Gunflint Trail - Grand Marais - Minnesota
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Day Trips Northeastern Minnesota's Gunflint Trail is surrounded by the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, with Canada's Quetico Provincial Park just to the north. If you want to canoe in some of the most incredibly scenic, unspoiled wilderness in the world, this is the place. Plan your vacation to include one or more day canoe trips from your base at the resort, or use a local outfitter for a multi-day canoe and camping adventure. Even if a canoe trip isn't in your plans, you MUST venture out for at least half a day if you're in the area. Pack a lunch and sun screen, bring the fishing gear if you like, wear your PFD, and whatever you do, don't forget the camera! While today's canoe paddlers are drawn to the remote, unspoiled wilderness and its scenic beauty, the abundant wildlife, and the promise of memories in the making, canoe travel was once a way to make a living along these Gunflint Trail waterways. The Voyageurs, hardy men of the late 1700s, were the workhorses of the fur trade, ferrying furs and trade goods on long journeys of up to 2,000 miles. They followed the sparkling trail of waters, from as far west as Lake Athabaska in northern Saskatchewan and as far east as Montreal, navigating lakes, rivers and arduous portages to meet at the traditional summer rendezvous near Grand Portage. While the trips in store for you and your band of adventurers are distinctly more leisurely, they will still carry you over the very same waters, and through the pristine wilderness beauty, of an area that looks very much today as it did in the time of the Voyageurs. Between Rose and Duncan Lakes, you'll find the Stairway Portage, with a lovely waterfall and a nice spot for lunch; Seagull Lake boasts hundreds of islands, many are ideal for picnicking and exploring, and part of the lake allows motors up to 10 hp.; Little Rock Falls, along the Granite River, is a beauty of a destination, as is Johnson Falls, reached by hiking in from the portage between Canoe and Pine Lakes. Poplar Lake offers three different access routes into the BWCAW, each suitable for day trips or short overnight trips. Day trips are an excellent way to see how a longer canoe trip might work in to your vacation plans for another season; they are also the perfect testing ground to whether or not the kids are ready, willing and able to benefit from an extended wilderness trip. Day permits are required if you will be canoeing in the BWCAW, but your host or a local outfitter can set you up with one of these. If you will be entering Canadian waters, you will need a Remote Border Crossing Permit . These can also be obtained while you are here, but it will take a day or two to procure one for you. (You can also get your Remote Border Crossing Permit before you get here; for details, check with your host.) |
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© 2006 Gunflint Trail Association
Information Center 1.218.387.3191
Contact us by email
info@gunflint-trail.com
© 2006 Gunflint Trail Association