ALONG THE GUNFLINT TRAIL, Minn. (AP) - Two weeks after a wildfire began along the Gunflint Trail, outfitters and lodge owners want visitors to know that the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is still as beautiful as ever - and it's worth the trip.

"We still have the Boundary Waters," said Ted Young, who co-owns Boundary County Trekking and the Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B with his wife, Barbara. "We still have the beautiful lakes. And even where it's burned, it's not all burned."

The fire, which has been contained on the U.S. side of the Canadian border, forced the evacuation of businesses toward the end of the trail. The fire started May 5 - just as lodge owners were gearing up for the fishing opener and the start of the summer tourist season. Now, those businesses are battling a perception that the fire has destroyed the beauty of the wilderness.

Mike Prom, who owns Voyageur Canoe Outfitters with his wife, Sue, said: "If you had a map of the Boundary Waters on an 8½-by-11 sheet of paper, this fire would be the size of a quarter."

But a small number of customers are canceling summer trips - partly because of what might be called the "Yellowstone phenomenon." In 1988, a fire raged through Yellowstone National Park and news crews from around the world told the story of the blaze, showing pictures of the fire itself. They gave little attention to what the fire left untouched. For years, visitors expecting to see a charred landscape were surprised at how the park looked.

In the same way, most of the recent news pictures from the Gunflint Trail have shown plumes of smoke and burned land. Large patches of blackened landscape are visible in many places along the last 30 miles of the 57-mile-long trail.

But just as the fire consumed only 140 of the nearly 900 buildings within its perimeter, it only burned portions of the land.

"Within the fire, it's green in spots, brown in spots and black in spots," said Prom, an assistant chief of the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department. "It's a mosaic."

Debbie Mark, owner of Seagull Outfitters, said she scrambled to get out of the fire's way, and learned that outdoor sprinkler systems and volunteer firefighters saved all but one of her buildings. Now, she's trying to get her business back up and running.

One obstacle: normal phone service hasn't been restored. Customers who call will get a message asking them to contact her through e-mail.

She and other outfitters also are paying close attention to the status of entry points into the BWCA. As the fire raged, the Superior National Forest closed most of the entry points in the Gunflint District, essentially shutting off access to the BWCA from the Gunflint Trail.

Many of the points are reopening, and Prom said canoeists can still expect a rich adventure.

"If they're truly looking for a wilderness experience, they'll have it," Prom said. "Will all the places they're familiar with look the same? No.

"On some routes, they'll have to canoe a mile or two through the fire area. But then they'll round a corner, and it'll look just like they remembered it."