Piragis Northwoods Company — Attraction in Ely

Our family of 4 (me, my wife, 2 teenagers) had a crazy excellent experience with Piragis.

We had never done primitive camping (backpacking, overnight paddling trips, etc.) before. For that matter, we had never even done car camping before! Sure, we stay in lodges at national parks and go on hikes, but that's the extent of our "roughing it", if you can even call it that.

Given that background, we went with full outfitting plus a guide for a 4-day/3-night BWCA trip. I wanted to be prepared, so I asked a lot of questions ahead of time. Adam M. spent an enormous amount of time on the phone with me from the time that Piragis obtained a permit for us in late January all the way up to our late July trip start. He was always kind, patient, and friendly. I couldn't believe it.

When we arrived, we received similar "warm vibes" from the staff at Piragis. Our guide (Ben Strege) was incredible. He took care of camp set-up and cooking. He handled bear bag duties before/after each meal and a bunch of other things I am not remembering at the moment. But, Ben also took the kids out fishing in the morning and gave us an hour-long nighttime tour of the summer constellations. He even kept an eye out for possible Aurora Borealis activity at night. Sure, we did the dishes, did some water pumping/filtering, and took care of our personal stuff, but Ben was ridiculously efficent taking care of all the rest!

We picked a campsite that would not have much canoe traffic nearby. One morning, my wife was quietly reading on a big shoreline rock some distance from our campsite. She ended up seeing an adult bear swimming across the lake. The bear was maybe 60 yards away from my wife and maybe a third of the way across the approximately 200 yard stretch from our shoreline to a peninsula across the way. When she quietly called to our son to come look, the bear, while swimming, turned its head towards my wife in a sort of "Huh, who's that?" way. Startled, the bear turned around and swam back to the shoreline it had come from. Bears unaccustomed to contact with humans: just the way we like it, for the sake of both the bears and us! What a great experience!

Bottom line, Piragis (Adam Macht, Drew, Tim, and several others) and guide Ben Strege made it possible for our inexperienced group to have a successful 4-day/3-night overnight paddling trip in the Boundary...

We just returned from our 14th trip to the BWCA, and we selected these guys to provide us guidance and gear. We chose a short, 2 night trip to Birth Lake. Once we arrived at the drop off point, the towboat operator told us that we had been issued the wrong maps. He was concerned to see us enter the park without adequate way-finding. On the last day out, we got lost and paddled longer than we needed to. Once we finally got back to the outfitters, one of the employees approached us and heard that we had been given the wrong maps. We fully anticipated that he would attempt to make things right, as he didn't deny it. Instead, he started with a monolog about how we should get maps "next time." No apology for us getting lost. Didn't ask us how the trip went. No reference to the outfitting side of the company not in communication with the retail side when outfitting sends someone their way. He did what I call taking "anti-ownership" of the problem. I spoke to a local whom I have known for 30 years who reiterated that my experience was not unique and that once this outfitter gets your money, customer service comes to a halt.

The other person with me on the trip is a customer service guru, and he wanted to suggest that could have picked one of three options:

1. So sorry. How can we make things right?
2. Can we give you the correct map, instead?
3. I am sorry that we put you are risk and played a role in you getting lost.

Nothing.

Go find an outfitter who cares about customers. These...

Bravo, Piragis!!

We made new friends at Piragis and had an amazing 6-day canoeing adventure in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) early in September 2022. The folks at Piragis Northwoods Outfitters were simply outstanding in every way. The rental equipment (canoes, tents, sleeping bags, ground mats, cooking equipment, canoe packs, etc., etc.) was all top-of-the-line, clean, efficient, and in terrific working order. Our man, Drew Brockett (Outfitting Manager and General Trip Planning Guide) was helpful every step of the way. He really took time to teach, answer all our questions, and just provided deep knowledge all-around. We travelled from our home in Pennsylvania to Ely, Minnesota, to enjoy this trip with friends, and Drew (and Team) always took our calls prior to the trip, and always responded to e-mail questions … so very helpful and assuring to know you have a thoughtful and experienced TEAM and management in the coordination of such an adventure. Regarding the BWCAW, it was serene, sublime, exciting at times, and our trip became more and more enjoyable with each passing day. Piragis’ equipment held-up in good and bad weather and they made sure we were confident and prepared. This was a bucket-list trip, and we are so pleased that Piragis was our outfitters. Thank you Piragis for a...