STRETCH YOUR CANOE TRIP DOLLAR

Originally published in our Winter 1999 edition

The cost of a canoe trip can vary a great deal depending on which side of the border a paddler chooses to travel. Even where a paddler crosses the border can free up vacation funds that might be better spent elsewhere.

BWCA vs QUETICO CAMPING FEES

Governmental camping fees are radically different between Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Ontario's Quetico Provincial Park.

NOTE:  Two years after publishing, the Canadian fee was been raised to CN$20 per person per night.  The US-BWCA fees remains at US$10 per adult per trip.

In the Boundary Waters, the camping fee is charged only once to each person regardless of trip duration. So the above party would be charged US$40 ($10 fee X 4 adults X 1 trip). This represents a difference of $50 per person cheaper for staying in the BWCA versus going to Quetico.

A quick review of our North Country rates for Complete Silver Outfitting shows that each additional day is billed at $50. If the camping fee dollar difference is applied to the cost of the outfitting instead of the Quetico Camping Fee, each of those example paddlers gets an extra day of outfitting for free!

CANADIAN IMMIGRATION FEES

Let's say our party members still choose the northern half of the canoe country versus the southern sector. There is yet another fee that needs to be considered: the Remote Area Border Crossing (RABC) permit: aka "CANPASS." At the end of the 1997 season, Canada permanently closed the Customs & Immigration station at Prairie Portage. Clearance to enter Canada at this location is now handled in advance via a written application process. The fee for this annual permit is $30 per person. That's another $120 for this Quetico Trip.

If, however, they did a Canadian fly-in trip versus paddling in at Prairie Portage, those customs fees monies could, again, be put to better use. All of North Country's fly-in trips make an intermediate stop at the Canadian Customs Station at Sand Point Lake ...hence no RABC is needed ... and each member can apply their respective $30 to the cost of the flight. Thus the $150 "bump" to fly versus paddle becomes only a net cost of $120.

FLY-IN TRIPS: NOW ... FLY-OUT vs PADDLE-OUT?

One last twist on pricing can be played with a fly-in canoe trip: that of flying out instead of paddling out. If our party decides to paddle their way back to the U.S. side, they have two options:

First, they can do it leisurely and spend one night in the BWCA. This requires a BWCA permit ($12/group) and probably a 24-hour Minnesota fishing license ($9/person). The camping fees are an offset (Quetico vs BWCA).

Second, they can spend their last night in Canada, and make the full U.S. side paddle-out in one travel day. This is certainly "do-able" but it makes for a long closing scene.  The alternative would be to fly-out. North Country offers an additional discount with a second flight of a round-trip fly-in trip. It is billed at only $100, fifty dollars less than "two one-way flights." With this option our party could:

1. spend their full trip in Quetico Park,

2. wouldn't need the BWCA permit,

3. wouldn't need the 24-hour Minnesota fishing license, and

4. could get in a lot of additional fishing the last day before meeting their float plane.

Should our example party stay in the BWCA or go to Quetico Park? If they decide on Canada, should they paddle or fly? If they fly-in, should the fly-out or paddle-out? These are questions that we, as their outfitter, cannot answer; it's their call. Here at North Country, our job is to present all of the options, allow you to make the decisions as to what will be best for your situation, and then to fashion the best canoe trip possible based on your wishes.