By Stephanie Gregory

Many of our top canoeing destinations see regular visitors, but every now and again they offer up the solitude and serenity canoeists clamor for.

1. Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Minnesota, U.S.A.
One of North America's great canoe/camping destinations has a lot more open vistas these days, thanks to a ferocious July 4, 1999, storm that toppled 25 million trees. Natural disaster-refuse notwithstanding, northern Minnesota's million-acre BWCAW is still worth the trek. With more than 1,000 lakes and 1,500 miles of canoe routes, there's ample elbowroom separating you from the 199,999 other paddlers who make the pilgrimage here each summer. While there may be a noticeable lack of shade on some lakes, moose, blueberries, and loons are still abundant.

2. Bonaventure River, Quebec, Canada.
There are more tumultuous rivers in Quebec, but the Bonaventure--which translates to "good adventure"--is a perfect mixture of adrenaline and unadulterated lazy fun. Starting deep in the highlands of the 3,000-foot Chic Choc Mountains on the Gaspe Peninsula, the 76-mile river rips through the charred remains of a forest fire, through a high, rocky canyon, and into lush green stands of birch, pine, and maple. This adventure also includes world-class salmon pools--the very same pools movie stars and CEOs flock to in hopes of landing a trophy lunker. The river ends in an 18th-century fishing village on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Bring your fly rod, but be prepared to pay a stiff fee for fishing here.

3. Ten Thousand Islands, Florida, U.S.A.
Bring your binoculars to spy snowy egrets, great herons, roseate spoonbills, black-crowned night herons, and dozens of other birds. They flock to this necklace of islands hanging off the southwest coast of Florida to enjoy the same amenities you will: giant mangrove trees, endless clam beds, shifting sandbars, and Technicolor sunrises and sunsets. If you're ambitious, paddle the 99-mile Wilderness Waterway, a marked route from Everglades City to Flamingo. Camp along the way on "chickees," stand-alone platforms in the water. But beware: The hot sun, open water, and hungry mosquitoes can add a sinister edge to this seemingly benign location.

4. Hood River, Northwest Territories, Canada.
North American paddlers rate the Hood with the same esteem as whitewater enthusiasts reserve for the Futaleufu in Patagonia. No one would disagree that the Hood, which empties into the Arctic at Bathurst Inlet, is spectacular: It boasts grazing herds of musk oxen and caribou, the 170-foot Wilberforce Falls (you'll want to portage this), and the wild frontier feel of the central Canadian Arctic. But it does require substantial logistical legwork to paddle here, despite a new mining road that runs along the bank.

5. Dordogne River, France.
The scenery along France's longest river--approximately 300 miles--can't exactly be categorized as pristine wilderness, but as you pass 17th-century villages and medieval castles from the comfort of your canoe, will you really care? Put in at the village of Beaulieu, and you'll pass Gluges, a small, nearly deserted village under a rocky overhang, the hilltop medieval village of Domme, and the heavily trafficked cliffs from Cénac to Beynac. Added bonus: Stay in riverside campsites or bed down in one of the cozy inns along the way.

6. Na Pali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii, U.S.A.
On the northwestern curve of Hawaii's remotest island, the Na Pali coast is a true South Pacific idyll. Precipitous, moss-carpeted peaks plunge into turquoise water populated by monk seals and dolphins, while half-moon sandy beaches and 200-foot-high waterfalls are tucked between the cliffs. Keep in mind that an outrigger canoe makes a lot more sense than paddling your standard Kevlar Wenonah here. The waves can pick up, especially between late September and early May.

7. Lower Zambezi River, Zimbabwe.
Don't worry, we're not recommending you paddle the thunderous whitewater of the Batoka Gorge. Canoeists will find the real action more than 200 miles below Victoria Falls along the 152-mile stretch from Chirundu to Mana Pools National Park. Here you'll pass through a 43-mile section with more bird- and wildlife than anywhere else along the mighty 1,674-mile river. It's not at all uncommon to encounter lions gazing at you from the shadows, elephants drinking from the banks, and hippos lazing in the muddy river.

8. Maine Island Trail, Maine, U.S.A.
Teeming with seals and bald eagles, the Maine Island Trail stretches almost the entire length of the state's rocky coast, extending 350 miles from Portland's Casco Bay to the Canadian border. Experienced canoeists will delight in the skills required to paddle the trail: compass reading, open-water paddling, and navigating through pea-soup fog and around schooner wrecks.

9. Bowron Lakes Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada.
Four giant lakes connected by smaller lakes, rivers, and portages comprise this perfect square of a 72-mile circuit in east-central British Columbia. Wedged between the Cariboo Mountains and the Quesnal Highlands, in which moose, deer, mountain goats, and grizzly bears make their home, there's never a lack of mountain scenery or wildlife. The fickle weather makes things even more interesting: One minute you're enduring the scorching sun, the next you're paddling hell-bent for shore in search of cover from torrential rains.

10. Lake Baikal, Russia.
Paddling on Lake Baikal is like dropping down onto a whole new planet. To get a picture of the world's deepest lake, imagine putting Lake Superior in Montana and then moving them both north to the Canadian tundra. The lake is home to the nerpa, the world's only freshwater seal, and countless little villages where few folks have seen foreign boaters. But beware of the sarma, one of Lake Baikal's 17 different winds (ranging from gentle breezes to frothing gales), and known to generate 100-foot waterspouts and 8-foot waves.

Stephanie Gregory is a freelance writer and Outside magazine correspondent based in Minneapolis. She worked as a canoe guide in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness for three years.