Thirty miles above the earth, looking down at the Arrowhead region of northeastern Minnesota and southeastern Ontario, it is hard to see where the land breaks and the lakes begin. The landscape seems an intractable confusion of water and earth, each controlling the geography with equal emphasis.

Within this porous realm, humans have moved seamlessly across the forested ridges and coasted smoothly across the lakes for thousands of years. Human populations closely followed the retreat of the ice from the south and have been visiting and occupying this region for the 11,000 years. The Assiniboine, the Eastern Sioux, the Cree, and the Ojibway peoples have all occupied portions of the Superior National Forest, adapting to the harsh winter climates and networks of lakes, rivers and land.

It was not until 1688, when these lands were first encountered by French-Canadian explorer Jacques de Noyon, who followed indigenous canoe routes into the region. He transected the landscape through a route of lakes, rivers and portages, making his way across this rippled section of the globe.

The Superior National Forest contains more than 2,000 lakes and uncounted connecting streams and rivers. Much of the prehistoric travel, historic travel and development of the area have been closely linked to these water travel routes.

By the 18^th and 19^th centuries, the European percolation had developed into a full network of tradigin routes for canoe-paddling trappers called “Voyageurs” who worked for the competing North West and Hudson’s Bay companies.

The Voyageurs of the Fur-trade era traveled the water highway of the Superior National Forest’s current border with Canada in large birch-bark canoes following much the same routes as prehistoric people who traversed the area for several thousands of years in dugout canoes. In later years, loggers used these waterways to transport timber to sawmills.

Early in the establishment of the National Forest System, Teddy Roosevelt recognized he natural values of these northern Minnesota lands. In 1909, he created the Superior National Forest.

Soon after World War I ended, the lakes and the woodlands of northern Minnesota and the Superior National Forest began to experience an influx of recreational visitors. This was especially true for the northern border region of the Superior National Forest. Even as early as 1919 the Forest experienced nearly 13,000 visitors. The scenic and recreational potential for these northern lands had been revealed.

Exploring the Superior offers an experience in a wild environment that is still argely intact.

By 1926 Secretary of Agriculture William Jardine issued a new policy statement that formalized the establishment of a “primitive area” along the northern border of the United States and Canada within the Superior National Forest. This protection halted any plans for dams and reservoirs in the area and became the seed that would eventually grow into today’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

Contrary to popular belief, the formation and protection of today’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area did not preserve what had previously been untouched wilderness. By the time of World War I, much of the region’s land had either been burned away or cutover. Jack pine, spruce, balsam and aspen grew to replace the red pine, white pin and white spruce. Evidence shows that fires were common in the areas over the past several centuries. These first created habitat conditions favorable for wildlife as well as increased production of blueberries—a highly favored crop for the area’s native inhabitants.

Exploring the Superior offers an experience in a wild environment that is still argely intact. Between 300 and 400 wolves inhabit the forests of the Superior National Forest—a relatively healthy population in contrast to a nation where wolves have largely been eradicated from all but a few wild places in the United States.

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area has come to define the Superior National Forest today, and is one of the most visited Wilderness Areas in the United States. Ely, Minnesota is the “Canoe Capitol of the World,” says Linda Fryer, Director of the town’s Chamber of Commerce.

Surrounded by the Superior National Forest, more than 700,000 people go through the town every year, and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area is a major draw. “There are over 500 lakes within a 20 miles radius of here,” Fryer notes.

However, the Boundary Waters is only on dimension of the Superior National Forest, explains Kristina Reichenbach, of the Superior National Forest. There are 3,000 recorded heritage sites that represent human occupation of the Forest for more than 10,000 years. Reichenbach speaks passionately about the area’s varied history, the living ecosystems and the small towns of northern Minnesota that have an interdependent relationship with the Forest.

“The Superior National Forest has nearly 2,000 miles of trail maintained for all kinds of activities, including snowmobiles, ATVs, hiking, biking, horseback riding and cross-country skiing,” Reichenbach says. Much of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area is off-limits to motor boats, as are a few of the Superior’s other lakes.

The Superior National Forest offers an interesting blend of recreation, history, culture, wild places and amazing scenery. Bring your canoe and get adventurous, or enjoy a picnic beside a lake and daydream about all those who traveled the area before you.

America’s Headwaters

The receding ice from ancient ice ages left the landscape of the Superior National Forest scraped and gouged. Long gashes of stones and cliffs have become lakes and protruding cliffs have become seemingly countless islands.

Depending on what side of the Laurentian Divide you are dipping your paddle on, the waters you are navigating will eventually end up in the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River, the Hudson Bay or the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway.

These lakes, waterways and deep forests of mossy floors and bogs span across thousands of square miles, infusing and saturating the earth and filling up the craggy spaces between the ancient rocks, ripped and scrapped by ice long ago. This water pools and flows from one of the apexes of the North American continent.

The Laurentian Divide crosses into the United States in northeast Minnesota, where it forms a three-way divide at the Hill of Three Waters where the watersheds of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi River systems meet with the Hudson Bay basin. The Chippewa or Ojibway Indians referred to this stretch of the Laurentian Divide as the “Sleeping Giant,” or Mesabi.

Depending on what side of the Laurentian Divide you are dipping your paddle on, the waters you are navigating will eventually end up in the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River, the Hudson Bay or the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway.

A Wintry Wonderland

The snows and dusky light of winter drive the summer visitors away and leave the Superior an even quieter, more placid place. The lakes freeze over and the snows begin to settle and climb the trunks of the aspen, birch and pines.

The rolling terrain and silent landscape bring out cross-country skiers who explore the miles of trails, groomed and natural, that span across the Forest. in the winter, permits for travel throughout the Boundary Waters Canoe Area are asy to obtain, and the wild and frozen landscapes invite skiers and dogsledders to glide where canoes had drifted only months before.

More than 700 miles of summer roads remain unplowed and become winter snowmobile trails, maintained in cooperation with the help of local clubs and the state of Minnesota.