Dispersed Camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area – Perent Lake via Hog Creek BWCA Campsite #993
Dates: June 29 – July 1, 2024
Distance from Minneapolis: Approximately 4 hours
GPS Pin: 47.798866, -91.139926
Site Availability: Many. Spanning over 1 million acres, 150 miles across the Minnesota/Canada border, and home to over 1,000 lakes, the BWCA boasts over 2,000 designated campsites. Each designated campsite is dispersed and has a “wilderness latrine” and fire pit.
While the BWCA is all dispersed, you must reserve a permit in advance for any overnight excursion between May 1 and September 30. There are self issue permits from October 1 – April 30 at various entry points. For more information, please visit Recreation.gov
Resources to plan a BWCA camping trip:
Nearby: Depending on your entry point, Ely is the last major town on the west side and Gunflint Trail on the east side. Otherwise, not much!
What we loved: The scenery, uniqueness, loon calls, sunsets, the challenge of portaging
What we didn’t love: The distance, bugs, rapids
Trip Review:
I’ve always known the Boundary Waters.
Being born and raised (until I was 6) by a Minnesotan Dad who loves the outdoors, it’s in my DNA. Some of my first memories are camping on Minnesota’s public land, being stuck in a canoe in the pouring rain, and seeing a moose on the shores of the Boundary Waters. These early memories, I believe, installed a deep connection and love to not only the outdoors but to this place.
I realize the BWCA is not in Colorado, Oregon, or Washington where Here to Camp currently offers dispersed camping maps. To be honest, I’m not an expert on camping in the BWCA. However, in light of the recent, absolutely gutting news that mining will be allowed in the BWCA’s headwaters, I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to share my most recent experience dispersed camping and canoeing here with my Dad as an adult.
My Dad still goes to the Boundary Waters every summer. Despite living in Wisconsin now, he makes the 8 hour trek, many times alone. He portages his canoe, camps, fishes, and basks in its glory and solitude. As a new mom at the time, I was craving time in nature and a chance to reconnect with myself a bit. And the thought of having someone else plan an entire trip and simply show up was too appealing to pass up.
We left Milwaukee early in the morning to drive the 8 hours to Northeastern, Minnesota. I was quickly reminded of how beautiful the Midwest truly is and how I took it for granted growing up. The rolling hills and farmland of Wisconsin to the shore of Lake Superior – my eyes were glued looking out the window.
We stopped at the Tofte Ranger Station before fully entering into the wilderness. It was required that we watch a short video and complete a questionnaire in order to receive our permit on leaving no trace, campfires, and other important rules to take care of the area. We were also able to chat with the ranger on duty to ask about water levels and any other pertinent information. The station also has souvenirs and a few other knick knacks.
From there, we headed to the Hog Creek Entry Point #36. My Dad had previously selected this entry point and area due to minimal portaging and paddling time to our campsite since we only had two days. There is a well maintained parking lot, outhouse, and short portage down some steps to the Hog Creek landing. This is where I received my first taste of mosquito madness. Seriously, cover up, douse yourself with bug repellent, and mosquito nets.
Now, I am not by any means an experienced paddler. The time I’ve spent in a canoe in my life has usually been with my Dad toting me around. Therefore, I was excited at the challenge of portaging, paddling, and navigating an area I hadn’t been to since I was a kid. As a novice, I probably should have looked into a few videos and researched a little, but I fully depended on my Dad, who fully depended on the Ranger to tell us about the rapids on this route. Yes, rapids.
If we had paid more attention, we would have noticed that there is a short portage around these rapids as shown in this video. I was completely naive and oblivious to how close we were to dumping. I was in the front of the canoe with my Dad steering in the back as we missed the portage and headed straight into the rapids. My Dad said he thought at the very least, I was about to get a full lap of water and have a scratched up canoe. By the Grace of the BWCA Gods, we came out unscathed and it is now a hilarious memory.
The rest of the paddle to Perent Lake wasn’t overly strenuous but it did start to rain. Hard. Something else to note about the Boundary Waters is that the weather can turn in an instant and it’s not great to be stuck in the middle of a lake when this happens. Thankfully for us, campsite (#993) was open and became our base camp for the next two days.
The rest of the trip was blissfully uneventful with gorgeous weather. We cooked food, played Skipbo, drank Whiskey, Dad fished, paddled around Perent Lake, read/napped in a hammock, and enjoyed the sunsets. We saw less than 10 people the entire time and took in the quiet (minus the buzzing of mosquitos and loons calling).
The BWCA is indescribable and worth the swarms of mosquitoes, horse flys, and sudden torrential downpours just to dip your paddle in its clear water and pitch a tent on its shores.
I hope this has inspired you to make the trek to Northeastern Minnesota and fall in love with this treasure of a place.
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