Boundary Waters

After Grand Portage, we’ll spend approximately two weeks traveling the 250 mile long Border Route through the Boundary Waters. Our crew has guided multiple seasons in the Boundary Waters - a 1.1-million-acre area that has been given wilderness protections since the 1960s and sees over 250,000 visitors a year, making it the United States most popular wilderness area. Despite the thriving ecotourism industry and lifelong impact that the Boundary Waters has on its visitors, there has been an undergoing threat of mining to this wilderness. Twin Metals has proposed a mining project on the shores of Birch Lake and the South Kawishiwi River in the Superior National Forest. These waters flow north- into the Boundary Waters, Quetico Provincial Park, and Voyageurs National Park. The type of mining proposed is sulfide-ore copper mining- considered to be one of the most toxic mining operations due to its production of sulfuric acid, heavy metals, and sulfate pollution as a byproduct. This mining operation would impact over 4.3 million acres of land, contaminating lakes thousands of years old and putting populations of moose, wolves, beaver, bear, deer, and lynx at risk. You can support a permanent mining ban for the Boundary Waters by following @savethebwca and @friendsbwcaw on social media to stay informed on ways you can protect our wilderness.

We acknowledge that the Boundary Waters exists on the ancestral lands of the Anishinaabe people.