The Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Northern Minnesota
spans a million acres of roadless wilderness, covering a vast network
of lakes, rivers, and forests. A land of water, forest, and sky,
your days and nights here are filled with intense natural beauty
and unique opportunities to observe wildlife.
Open your eyes to a land of mists and pastel colors as the dawn's
still silence is broken by the echoing call of the loon. Round the
bend of a marshy river to discover a moose splashing in the wild
grasses. Watch light dance through dense foliage as the slow, rhythmic
rustlings of a black bear drift clearly across the lake. As stars
(and possibly the fluorescent colors of the Northern Lights) fill
the night sky, prick your ears up for the soft, mournful howls of
Timber Wolves.
Just to the east, the U.S./Canadian border bisects the "Inland
Sea," as Lake Superior is often called. The largest freshwater
lake on Earth, Lake Superior has a surface area of 31,700 square
miles and deep water averages 483 feet. Along 2,726 miles of shoreline,
you can find vibrant red sandstone cliffs, white-barked birch forests,
cascading waterfalls, and deep inlets that stretch far inland.
Following the lake's northwestern shoreline, the Superior Hiking
Trail spans nearly 240 miles across rushing rivers and rocky terrain
in the Sawtooth Mountain Range. Forests of birch, aspen, pine, fir,
oak, maple, basswood, balsam, spruce, tamarack, and cedar alternate
with grassy clearings and boggy lakes to create a patchwork of color
and texture.
