Sylvania Wilderness Backcountry Camping

Sylvania Wilderness Area is an exceptional place. Unfortunately for us, the mosquitoes were exceptional, too. Worst I'd ever experienced anywhere, and I'm a 62 seasoned veteran of wilderness canoe camping! that said, every other thing about Sylvania Wilderness Area was exceptionally fine, including the utter lack of garbage, trash, and plastic bits (omnipresent in so many places in the world. Keep up the fine work!

We had a great trip. Two adult brothers and their mom in one canoe. Parked and put in at Crooked Lake. Paddled South and portaged to Mountain Lake and camped at Lynx 1. Next day portaged to East Bear Lake and camped at Wolf. Last day portaged out through High Lake. The campsites were great. Plenty of room and nice fire rings. Fishing was very good on Mountain Lake and pretty good on West Bear. We went in early June and the mosquitos were terrible. We had to wear nets and long sleeves anytime we were on land. But we got used to it and it didn't ruin our trip. We usually go to BWCA and we decided to try a short trip to Sylvania as a warm-up this year. It really is like a mini-BWCA. I would definitely go back.

Sylvania Wilderness is an excellent backcountry experience for first time hiker and canoeist. The hiking and portage trails do receive some maintenance. It is nice smaller version of the BWCA experience that almost anyone can do.

Beautiful forested area. We canoed in and tent camped. Nice fire ring and close proximity to hiking trail that goes around the park. Pit toilet located up a steep hill that can be slippery when wet, with drop offs in right side going up. Plenty of dead wood laying around for us to have fires ( this was In Mid September). It rained half of our trip so we left early while we were still able to dry our equipment out and head back across the lake. Insects were nearly absent at that time of year which was very nice. We were not able to swim off the sites canoe slip. Too mucky , weedy. Took canoe to another location the was more rocky/sandy.
Overall a beautiful area and time of year! The Loons were out both nights and we heard their haunting calls on and off all night!

Great backwoods/northwoods experience - very quiet and relaxing. Fishing was excellent. Sylvania Wilderness is the best! Our family has been coming here for 10 years.

After hearing about it for many years, we finally made it to Sylvania for a three day/two night trip. We had a very nice campsite, raccoon on Highlake. Took a couple of day trips and hiked around Clark lake quite a bit. The groves of old hardwood hemlocks are really spectacular. We will definitely be back.

The camp was well maintained, Bill the host is always helpful and friendly. We loved that the bathrooms well stocked and clean. A little disappointed that the showers were already closed but made due.
We came for the solitude and beauty of SYLVANIA and it proved as wonderful as the other 18 years we’ve been coming.

Big bass alert. What a blast.

We had a fantastic long weekend on West Bear lake, camping at coyote. The temps were just right to deter insects, and although we got caught in some substantial rain on the way in, which continued through the night until the following day at noon, overall the weather was great. Despite only spending a couple hours fishing each evening, we did manage to have fish tacos for breakfast and an amazing fish fry our final day at camp. This is my fourth stay at coyote, and I just love the location. After having not been in the park for the last 8 years, it sure felt great to be back. Looking forward to next year already.

The Sylvania Wilderness is a wonderful gift to experience. Though one reserves a specific campsite, please don't let it hinder you from portaging to other lakes, perhaps even do a loop. It's worth the energy.