By John H.Myhre

Mile after mile you quietly paddle your canoe through the wilderness. All the while you are enjoying the beauty that is all around you, much of it still relatively unchanged from the days of the original voyageurs. Sometimes the pristine beauty of the wilderness can become almost overwhelming. Around each bend in the river there is something new to see. Along the way there is always abundant wildlife to watch and photograph and the fishing, at times it almost appears too easy. Nearly every log jam or weed bed along the rivers edge seems to hold a hungry fish or two. Most often they are more than willing to strike a lure or bait for you. At the days end you simply make camp for the night along the shore amidst the pines. There you enjoy a meal of fresh fish cooked over a campfire and then settle down to watch a beautiful sunset. The wilderness around you seems to put you light years away from the hectic pace of todays world.

Does this sound interesting to you? Many of us would really enjoy such a canoe trip to a large wilderness area like the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota or the Quetico Park in Ontario, Canada. However, for the majority of us a trip like this would be at best a once a year proposition and for some not even that. But wait! Did you know that there are many rivers and streams close to home that can provide you with just such a wilderness experience? The Wisconsin northland has literally hundreds of miles of canoe trails. Whether you enjoy paddling a meandering calm water stream or a raging whitewater river the choice is yours. Some of the better known and more popular rivers are the Chippewa, Flambeau, Wisconsin, Namekagan, and St.Croix. Two of them, the Namekagan and St.Croix, are even preserved as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Although these larger rivers are considered by some to be the best for canoeing, northern Wisconsin has a great many smaller rivers and streams that will also provide high quality canoeing. In fact some of these lesser known streams often provide great wilderness canoeing, camping, and fishing. Since many of these rivers flow through remote areas of National Forest they still remain largely unchanged from when they were major travel routes for early day Indians, voyageurs, settlers, trappers, and loggers.

With the abundance of information available on canoeing Wisconsin rivers, planning a canoe trip this summer might be easier than you might think. The first and most obvious sources of information would be the Department of Natural Resources or the U.S.Forest Service. For more specific information on a stream or area contact the D.N.R. headquarters or District Ranger Station for that area. Still other sources of information might be the Chamber of Commerce, local library, and sporting goods stores in that area.

If you are planning a longer canoe trip that will require overnight camping obviously you will want to pick a river that either has campsites, campgrounds, or areas where camping is allowed. The larger rivers like the Flambeau, St.Croix, or the Namekagan have designated primitive campsites along the river as well as a few developed or commercial campgrounds. For those of you who really enjoy roughing it and want the maximum wilderness experience. You might want to try one of the rivers in the Chequamegon National Forest. Some of these rivers and streams flow through really remote areas. With disbursed camping being allowed within the Chequamegon forest you can camp almost anywhere as long as you abide by a few rules. Your campsite needs to be located at least 50 feet from any trail or the waters edge and it must be left clean when you leave. Also when camping in these remote areas it is a good idea to practice "Leave No Trace Camping". In other words, before you leave try to make your campsite look almost as if no one had been there.

This summer rather than making plans for one canoe trip to an area far from home, instead plan several outings on some of our own northland rivers. Whether you are after a simple day trip or a week long total wilderness experience there is a Wisconsin river that can provide it for you.