The organization Quiet Parks International has designated the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) a “Wilderness Quiet Park.” Not only is the BWCAW the first quiet park in Minnesota, it’s only the second such park in the whole United States!
The Boundary Waters was designated a wilderness area in 1964, and at more than 800,000 acres, it is one of the largest wilderness areas in the contiguous United States.
When combined with the adjacent Voyageurs National Park and Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario, the expanse of uninterrupted wilderness is even larger.
With few roads near the wilderness area and infrequent air traffic above, often all you hear is the sounds of nature. Or just silence.
It makes total sense that it was awarded the Wilderness Quiet Park designation.
The Boundary Waters recently received a similar designation for its lack of light pollution.
In 2020, the BWCAW was designated a Dark Sky Sanctuary - one of the largest such sanctuaries in the world.
Remote Glacier National Park, which also shares a cross-boundary wilderness area with Canada, was the first quiet park in the country.
It likely receives considerably more vehicle traffic than the Boundary Waters.
In the BWCAW, all you’re likely to hear is the ripple of your paddle in the water.
Or the sound of the trail beneath your soles as the wind rustles through the leaves and pine needles above you.
Perhaps a loon will call in the distance, or at night, you may hear the howls of wolves - which were never extirpated from this part of the United States.
If you’re lucky, you may even catch sight of a moose walking silently and majestically out of the trees and into its favorite watering hole.
If you’d like to plan an overnight trip in the Boundary Waters between April and October, you’ll need a government-issued permit, which are issued via a lottery system through the Recreation.gov website. Daytime visitors and those who head into the Boundary Waters between October and April only need self-issued permits, which are available at entry-point kiosks.
Have you visited the Boundary Waters in Minnesota? Did you hear the silence or see the darkness? Where do you think the next Wilderness Quiet Park should be?
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