Almost none of which I ever used when I bought my floatplane and spent five years flying and navigating the bush of the Northwest Territories of Canada. I have a university degree in Geography, so at one time, I knew all the jargon, all the procedures, all the grids, and all the theory. If I were to hike in the BWCAW today, I would carry a GPS. In those days and maybe still today, trails in the BWCAW were poorly maintained, not marked, and difficult to discern from animal paths. My advice is for paddlers, not Boundary Waters hikers. If you adopt them, I guarantee your trips will be safer and more fun. ![]() I don’t carry a GPS, and I seldom even use my compass. In my 103 Boundary Waters trips, I have never been lost, at least not for long. ![]() So how am I qualified to teach you about navigation in the Boundary Waters? This is an article by a Boundary Waters paddler that doesn’t know an azimuth from an orangutan and has no interest in learning or relearning all the terms and procedures usually covered under the heading of navigation. Wait! Whenever I see an article on navigation, I skip it. Videos and statistical lists will be continually updated and added over time.When visibility drops navigation becomes more fun. The website includes information on such things as historical fires, PMA lake depths, water clarity, fish, lake sizes (acres) and creek and river lengths. The website also is a resource for statistical information. (Visit this page to find out about PMA's - What are PMA's?) Many of these PMA areas are seldom seen, even by regular visitors to the BWCA. There are 12 PMA's in the BWCA and they encompass about 1/8th of the entire BWCAW. PMA's are remote, unmanaged regions of the BWCA designated by the U.S. Much of the orginal groundwork for this website is built around the BWCA's Primitive Management Areas (PMA’s), but with the overall goal of eventually showing the entire Boundary Waters (and Quetico Provincial Park too). If you are going to the BWCA with some tenderfoots, this website may be able to help you determine if a portages are difficult you'll be able to virtually walk it and decide for yourself. If you’ve ever sat around your campsite pouring over your BWCA maps, and just wondered what that really remote lake might be like, this website may be able to show you. This could be particularly useful if you are a first timer to the BWCA. Also, you can use this information (photos, videos, descriptions) to remind yourself of an old trip or plan for an upcoming trip (you’ll know what to expect). If you get cabin fever for the BWCA in the middle of winter, this is a way to cure it (at least a little). The maps and links of the website are placed in such a way as to allow you to click on to the next most likely destination along your chosen route, or even change your route midway through your trip. This allows you to actually do a virtual trip through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area starting from an entry point or the lake or stream of your choosing. Reflection Lake - Spider Lake Primitive Management AreaĪs time goes on, more and more lakes, rivers, creeks, entry points, portages, pictographs and campsites will be added to the website. You will see from a first person viewpoint what you would encounter if you were portaging, bushwhacking or canoeing through the area. Your viewpoint will be as if you are actually out there. By clicking on the lakes or other geographic locations shown on this website's interactive map, you will be taken to that particular places web page. This allows you to see a place you may have visited before in the BWCA or perhaps help you plan a new trip to this area. ![]() The main purpose of this website is to provide firsthand virtual visits to the BWCA. ![]() area of each numbered McKenzie(TM) Maps)īOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA (BWCA) - Scroll down to learn more about this website Overlay Maps (shown on map above) of the BWCA (showing approx. Map of Entry Points, PMA's and Map Overlays of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW)
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