The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness has approximately 1,500 portage trails across the landscape. Some of these trails use mechanized transport, including rails and trolleys, to help users move heavy gear and fishing boats between lakes. These mechanical workhorses have a long history, dating back to the days of logging and early resort development.
A plan is in place to return elk to some of their native range as early as 2026. The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, in partnership with the Minnesota DNR, plans to move 100-150 elk from northwestern MN to the Tribe’s reservation and surrounding areas in Carlton and southern St. Louis counties.
The Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, along with various partners, has built a new ferry terminal and permanent exhibit for Isle Royale National Park. Each season, visitors begin their journey to Isle Royale at Hat Point Marina. The new site will permanently display cultural and traditional stories through immersive multimedia.
New kiosks are appearing in ranger stations, state parks, and local businesses along Minnesota’s North Shore, making it easier for visitors to connect with the region’s cultural, natural, and environmental history.
September 3 marks the anniversary of The Wilderness Act of 1964, a landmark piece of legislation in American conservation history, which established a national policy to protect wilderness areas for future generations. The act included protections for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, which is not only the largest wilderness area east of the Rockies, but also the most widely used.
The oldest known tree in Minnesota grows in the Boundary Waters, estimated to be over 1,000 years old and informally known as the “Legacy Cedar.” Although past logging practices obliterated numerous trees, remnants of these ancient giants still linger in isolated pockets within the wilderness. Forest managers now consider their vulnerability to warming climate conditions.
Along the northern edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) lies an invisible line. The international border stretches over 150 miles of water trail, following the shorelines of Quetico Provincial Park to the north and the BWCA to the south. Careful observers may notice the subtle demarcation of the international boundary as they paddle by. Short metal reference markers are punched firmly into hard granite rock.
Boundary Waters Heritage Trails is a new non-profit with the expressed interest in promoting and preserving historic trails within the BWCAW.
On July 4, 1999, the sky fell. Or so it seemed. On that day the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness was hit by a historic storm unlike anyone had ever seen.
Work is underway to ensure Wolf Island’s historic structures are preserved, while also providing a new recreation site.
Dig into the history of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, your next trip will be richer with an appreciation for how it came to be.
Three paddlers follow famous 100-mile route that helped shape the concept of wilderness.
Bois Forte Band of Chippewa and Ely Folk School create a new map showing traditional names for more than 100 lakes, rivers…
More than a thousand years ago, people living in what is now the BWCAW made a vessel from clay and stone, and cooked a meal in it. Then, a few years ago, archaeologists found fragments of the pot…
Site used for thousands of years and during recent centuries played an important role in metal trade over huge spans of time.
The Minnesota Conservation Volunteer has been published by natural resources departments for nearly half the state’s history.
New study shows how people shaped iconic canoe country forests with fire, authors say it’s time to get back to those roots.
A legendary BWCAW canoe route, almost 100 miles long, pioneered by early trappers and conservationists was nearly lost to time.
Extensive improvements completed as popular visitor destination is brought back to its original glory.
“Bud is one of our greatest and least recognized heroes. A giant figure in the battle for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness…”