Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) permits are down slightly, but thousands of people are still enjoying the adventure and solitude offered on remote boundary lakes.
Permits to enter the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area are down slightly from last year, said Jonathon Benson, United States Forest Service (USFS) East Zone Manager.
“From May 15 to Aug. 20 we are 900 permits behind 2009,” said Benson. These permits include the entry points from the Ely area as well as Cook County.
However, noted Benson, those figures will change and the final tally may well end up close to 2009 numbers.
Last June 12,204 people visited the park. June 2010 saw 11,410 campers. July was up with 13,687 visitors over 2009, with 12,821 guests compared to 13,687 this year. So far 2010 August looks similar to 2009 August numbers with 13,881 visitors to 9,198 through Aug 20.
“Overall the numbers are close to last year. However, we are seeing a trend toward shorter trips. We are not getting the requests for eight-day trips that we’ve seen in the past. More people are trending toward three day trips,” said Benson.
Containing over 1,000 lakes, the BWCAW is a 1.09 million acre wilderness area within the Superior National Forest. It adjoins Canada’s Quetico Park, which is 1.18 million acres. Quetico has over 2,000 unofficial, unimproved campsites and 21 entry points.
The BWCAW is the most visited wilderness area in the U.S. with nearly 2,200 backcountry campsites.
Overnight camping and day use motor permits are restricted by entry point to allow only so many reservations per day. Thishelps reduce the environmental impact to the area and allows for more privacy in the wilderness.
In Cook County, day use motor permits are allowed on Saganaga, Seagull, Clearwater, and East Bearskin.
Permits are required for all visitors to the BWCAW. Permits do not reserve a campsite, but rather grant access to a particular entry point. The Forest Service does have a lottery system for entry points that runs from Dec. 1 to Jan. 15. After that permits can be picked up on-line or at a Forest Service station like the Gunflint or Tofte Ranger District. But it is based on a first come first serve basis.
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