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At Red Rock outfitting, we know canoes in great depth. We know which canoes work well and for whom they work well. We also know camping equipment and how to buy it. We never get really stuck on name brands because we've seen too many name brand products fall short in actual usage. The same holds true for canoes. Outfitting canoes trips since 1976 along with guiding fishing trips from canoes around Ely, MN, in all conceivable types of weather & lake conditions, we're very confident in our choices for canoes and camping equipment. With our real-time experience, we're an Ely outfitter who has the ability to wade through the marketing hype that so often snags equipment renters and other canoe outfitters. Our clients get the gear they need to have a good trip. When it all comes down to it, camping and canoeing gear that works well is more important to us than brand names that sell well. We strive to make your next Boundary Waters canoe trip the very best it can be.
BWCA Permit & Entry Point Q&A
Quetico Park Permit Costs and Info Here
Souris River Canoes only please
There are a lot of different canoes out there and many people think a canoe is a canoe is a canoe. Well that's not true by a long shot. At Red Rock Outfitting, we know most of the canoes out there along with how they handle in rough water, how stable they are, and how durable they are built. After 30 years of outfitting different canoes, plus extensive guiding in all sorts of models, we have found the best canoe made on the planet. Whatever you've heard, whatever you've read, the best canoe available on the market today for Boundary Waters canoe trips is a Souris RIver Canoe. They are not river canoes. Souris Rivers are flatwater canoes primarily designed by a little canoe company in Atikokan, Ontario - just north and outside of the Quetico Provincial Park of Canada. The ultimate general purpose hull is the Quetico 17 for 2 people or the Quetico 18.5 for 3 people. There is no other equal canoe to this particular brand and model of canoe. We are canoe experts. If we could find a better canoe out there, we would be renting it.
You will enjoy and probably want to buy this canoe after your canoe trip in the BWCA. It happens all the time. Many who have used Wenonahs, Mad Rivers and Bell canoes have switched over to the comfort, stability and control that a Souris River canoe offers. Where they really prove themselves is when the going gets tough and the water gets ugly. There are no other canoes built that take care of their paddler like a Souris Riiver Canoe does - regardless of what any salesman or "expert" outfitter has to say. We can & do prove it all summer long, year after year. In my opinion, any canoe outfitter who considers himself an expert would only rent Souris Rivers Quetico models, entirely as well. Using difficult handling, fragile, racing canoes like Wenonahs in one's rental fleet is done only out of competitve fear that the other outfitter down the road has them and some sort of an edge. A clear thinking outfitter to the BWCA will recommend a Souris River Quetico 17 over a Wenonah MN II for the bulk of his customers. As a canoe rental customer, it's to your benefit to demand a Souris River Canoe (particularly the Quetico 17) if you want a great trip and one less thing to worry about. You may be concluding that this, too, is a lot of hype. My reply would be to just wait until you spend 5 days in a Souris River Quetico in rough water, big winds and calm conditions. Then take out a Wenonah and see what you think. If you like to fish, if you aren't a canoe marathon racer, if you are like most paddlers everywhere, you'll know what I'm talking about in the first 15 minutes of paddling that other brand canoe. It's really tough to beat a Souris River Quetico 17.
Red Rock - Innovative Canoe Outfitters from Ely MN
One week after the 1999 blowdown in the Boundary Water Canoe Area, we sat down with a pack maker (Kondos Outdoors) and designed the Red Rock Super Pack. It's comprised of a custom-designed pack that holds two 30-liter barrels side by side on your back for easy transportation of camping food. You stash the barrels at night or when you leave camp - your food tightly sealed inside. Bears walk right on by. There are other barrel systems out there but they all use that annoying strap. I know all about that system becasue prior to the blowdown, we stcoked a few ofv them for sale in our store. One day, I tested a 60 liter barrel for myself . The barrel is a neat idea but the strap is worthless and doesn't fit all body types. It dug into my tailbone. When it wasn't digging ointo my tailbone, it was throwing me off balance and rolling around noisily in the canoe. We put them on clearance the very next day. Five years later came the blowdown and I designed the Super Pack. To date, we are the ONLY outfitter with a pack system designed specifically to comfortably haul your food in two barrels. All the other outfitters are still jury-rigging packs, trying to make the barrels fit, and coming up with nothing too impressive. Sure, it sounds a bit arrogant on my part, but you'd think by now all these huge outfitters would have something a little better for their rental customers. I mean we're going on 7 years now and at Red Rock, we've sold hundreds of Super Packs and rented them season after season. Want to know more about our outfitting qualifications? Read our canoeing How-to's in the left column of this page. No other BWCA outfitter or even any of those big-box retailers offers anything like this on the internet. Our outfitting experience and know-how speaks for itself.
