Overnight access returns to portions of the BWCAW

Kalli Hawkins | July 28, 2026

Areas of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) will reopen to day-use and overnight access starting Thursday, July 30.

On Monday, the U.S. Forest Service announced it will enter Phase 2 of the reopening process, with roughly 41 entry points in the central and eastern portions of the wilderness area reopening.

The areas selected for reopening represent roughly 39 percent—or just over 400,000 acres of the BWCAW.

The Phase 2 list includes all the same entry points as Phase 1 and adds several entry points in Lake and Cook Counties. Select entry points in Cook County had reopened for day-use access only on Monday. There is only one entry point reopening in St. Louis County: Trout Lake for day-use motor only.

Day-use motor is also opening on Seagull and Saganaga Lakes in Cook County.

See a map below of the BWCAW entry points reopening for both day-use and overnight effective July 30.

BWCAW entry points reopening for both day-use and overnight effective July 30 | USFS

All other entry points will stay closed while multiple wildfires continue to burn in the area. Forest Service officials said permits for these entry points have been canceled from July 30 through August 3.

The Forest Service said it is working closely with local, state, and federal partners to determine when conditions are appropriate enough to reopen other areas of the BWCAW.

Forest Service officials said, “Protecting the public and firefighters remains the highest priority.”

A full list of the BWCAW entry points being reopened are below: