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If the U.S. Forest Service has its way, it will cost substantially more to paddle into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in a couple years. 

The Superior National Forest is proposing

 to raise fees for Boundary Waters trips for adults from $16 to $40. If the proposal is approved, the price for youth would increase from $8 to $20 per trip. 

The agency says this would be the first fee increase since 2008, and says the added revenue is needed to maintain portages, entry points and the wilderness area’s nearly 1,900 campsites, including “improvements to degraded amenities such as fire rings, latrines and many other improvements.”

Three open houses on the proposal will be held next month. The Forest Service expects the fee increase to go into effect in January 2027. 

“Fees will allow the Superior National Forest to hire Wilderness Ranger vacancies to catch up on over $11 million in maintenance backlog” in the Boundary Waters, said forest spokesperson Joy VanDrie. 

The work performed by rangers in the wilderness is labor intensive, VanDrie stressed. They use traditional hand tools to rehab campsites and nearly 200 miles of portages, dig latrines, replace or reset fire grates and cut hazard trees. 

The fees will also support staff to educate and interact with the roughly 154,000 people who visit the Boundary Waters annually. This year, because of budget and staffing issues, the Superior National Forest is 

not issuing permits at busy ranger stations in Ely and Grand Marais

, instead leaving that job to area outfitters. 

Canoe outfitters contacted by MPR News about the proposed fee increase largely supported the move. 

“It has been a long time since they did anything. So I'm okay with it personally,” said Drew Brockett, outfitting manager at Piragis Northwoods Company. 

“Just as long as it goes to the right thing. Most of it should go to the Boundary Waters,” he stressed. 

By law, VanDrie said, at least 80 percent of recreation fees collected must be returned to the Superior National Forest and spent in support of the Boundary Waters. 

“We don't want to price people out of coming to the Boundary Waters. But having enough user fees to cover the maintenance and things like that around here is definitely a plus,” said Ginny Nelson, who along with her parents has run Spirit of the Wilderness canoe outfitters in Ely, Minn., for the past 25 years. 

Nelson said she’s not surprised at the proposed fee hike. But she thinks the increase that’s ultimately approved won’t be as significant as the current proposal. 

“I think what they're trying to combat is maybe budget cuts, but then also the issue that there's a number of people that book permits that don't use them, and then they don't cancel them so nobody can use them.”

She calls those “no-show permits,” and they’ve been a growing concern over the past couple years, since the Superior National Forest 

cut the number of available permits in 2022

 to reduce crowding and “overall degradation of the wilderness.” 

Cancelled permits have also more than doubled in the past five years. Nelson said she’d prefer to see the Forest Service raise the reservation fee from the current $6 to $15 or $20, while limiting the amount the permit fee is raised. 

Currently, when a party cancels their trip within 48 hours of their departure date, the permit fee is refunded, but not the reservation fee. Nelson thinks a higher reservation fee might deter paddlers from booking multiple permits when they only intend to use one or two. 

“That would maybe hopefully make people think a little bit about booking too many permits, but yet not maybe making the permit too expensive for the groups that want to come,” Nelson said. 

Brockett said the fee proposal should also open up a discussion on revamping the cancellation policy. He thinks officials should consider requiring visitors to cancel their trips further in advance — say 30 days — in order to get a refund. 

“But overall, the Boundary Waters is still a very inexpensive place to go,” said Brockett. 

According to the Forest Service, market comparisons of neighboring Quetico Provincial Park and Voyageurs National Park “found that visitors pay two to three times more than those visiting the BWCAW for comparable trips,” VanDrie said.

The open houses are scheduled for July 14, from 4-6 p.m. at the Kawishiwi District Office in Ely, and on July 22, from 4-6 p.m. at the Gunflint District Office in Grand Marais,. A virtual open house will take place on July 15, from 4-6 p.m. Check the 

Dan Kraker

Author

The Superior National Forest hasn’t raised fees for Boundary Waters trips since 2008, but says the increase is needed to maintain portages and campsites. 

Forest Service proposes to more than double Boundary Waters fees

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