To most people a Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness canoe trip is a very personal experience, and a great deal of time goes into planning and preparation. Also, many people find it somewhat confusing when the time comes to select a canoe outfitter. There are three questions most frequently asked by people planning a canoe trip. Hopefully, the following information will help to answer these questions for you:
A trip into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness or Quetico Provincial Park can be one of the most memorable and enriching vacations you will ever take. Because this is a primitive wilderness area, everything you will need for your BWCA canoe trip must be taken in with you at the start of your trip. Even more important to you than your equipment and food provisioning, however, is the planning of your route. Using the services of an experienced outfitter can go a long way in helping you plan a successful trip.
Ely, MN is located at the center of the southern border of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. You have a greater choice of Entry Points and canoe routes than from all the other access areas combined. You can choose from any one of the more than 50 entry points in the Ely Boundary Waters Canoe Area, head your canoe in almost any direction and paddle off into the canoe country. Also, Ely is the primary entry point for trips into Quetico Park.
Canadian Waters, Inc., boundary waters canoe outfitters in Ely, MN is owned and operated by Dan and Cathy Waters. We founded this business in 1964, and have remained under the same continuous ownership and management longer than any other Boundary Waters Canoe Area outfitter in the canoe country! We have been camping, fishing and paddling the canoe country since the early 1940s, and no one knows the country like we do. Our main Outfitting Headquarters covers half a city block in downtown Ely, Minnesota, and was designed to provide a warm and friendly atmosphere in which to finalize your Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness trip plans and prepare yourself for your canoe trip into the wilderness. You will join us in our routing area and share your expectations with us. Your input as to the type of trip you wish to take will enable us to suggest a route that provides the type of experience you are seeking: a travel trip that takes you into some lakes seldom visited by a canoe, a trip that primarily focuses on fishing, a base-camp type of trip that enables you to take day trips out from your campsite to other nearby lakes.
For previous references and previous canoe outfitting customer comments, take a look at the names of some of the organizations and individuals listed in our Rate Information, or ask us to provide you with a few names and addresses of some of our customers who live near you.
We are the only BWCA canoe outfitter that has had the privilege to be chosen to outfit the immediate families of two sitting presidents.