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The Route

Swimming the bwcaw/Canada water border

Our route follows the Minnesota/Canada border for the full length of the BWCAW. This is sometimes called "The Voyageurs' Highway". It was chosen to maximize open water swim yardage and minimize portaging. 

The full route will be completed over the course of three years. The first middle leg of the route was completed in July of 2019. 

Middle Leg

Completed July 12, 2019

We began on July 1 at Trail's End, the end of the Gunflint Trail on Saganaga Lake. We moved west over the course of 12 days to finish at Birch Lake (the same lake that the proposed Twin Metals mine would be located).

Begun: July 1, 2019

Completed: July 12, 2019

Total Mileage: ~89 mi

Total Swim Yardage: 100,000 yds (57 mi)

western Leg

Scheduled for 2020

Picking ​up at Basswood Lake where we left the border in 2019 we will continue to head west. We will exit the BWCAW at Little Vermillion Lake and finish at the southern end of Crane Lake, just outside the wilderness boundary. (Detailed route yet to be finalized)

Scheduled: Summer, 2020

Total Mileage: ~90 mi

Total Swim Yardage: TBD

Eastern Leg

Scheduled for 2021

Begin​ing where we started the middle leg of the route in 2019 we'll enter the BWCAW at Trail's End and pick up the border on Saganaga Lake. We'll then head east along the border ending our waterbound journey on Pigeon River. We'll then hike the full length of The Grand Portage to finish at Lake Superior. (Detailed route yet to be finalized.)

Scheduled: Summer 2021

Total Mileage: ~85 mi

Total Swim Yardage: TBD

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