Ely Outfitting Company worked with REI Adventures as their original and exclusive Boundary Waters program vendor to provide quality outfitting and guide services in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It has been a lot of fun. We’ve appreciated the talented and passionate REI professionals we’ve had the opportunity to work with. And we’ve really enjoyed introducing REI Experiences clients to the magic of the Boundary Waters.
We were shocked and saddened at the recent announcement of the immediate end of the REI Experiences program. Our thoughts are with the hundreds of full time and part time REI employees who have been laid off as part of the closure.
We planned to outfit and guide all of REI’s 14 Boundary Waters canoe trips in 2025. However, those REI clients have been notified that the trips have been cancelled. As an alternative to the REI Experiences Boundary Waters trip, we encourage you to consider a custom guided BWCAW trip or a guided group BWCAW tour with Ely Outfitting Company. You will receive all the care, professionalism, and good outdoor fun received by REI Experiences Boundary Waters trip clients we have served in the past. If you’re interested in doing a custom guided trip with us, start by doing a Trip Routing Form for some great route options and trip planning info. If you’d like to do the same route described in the REI Experiences trip description, we can email more details about that specific route as well and get you registered to do that trip if you’d like.