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Voyageur Canoe Outfitters & Resort

Last Visit: 06/18/2013 02:45PM
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cmduck

04/15/2012 08:00AM

Any ideas on bwca trips that are conducive to a family of four (son and daughter are 8 and 6 years old)? My wife and I have been in the bwca a handful of times and are fully outfitted. Just looking for advice from people that have taken children at the above age on trips with great success. Limited portaging, good fishing (my son is looking forward to catching a walleye), and something in the Tofte area would be the preference. Don't know if my criteria is unrealistic but any advice would be helpful. Planning to go in late July.

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Savage Voyageur

04/15/2012 08:31AM

I would check out Sawbill area. Put in at Sawbill and go over to Smoke and Burnt. Here is a link to Cherokee Loop. It takes three days to do. Very nice. Plan to stay at Cherokee lake a day or two. Cherokee Lake

"So many lakes, so little time."

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cmduck

04/15/2012 08:40AM

Thanks for the advice SV. I will check it out.

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RaisedByBears99

04/15/2012 09:03AM

In the same area, Brule Lake is a beautiful lake with a variety of other lakes close by and easily reached.

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Spartan2

04/15/2012 09:46AM

Good suggestions. I am not sure, though, that I would take the small kids to Brule. Brule is wonderful in quiet water, brutal in windy conditions. Just sayin'

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Tony

04/15/2012 10:24AM

mudro to fourtown. Don't underestimate your kids ability to portage. Have smaller packs so they can participate.

tony

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cmduck

04/15/2012 10:29AM

Did Brule last year in June. Great lake but maybe too big for our kids. My wife and I battled gale-force winds on our way back to the e.p. landing. Caught my largest walleye (29") on the trip though. Am i limiting myself by sticking to the Tofte area? Thanks for all the replies and advice.

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PaddleAway

04/15/2012 10:44AM

We took our kids to Wind Lake last year for their first trip. One quick portage off of Moose Lake EP, & if you grab a campsite off the route to Basswood, it feels pretty isolated. Nice places to swim, plenty of bays to explore, good pike/smallie fishing. Worked well for us.

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Warty

04/15/2012 11:10AM

Check out Homer Lake area.

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ducks

04/15/2012 02:40PM

In the Tofte area #36 Hog Creek to Perent is a good trip for Kids. We took our oldest there for her first trip when she was 5. Several nice island sites and the walleye were cooperative for her. If you use the search function on here there are quite a few threads on that area.

Baker #39 is on my list of possibilities for her second trip this coming summer. As mentioned above there are a lot of possibilities out of Sawbill #38 for a good kid trip. Kawishiwi #37 is also another good entry with kids. The Square, Baskatong, Kawasachong, and a bit of Polly were affected by the Pagami fire last fall though if that would be a concern of yours.

A couple pics from our daughters trip to Perent.

Pura Vida

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cmduck

04/15/2012 08:23PM

Thanks for the advice Ducks. Great pics as well. Any tricks of the trade for taking kids at such young ages? How about fishing/camping on Perent? Looked on dnr website for Perent and was able to retrieve a map...lots of structure/islands.

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luft

04/15/2012 11:31PM

I trip with 3 boys... get each of the boys their own paddle so that they can keep busy in the boat. I find if they have a paddle in their hands there is less monkey business between them and kid sized paddles aren't too expensive these days.

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ducks

04/16/2012 12:43PM

Join the private group forum at the bottom of the page called "canoeing with kids". You will find lots of great ideas there.

Luft hit the nail on the head with the paddle suggestion. Our girls climbed/crawled all over the canoe before we gave them their own paddles. It hasn't been a problem since.

They love to help even though sometimes they are paddling backwards or dragging their paddle :) It keeps them out of trouble :). Be prepared to really "go with the flow" and do what they want when they want. Let them help in planning as much as possible to make it "their" trip.

Perent has some nice island campsites. We stayed on the island that has 2 campsites on it. We were on the one on the southwest end of the island. Nice and open and flat which is nice with little ones and it had a lot of shoreline for fishing and swimming. We did our fishing between the islands and shore in the narrows on the north east part of the lake.

Pura Vida

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ducks

04/16/2012 06:45PM

Also, Have some activities for in the tent at night or if you get rain like coloring books, books, uno etc. Have them carry a pack. That made our daughter feel like a big girl and a contributor. At 5 our daughter just had her sleeping pad, clothes, stuffed animal, and books in her pack. She didn't need any toys for around the campsite. There was more than enough to keep her busy. Fishing from shore, swimming, playing w/ the leeches in the leech locker, sticks, rocks and anything else laying around. One full day we didn't even get in the canoe because she was having so much fun in camp. That was one of those moments I gave up what I wanted to do (go exploring and fishing) for what she wanted. Have fun. Spending time in canoe country with kids is the best.

Pura Vida

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jeroldharter

04/16/2012 09:34PM

Ducks,

I noticed those padded green canoe seats. I have not seen those before. Do you have any info on them? Thanks.

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VoyageurNorth

04/17/2012 03:31AM

quote cmduck: "Thanks for the advice Ducks. Great pics as well. Any tricks of the trade for taking kids at such young ages? How about fishing/camping on Perent? Looked on dnr website for Perent and was able to retrieve a map...lots of structure/islands. "

Email me & I'll send you a document that helps people know what to bring & do when they bring young kids with. It has helped a lot of people & I "borrowed" some of the content from many postings here & on the CCBB.

Oh, also, how about Slim Lake for a nice small area. Or even Hegman Lake, Nels Lake area, Low Lake area (just to name a few)

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ducks

04/17/2012 06:21AM

quote jeroldharter: "Ducks,

I noticed those padded green canoe seats. I have not seen those before. Do you have any info on them? Thanks."

They are crazy creek chairs We wouldn't have spent the $50 for them but we found them on clearance for $20 at the Red Rock store in Ely a couple years ago. They are nice to have.

Pura Vida

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