Volunteer Group Declares BWCAW Powwow Trail Rescued; More Work Ahead.

Minneapolis, MN. Minneapolis based non-profit, the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee (BWAC), had to table plans to put more than eighty volunteers to work on the Powwow Trail in the Boundary Waters this past May. Instead, two small crews ventured on the Powwow over Memorial Day weekend, concerned that winter had left a slew of tree falls blocking the trail again since the destruction of the Pagami Creek Fire in 2011.

“We were pleasantly surprised after tallying tree falls along the 30 miles long wilderness trail,” said Susan Pollock, BWAC’s new president. “We counted only 1,300 tree falls across the trail, and even more rewarding for our volunteers, we met three groups of backpackers along the way. We expected to find double that number of tree falls. Meeting backpackers on the trail interior--unheard of in the past five years--is a testimonial to BWAC work crews finding and clearing the impassable path over many seasons.”

BWAC has organized volunteers in both the Twin Cities and in Duluth for the past several years to rescue the Powwow. The effort is paying off. Organizers believe that they have turned the corner: the trail is now more welcoming as maintenance becomes increasingly manageable. In 2019 alone, BWAC recruited more than 180 volunteers to clear the path of dead trees and new growth. The number of dead standing trees is dwindling, but there is still more work ahead. BWAC is now working to develop screening and social distancing protocols with a goal of calling on volunteers for late summer and fall work crews.

Now that the trail is passable, BWAC is working with the US Forest Service to rehabilitate several closed campsites. Fire grates from eight campsites have survived, but new latrines and removal of hazard trees for safe camping are needed. There are also plans to replace an aging log crossing at a Powwow Trail interior destination, Diana Lake.

Hot summer months are not the best time to backpack the Powwow, but there are still opportunities to venture on the trail from the parking area at Isabella Lake; or from the portage from Lake Three to Horseshoe Lake, where a wilderness hike will now bring you to breathtaking views at either Rock of Ages or North Wilder Lakes.

Fall will be an easier time to circumnavigate this challenging trail. Most backpackers will be able to complete the loop in three to five days on what is undoubtedly the toughest wilderness trail in BWCAW if not in the Midwest. To make that challenge easier, volunteer organizers are busy this summer writing and preparing a hiker’s guide to the Powwow Trail. It will be posted on the club website and available for free to the public. Treefall density maps and other trip planning tools will be posted on the BWAC website in July, at www.BoundaryWatersTrails.org.

BWA Committee is a non-professional non-profit founded in 2002. Its mission is to preserve the existing historic and intrinsically beautiful trails in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of the Superior National Forest.  BWAC volunteers maintain hiking trails in the Boundary Waters under Volunteer Service Agreement with the USDA Forest Service.