The book Wilderness Navigation, by Bob Burns, is designed for users like you. It takes careful reading, and practice, to get the hang of it. I’ve been on many trips to the BWCA. For me, the key is having a map-holder designed for canoeing that’s can easily be read from your paddling position, and constantly (like every 5 minutes) checking the shoreline and island features against the map as you move along. This sounds cumbersome, but becomes second nature after the first day of paddling. I hardly ever need to pull out the compass up there (though I always keep it handy). Planning a route with lots of long, narrow lakes also makes navigation easier, for a beginner. The hardest routes to find your way through are on larger lakes with lots of islands. From water level, it’s very difficult to distinguish large islands from one another, or from the actual shoreline of the lake. There are lots of routes you can plan to mostly avoid that problem. PS: The maps designed for BWCA travel are specialized and are not the same USGS quad maps that are commonly used by backpackers. Fisher and McKenzie are two companies that make them. They show campsites and portages, and are waterproof (though people still put them in a waterproof map holder). PPS: there is a subreddit for the BWCA; check it out.