The BWCAW is a unique primitive area located in the northern third of the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota. Over 1,098,000 acres in size, it extends nearly 150 miles along the International Boundary adjacent to Voyageurs National Park and Canada’s Quetico and La Verendrye Provincial Parks. The BWCAW contains over 1,200 miles of canoe routes, 12 hiking trails and almost 2,000 designated campsites. This area was set aside in 1926 to preserve its primitive character and made a part of the National Wilderness Preservation System in 1964 with subsequent wilderness legislation in 1978. The BWCAW Act of 1978 added more acreage and specific management direction with the purpose to preserve, manage, enhance, and restore the area. Designated wilderness offers solitude, freedom, primitive recreation, challenge, risk, and connection with nature. The BWCAW allows visitors to travel and camp in the spirit of those that came before them centuries ago. The entire BWCA Wilderness lies within Tribal Ceded Territory, which reserved the right, among other things, of Tribal members to hunt, fish, trap, and gather within the Territory for their livelihood in perpetuity. |