10/18/11 – The Forest Service has reduced the size of the closed area within the BWCA Wilderness due to the Pagami Creek fire. The map below is hard to read, but in a nutshell, the route from Kawishiwi Lake up to Malberg is still closed. The Hog Creek entry point and Parent Lake are closed. Everything else in the Sawbill area is now open.
That said, there is nobody around Sawbill today. The parking lot is empty, we don’t have any canoes rented and the campground is empty. There will be a few people here over this weekend as most of the schools in Minnesota are closed on Thursday and Friday. After that, there will be a few die-hards that still take short canoe trips, but the season is mostly over. We’ve already started on our closing chores, like doing inventory, draining water and stacking firewood. – Bill

The fire perimeter and the lakes still closed for canoe travel as of 10/18/11.