So exactly what is the BWCA anyway. Well, it is a one million acre wilderness area – the most visited wilderness area in the U.S. – where all travel is by canoe, no motors allowed. There are also no roads within the park. The BWCA is a part of the Superior National Forest and lies on the Minnesota – Canadian boarder. To the North is Quetico Provincial Park, also a one million acre wilderness area within Ontario Canada. Often these two parks are collectively referred to as the Boundary Waters. So with no roads to the interior, how the heck does one get there? Boat! We enter through Crane Lake, through the Loon River and Loon Lake into Lac LA Croix, where motorized boats are allowed only on the Canadian side. The U.S./Canadian boarder runs right down the middle of the lake. This journey takes us across two portages, but how do you carry a motor boat across a portage??? A marine railroad, that’s how!
The little cradle/cart is lowered on a cable into the water, picks the boat up and carries it to the other side, slick as you please. I was amazed the first time I saw this.
And this my friends, is how you know which side of the boarder you happen to be on!
Our mode of transportation for the week – so where do we go from here?
Just head straight between those two islands and in about an hour you’ll be dipping your toes in Lady Boot Bay!
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