Boundary Waters Canoe Area: Eastern Region

The first ~40 pages are a great overview of the history of the BWCA and a great introduction to camping/canoeing techniques. Not what I bought the book for, but really enjoyed this section. Especially introduction to the history of the land, from it's earliest beginnings to constant fight to preserve the area today.The real reason to buy this book are the detailed routes. It's laid out so that each Entry Point (EP) has two planned routes. A shorter (not necessarily easier) and longer route are detailed. The shorter routes range from one night to four while the longer range from four to eight nights. I found most of the routes to be fairly aggressive, with lots of portages and ground covered each day. There are very few "easy" routes with infrequent, short portages. Then again, that's not really what the BWCA is about.Each route includes the following:* Entry Point* Difficulty Rating* Fisher Maps Needed (Fisher is one of three companies that make dedicated maps of the BWCA. I enjoy McKenzie myself, but it's personal preference)* Number of days* Miles covered* Number of lakes, creeks, rivers, and portagesThe detailed explanation of each route is broken down by days and heavy emphasis is given to the difficulty of each days portages and paddles.You can easily follow the routes laid out in the book or you can use them as a guide for your own routes. The author provides enough details so that it's easy to pick segments of a trip and combine different ones to create your own route.One thing this book lacks is maps. There is only one map in the entire book and it's a very rough overview of the entire section of Boundary Waters that is discussed in the book. That's why you have a detailed Fisher or McKenzie map though.

This book is great for planning BWCA trips as a guide. We use it to decide where to go when we take the trip. We have previously checked it out of the library but since we have gone every year for the last four years, we decided to invest in our own...along with the Eastern Region book. The bonus we LOVE is that it lists the lakes with the type of fish that you find in them at the back of the book. That's one of the biggest selling points, in our opinions!

The latest edition is a step backward in quality in my opinion.I am nostalgic to be sure. That alone I am sure creates bias in my review. I still have the canvas #3Duluth Pack with the rugged leather straps from my teen years. It has a slight musty scent and one can still smell the leather to this day. There is perhaps a hint as well of a campfire when one breathes deep. And, unlike me, it still has retained its strength over all these years. Every time I pull the pack off the shelf and inhale; I am reminded of some of my fondest memories.The same sentiment is true for my collection of Beymer BWCA guidebooks. Over the years I have spent hours paging through the various routes. With the help of Beymer's books I have lead scores of youth and adults on myriad trips through the BWCA over the last two decades. Through his books, Robert Beymer, has been a true friend.Part of the fun was in the planning. I loved reading through the routes and tracing them out on the PREVOIUSLY INCLUDED 21x14 inch map that was provided in the prior editions. The map was just the right size to get a flavor of the route. The new book has essentially a worthless map printed in the pages at the beginning of the book.This new edition may have a few new updates, but has lost the charm.Here is what I miss:-The separate map.-The bold font of the lake names in the route descriptions. That was nice to help quickly trace out a route.-The glossy pages of photos. The photos in this latest addition are "blah".-The slightly slimmer field book profile. The earlier editions slipped nicely into a vest pocket. I always took the Beymer guide on every trip in case a route deviation ensued.- The cover. Although not hardbound, the previous editions had a sturdier cover that could stand a few water splashes.-Popularity rankings. I actually found the rankings a way to avoid the more "popular" routes. Some folks gravitate to the more popular entry points thinking them the "best"; others (like me) found the rankings a way to avoid a bunch of traffic. When I read, "readers can build their own personal popularity rankings", I saw it as a copout for not wanting to review the data. It is certainly not useful advice for the BWCA neophyte.Ultimately, I am sure many a coureur du bois will continue to find these books quite worthy, but for those that have the older editions - the lack of quality may be a bit of a letdown.

Excellent book! The author offers details about portages and lakes that I couldn't find online anywhere...it's always good to know what you're getting into in the wilderness so you can plan for it. I like that routes are offered that include campsite, fishing, and scenery tips, and that those routes are rated for difficulty and approximated for travel time. I'd recommend this book (and its companion for the Western Region) to anyone planning a trip into the BWCA!

Love this book! Lots of ideas for future trips! Love the lake index in the back and interesting facts about all the the places we've gone in the BWCA.

While a new edition is certainly overdue, the route descriptions are still largely accurate. A must have for anyone planning a trip to the BWCAW.

This is a great book for planning a trip through the BWCA. I used this for our first trip and it helped get things in perspective to plan how far to travel in a day and where to camp.

This is a useful resource for planning loops and routes through some of the lesser-used, and a few of the more popular, BWCA regions. Routes and loops are rated on scale of difficulty, number of days to make the trip, and other useful information. This is not a resource to use for planning how to pack, what to bring, what to expect, etc. The author is well versed, and draws on his personal travel experience in the BWCA. However, there are some notable editorial mistakes in the text.