Planner and Guide to the BWCAW is a no-nonsense guide written especially for canoe enthusiasts with an interest in the one million acres of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Exploring the Boundary Waters is a ‘must-have’ resource on everything from obtaining a permit to maintaining the ecological integrity of the wilderness to planning one’s route, discovering historic sites on one’s trip and much more. Highly Recommended.

Midwest Book Review

With more than 200,000 visitors annually, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is among the most alluring wilderness areas in the country, unique because it is most often explored by canoe. Comprised of more than one million acres, the BWCAW is an exceptional combination of expansive wilderness, abundant wildlife, and fascinating natural and human history.

Exploring the Boundary Waters is the most comprehensive trip planner to the BWCAW, giving travelers an overview of each entry point into the wilderness area as well as detailed descriptions of more than one hundred specific routes—including a ranking of their difficulty level and maps that feature the major waterways, portages, and the designated campsites. The book is crafted so that readers can design their own route through the almost inexhaustible network of lakes and streams. Daniel Pauly, Boundary Waters expert, worked with the U.S. Forest Service, the Minnesota DNR, and local outfitters to collect and present crucial information here: instructions on about how to obtain a permit, the rules and regulations of the park, safety tips, and suggestions about how to help maintain the ecological integrity of the wilderness.

As engaging as it is informative, Exploring the Boundary Waters not only contributes advice on the pros and cons of each route, but also brings the reader a natural and historical context for the journey by offering insight into the pictographs, mining sites, logging railroads, and ruins one may encounter on an expedition. With its accessible and personal style, Exploring the Boundary Waters is the perfect guide for anyone—novice or seasoned veteran—arranging a trip to the BWCAW.

A companion Web site for this book, http://www.boundarywatersguide.com, presents useful information that can be downloaded for planning a trip, including gear lists, overview maps, and route updates.

Daniel Pauly is an attorney and has been a frequent visitor to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness for more than twenty years.

Exploring the Boundary Waters: A Trip Planner and Guide to the BWCAW is a no-nonsense guide written especially for canoe enthusiasts with an interest in the one million acres of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Exploring the Boundary Waters is a ‘must-have’ resource on everything from obtaining a permit to maintaining the ecological integrity of the wilderness to planning one’s route, discovering historic sites on one’s trip and much more. Highly Recommended.

Midwest Book Review

A great new source—for novice and seasoned traveler alike.

University of Minnesota

CONTENTS

Preface
Acknowledgments

The Natural and Human History of the Boundary Waters
Planning Your Trip
Entry South of the Echo Trail
Entry North of the Echo Trail
Entry from the Fernberg Road
Entry from Highway 1 and the Tomahawk Road
Entry North of Highway 61
Entry Southwest of the Gunflint Trail
Entry Northeast of the Gunflint Trail
Entry from the Arrowhead Trail
Recommended Reading
Outfitters, Lodges, Supplies, and Equipment
Forest Service Campground Locations
Forest Service Information

Index