"I'm going to do it as soon as my kids get older!"

I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard that from a prospective Boundary Waters visitor.

So, when are they "a little older?" When is it time to take your kids along? In the canoe outfitting business we like to say, "We've seen it all." So let's see what we've learned from observing lots of families over the years. After that I'll tell you specifically where you can take them for a great outing. (See route map.)

Family trip in the Boundary Waters

Your first question — how old your kids need to be — is really one only you can answer for yourself. If children have been on various outings with their family, such as picnics, hikes, and camp-outs, then they will probably do just fine in the Boundary Waters. If they haven't had much exposure to the outdoors, it really doesn't matter how old they are.

Kids generally adapt quite well if the trip is well planned and the route is not too long. We have seen the entire spectrum among our guests: anything from ten months to five or six years old and up. I would recommend practicing on short local trips before jumping into the Boundary Waters with both feet.

Your second question will probably be how many days you should spend on the trip. My answer is always the same: It really doesn't matter how many days you choose if you've picked a suitable route. The number of days you have available tends to be dictated by your household schedule anyway. It's very unlikely you'll have too many days to spend on any vacation. Don't make the canoe trip too short, though, or the kids won't have a chance to become comfortable on the trail. I recommend four to six days for a good family trip.

Before we get to specific routes for your family, let's get a few bases covered. Short and sweet is the key, whether you're paddling, portaging, making camp, fishing, or gathering wood. I don't have to tell you about the shorter attention spans of children. But what many parents, or trip leaders, fail to realize is the cold hard fact that they are going to do 99 percent of the work. This is true on any vacation, and doubly so on a canoe-camping trip.

So, what defines a suitable family route? First of all, plan to camp on smaller lakes whenever possible. Take advantage of motor launches to get across the larger ones. Keep the portages short and few in number. Plan to set up a comfortable base camp so you only have to make camp once. A long day trip is fun with just rainwear, fishing poles, and lunch in a small pack. Kids love to explore, but, again, keep everything short: the time spent fishing, the time spent sitting in the canoe, and the time spent between snacks and drinks.

So where are these routes? Well, some of the best are just off the end of the Gunflint Trail, so close to the road you'll be amazed how easy it is to get so far away from civilization.

Move on to Paddling: Taking the Kids: Round Lake Area Return to Top

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