Events

Explore the the million-acres of Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a stunningly beautiful designated wilderness area located in the northeastern tip of Minnesota. It is a unique landscape that is made up of lakes, rivers, and wetlands, and boreal forest. While canoeing is the dominant use of the Wilderness, there are 200 miles of hiking trails within the BWCAW including the Kekekabic and Border Route Trails – two components of the North Country National Scenic Trail.

The Border Route Trail was damaged by the October 2021 tornado and the forest has started regenerating with thick brush and young trees. The crew will be working between the Clearwater Lake Campsite spur trail and the Clearwater-Mountain Lakes Portage and camping on Clearwater Lake to help maintain an open trail corridor. Volunteers will canoe to set up a base camp on Clearwater Lake within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, canoeing a distance of approximately 4 miles. Volunteers will perform basic maintenance on a remote 5-mile stretch of the Border Route / North Country National Scenic Trail. The work will entail using hand tools (Silky saws, crosscut saw, loppers, swing blades, and hedge trimmers) to maintain an open trail corridor. Volunteers should expect to hike up to 10 miles round trip per day with moderate elevation gain over rough, primitive trail tread.

This is an American Hiking Society (AHS) Volunteer Vacation crew. The crew will be working on this section of the Border Route Trail. Read more about this trip (and register) here. Attendance is limited to seven.

The crew will meet at the Superior National Forest’s Gunflint Ranger Station located at 2020 W. Highway 61, Grand Marais, MN 55604. This is located approximately two hours northeast of downtown Duluth, MN. We will spend the first night up the Gunflint Trail in a bunkhouse at Rockwood Lodge before canoeing in on Clearwater Lake on Monday and paddling out on Friday. The crew will stay at Rockwood Lodge again on Friday night before departing for home on Saturday morning. Airport pickup in Duluth (DLH) will be available.