Boundary Waters Canoe AreaThe Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) is a wilderness area in the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota. It is under the administration of the U.S. Forest Service.

Geography

U.S.-Canadian border in the Arrowhead Region

1,090,000 acres

The BWCA includes the highest peak in Minnesota, Eagle Mountain. 2,301 feet high in elevation.

Communities around the Boundary Waters: Ely, Winton, Grand Marais, Isabella, Buyck, Crane Lake

FORMATIONThe BWCA was formed from glaciers melting and developing over the past two million years. The last one was 17,000 years ago.The lakes were formed from the glaciers’ water.

The rocks are made mostly fromgranite, basalt, greenstone, and gneiss

Trees

Maple

Red Pine

Eastern White Pine

Jack Pine

Balsam Fir

White Spruce

Black Spruce White-Cedar

Birch

Ash

AnimalsThe American black bear Gray Wolf

Moose White-tailed deer

Bobcat North American Beaver

Bald Eagle

Peregrine Falcon

Great Northern Loon

Red Fox

Canada Lynx

FISH

Lake Trout

Northern Pikeike

Walleye

Large-Mouth Smallmouth

BassYellow Perch

Whitefish

Weather EventsBoundary Waters – Canadian Derecho

$3 million in Damage

One person was killed and 60 injured

Estimated that 25 million trees were blown down

An international derechothat occurred during the afternoon in the BWCA on July 4th, 1999

Pagami Creek Fire 

Biggest Minnesota fire in 93 years

traveled as far east as Poland, Ukraine, and Russia .

Smoke plume has

On Thursday August 18th, 2011 lightning struck a tree. A week later the fire started next to Lake One

Over 100,000 acres have been burned

Canoes

The most common canoe in the BWCA are wood-and-canvas and aluminum.

75% of the BWCA water area is reserved for non-motorized boat travel

1,000 miles of canoe routes

Carrying a canoe over a portage can be hard depending on the height and strength of the person. The way the portage is built and length matters too. Canvas are light so they are easier to carry.

Popular Entry Lakes

PortageCampsite

Lake One, Two, Three, and Four are very popular lakes on the Kawishiwi River.

Trout Lake

Mudro LakeMoose LakeSnowbank Lake

Saganaga Lake

Seagull Lake 

Sawbill Lake

Where I got my information fromWikipedia

BWCA Wiki

MN DNR Website

Boundarywaters.com

Elyoutfitters.comGoogle Maps

Rook.org

Wilderness.net

Inciweb

National Weather Service Website

Minnesota Public Radio Updraft