In the Boundary Waters

   "I want to come to the Boundary Waters, is that in Canada?" You would think the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness would include Canada but it doesn’t.  The BWCA is located in Minnesota and shares a border with Canada.  Some of the border is along Canada‘s QueticoProvincialPark while other parts are along LaVerandrye or plain Canada.  In Minnesota there are 547 miles of land and water that borders Canada

     The border between the United States and Canada is taken care of by theInternational Boundary Commission.   The Commission was established in 1908 to define and mark the border that includes 5,525 miles of boundary and more than 8,000 monuments.  The IBC is currently conducting maintenance activities along the International border within the Boundary Waters.  They will check reference points and brush a 10 foot wide corridor along the border. 

     If you’ve spent any time paddling and portaging in the canoe country along the border then you have no doubt noticed a marker or two.  There are over 5528 monuments along the entire border and the Boundary Waters has quite a few of them.  Monument Portage happens to be named after the markers but there are plenty elsewhere in the Boundary Waters.  I guess I should clarify that and say the markers are on the border between the United States and Canada, not in the Boundary Waters.

A monument along a BWCA portage      Monument Portage in the BWCA