Good morning all. I am new to this forum and am loving it. All of the advice and info is very helpful. We are very new to the BW. This will be our third trip out, going with six, 3 canoes. Anyone familiar with this area who could suggest a route or two. We will be out for 10 days. Thank you in advance.

Welcome to the message board! Need more details, what are you looking for in a trip?

- seclusion
- easy route
- hard route
- few portages
- lots of portages to find seclusion
- how many layover days
- base camping
- scenery
- waterfalls
- flora and fauna
- fishing ( some, avg. or heavy )
- if fishing, any certain species
- what kind of shape is the weakest person in group in
- loop route
- go in and come back out the same way

Stuff like that......

I guess we want it all. Great fishing, waterfalls, wild life, etc. We will be a group of 6. 3 canoes. 4 17yr olds, all in good shape, athletic, thin but not super strong. 2- 50something yr olds. In decent shape/health. We will be out for ten day. Plan on staying 2-3 days at each site. We will double portage for sure. Length of portage is not an issue. The guys are all looking for great fishing spots.

Have only used Fall Lake entry once so this is the only route I know from that entry.

Travel through Newton Lake to Pipestone Bay and up to the Basswood River. Follow the river to Crooked Lake. Continue west on Crooked to Friday Bay. Exit out the south end of Friday Bay, through a few small lakes to Gun Lake. From there you can go east through Moose Camp Lake and river to Fourtown, or through Gun, Fairy, Boot to Fourtown. Then to Horse Lake. From Horse, you can head through Murphy, Sandpit, to Jackfish Bay and back to Fall. Or, from Horse Lake, go down the Horse River back to the Basswood River and retract your route back to Fall Lake.

Here's a view along the Basswood River taken just below Basswood Falls.




This was a very nice route with several waterfalls and some pictographs shortly after you enter Crooked Lake. Depending on the time of year you will be going, some of this area can be very busy. 10 days will be plenty of time to complete the loop.

Two easy portage from Fall into Basswood.That should cover the Fishin part of it.

Two easy portage from Fall into Basswood.That should cover the Fishin part of it.

quote Lightfoot: "Have only used Fall Lake entry once so this is the only route I know from that entry.


Travel through Newton Lake to Pipestone Bay and up to the Basswood River. Follow the river to Crooked Lake. Continue west on Crooked to Friday Bay. Exit out the south end of Friday Bay, through a few small lakes to Gun Lake. From there you can go east through Moose Camp Lake and river to Fourtown, or through Gun, Fairy, Boot to Fourtown. Then to Horse Lake. From Horse, you can head through Murphy, Sandpit, to Jackfish Bay and back to Fall. Or, from Horse Lake, go down the Horse River back to the Basswood River and retract your route back to Fall Lake.


Here's a view along the Basswood River taken just below Basswood Falls.




This was a very nice route with several waterfalls and some pictographs shortly after you enter Crooked Lake. Depending on the time of year you will be going, some of this area can be very busy. 10 days will be plenty of time to complete the loop."

This is an excellent route, should cover all of your bases.

Oops double post

First o - Welcome to the Board!
I have made that trip several times going both in and out of Fall.
In Fall - north through Newton, Pipestone Bay and on to Basswood. Campsite on both of the islands east of the Basswood Falls is great. The fishing on Basswood is also good.
Stay on the islands and day trip over to the Falls. You can make it to Basswood island sites in a day if you get an early start and don't dawdle. It is about 13+ miles with 2 portages (85 and 90 rods).

Lower Basswood Falls to the west is worth the travel. It about 8-9 miles from the island sites on big Basswood to Lower Basswood Falls - the only catch is the portages - 3 of them (361, 49 and 42 rods). Make the trek on a long day trip with minimal gear and you can easily make the journey. Or, stay over that direction for a couple of nights. I did that adventure a couple of years ago with my teen grand kids. We just thought of it as our "hiking day" - with gear.

View from small island site

Tent area of small island site.



Lower Basswood Falls

Thank you for all of the info that everyone has given. It is much appreciated. We are counting down the days until we will be out there again. It has been since 2009.