Sylvania Wilderness Backcountry Camping

Super fun. We are used to the BWCA, but Sylvania did not disappoint. Very open cool campsites, very few people. We enjoyed it a lot.

Balsam 2 has a lovely beach and an open campsite with a breeze off the lake. A bit of a climb up (as stated in the description) and unfortunately, the mosquitoes were a bit of a problem. Good first canoe camping experience for my 4&6 year old grandchildren.

Park staff were friendly and helpful. Sites were marked from shore, but difficult to spot when hiking in.

Bathroom seat rim is cracked.

I visited in late June. The weather was great. There was lots of cool wildlife to see, especially birds. I really enjoyed hearing the loons. In the morning around 3:30 - 4:00 the woods came alive with all the birds calling out. I really wasn’t expecting that, which was a great wake up call to catch the sunrise before going back to sleep for a few hours.

The bugs were pretty rough and I felt a little unprepared for that. I brought DEET but even still a dozen or so mosquitoes would swarm into my tent any time i went in or out. In particular, it was difficult to use the vault toilets without getting repeatedly bitten as the mosquito activity was especially heavy around those. Thankfully, they don’t bother you on the water but they were very annoying on land in the evenings, especially.

I paddled and camped on Clark lake, portaged to Crooked Lake spent a night and then portaged to High Lake and spent a night. I’m a pretty novice kayaker and found the pace very doable and it was worth it to get to see more of the area.

I definitely plan on returning, hopefully in the fall when the mosquitoes are gone.

We may be getting better with our fishing skills after visiting Sylvania Wilderness for 30 years, but fishing this year was better than ever! We even had a "rescue fish" caught on a lure, with a second lure in its mouth that we had lost the day before. (Both removed and fish released.) Of course the mosquitoes are bad in June, but we had mosquito netting so they were not a big issue. Also, we appreciated the fact the rangers were out and about and visited our campsite.

Way more people than previous years. Had 2 different neighbors at the campsite. Both were loud with music playing and excessive drinking. While fishing crooked lake in the evening heard shouting and yelling continuously. Saw many of the wilderness rules being broken. Like 6 cases of canned beer being hauled into a campsite. Not the quiet peacefully experience it once was.

Great scenery, nice hikes,only issue was the mosquitoes

Beautiful country, pristine water, not overcrowded, easy to navigate. Loved it

The campsite was a 5+. Some of the portages need maintenance.