Quetico Provincial Park

Across the border from the Boundary Waters, Quetico is the quieter, wilder half of the same lake country: 4,760 square kilometers spread over more than 600 lakes, where motorboats have been banned since 1979 apart from a small exception on a few lakes. Its campsites are unofficial, unimproved clearings rather than prepared sites, so navigation, map reading and tidy camping matter more than on the Minnesota side. Canoeists need a permit reservation for one of the park's entry points. Choose Quetico once you have done a lake trip or two and want fewer people and more self-reliance.