Superior National Forest

The Superior National Forest is the largest national forest east of the Mississippi River, encompassing nearly four million acres of Minnesota's Arrowhead Region along the Canadian border. Its crown jewel is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a one-million-acre expanse of interconnected lakes, rivers, and portage trails that forms one of the most visited wilderness areas in the entire National Forest System. With over 2,000 pristine glacial lakes and 1,300 miles of canoe routes, the BWCAW offers an unparalleled paddling wilderness where motorized access is restricted.\n\nThe forest supports gray wolves, moose, black bears, lynx, pine martens, and one of the densest breeding populations of common loons in the lower 48 states. The landscape is defined by Canadian Shield bedrock, ancient Precambrian granite sculpted by glaciers into the lake-studded terrain seen today. Towering red and white pines, mixed with birch, aspen, and spruce-fir forest, create a patchwork of boreal habitats.\n\nBeyond paddling, the forest offers exceptional backpacking along the 310-mile Superior Hiking Trail, cross-country skiing, fishing for walleye, northern pike, and smallmouth bass, and viewing the northern lights from some of the darkest skies in the eastern United States. The Gunflint Trail, a 57-mile scenic byway, provides road access to the edge of the wilderness.