Photo courtesy of Bailey Shinn A Texas family was camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness earlier this month when a wildfire took off not far from where they were staying. While camping on Pipestone Bay (Basswood Lake) Bailey Shinn,...
Teresa Floberg at a property managed to reduce wildfire risk near Ely. Photo by Joe Friedrichs Protective measures done in advance, that’s the key, she says. “We try to encourage homeowners to think in advance about the risks of wildfires,” says...
Tom Hall, the forest supervisor for Superior National Forest, talks during a town hall in Ely July 19. Photo by Joe Friedrichs ELY – The Blueberry Festival is off. People are displaced from their homes. Vacations are scrambled. And the entire...
Laura and Matt (right) Nelson embrace after reaching the end of the Gunflint Trail following an evacuation from Quetico. Photo by Joe Friedrichs The Nelson family have been paddling in Quetico for decades. Three generations of canoe-campers have...
Evacuation of the BWCA, July 2026. Photo by Pam Wright Smoky skies, closures, evacuations, and displacement of people have dominated conversations across the Boundary Waters region during recent days. The BWCA Wilderness shut down July 14 amid a...
Aubrey Helmuth-Miller and her two boys pondering the Boundary Waters. Submitted photo Aubrey Helmuth-Miller and her family drove from Ohio to paddle in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. They had an entry permit and tow for Moose Lake near...
Photo by Bailey Shinn Texas resident Bailey Shinn was on a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters when the Camp Fire took off Monday, July 13. An evacuation of the BWCA was underway, and the complete closure of the wilderness was looming. While camping...
Photo of the Camp Fire from Fall Lake hours before the evacuation notice for the Fernberg corridor. Photo by Pam Wright Pam Wright is a canoe guide in the BWCA, in addition to being a writer and photographer. Pam is in Ely on day one of the...
Paddlers evacuated from the BWCA look on as the Camp Fire burns near Fall Lake near Ely. Photo by Pam Wright The first full day of the closure of the Boundary Waters could bring smoke to the Ely area and increase the risk of the wildfires moving...
View of the Otter Track Fire July 12 from the end of the Gunflint Trail. Photo by Chad Kieper As an active heatwave and wildfires impact the most visited wilderness area in the nation, the U.S. Forest Service will announce that overnight permits to...
Mudro Lake EP with closure sign posted July 10. Photo by Ann Possis Update from 7:30 p.m. Sunday, July 12: One of the fires currently burning in the BWCA Wilderness is the Thumb Fire, which was approximately 500 acres as of 7 p.m. Sunday. The fire...
Sign at an outfitter in Ely. Photo by Joe Friedrichs BOUNDARY WATERS – It’s a start. That’s been the general sentiment from outfitters and some members of the public regarding the U.S. Forest Service’s plan to increase the cost of cancelling a...
