I am tripping on the Ely side for the first time (pretty excited always done Gunflint). My wife and I basecamp and I'm wondering if we should go up the Horse River to get near Lower Basswood Falls or go up through the little lakes like Gun and Fairy? I know the whole area is crowded but just looking for some input. It will be a 4 day trip. Thanks.

Mike

Both are pretty options. I tend towards small lakes and would go the Gun/Fairy route if base camping. It would also be possible to do a loop including both, if you were looking to travel more.

You are going to be up there during the solar eclipse, enjoy!

I'm partial to the falls and pictographs route. Fondest memory of all time there.

quote schweady: "I'm partial to the falls and pictographs route. Fondest memory of all time there.
"

Schweady which area tends to be more crowded in your opinion. This will be an area that I will come back too sometime as I want to see table rock, the pictographs, and the falls sometime.

Mike

If you can snag the site on Beartrap you'll effectively be all by yourself - aside from others day-tripping or looking for that site too. Decent fishing and a pretty place to boot.

quote plainspaddler: "

quote schweady: "I'm partial to the falls and pictographs route. Fondest memory of all time there.
"

Schweady which area tends to be more crowded in your opinion. This will be an area that I will come back too sometime as I want to see table rock, the pictographs, and the falls sometime.


Mike"

You can get to the falls area in a day if everything works out. Day trip to pictographs and table rock one day and to basswood falls the other and out the fourth day. Or one or the other and just relax a day. But you can always relax at work, right? Haha. Just remember it's a mile hike to upper basswood falls.
Or... make a loop utilizing the range and horse rivers. You could still see lower falls and pictographs as a little side jaunt. Four days is tough, but if that's all you have, you take what you get I guess. You know your traveling speed and style. So you adjust from there.

Pretty much every site on Foutown is great, but it could be crowded in August.

You might think about doing the Moosecamp river loop as a day trip if you are considering basecamping somewhere along the route. Get an early start, but none of the portages are difficult. The Moosecamp river is beautiful, but confirm adequate flow before attempting. I know it can get low in August. We did the loop on Labor Day one year and it was fine.

Disclaimer: I have not done the Horse to Basswood trip, sounds like a great route...BUT I also think that 70 % of the people entering Mudro that don't basecamp on Fourtown go that way. No scientific evidence, just from what I have read on this site.

West and north is a great route, probably my favorite in the BWCA. Beautiful area, great campsites, good fishing, and less busy than Horse or Fourtown out of Mudro. If basecamp is your thing, I would try for the eastern site on Fairy or the peninsula site on Gull, first site after the portage. Both 5 star sites you will love.

Day tripping in the area is good - we went in the same week as you a couple years ago and daytripped from Gun to Beartrap to check out the legendary campsite for lunch. Didn't see a soul the entire trip. Maybe just lucky.

There is an amazing site on Fairy FYI

quote lindylair: "Disclaimer: I have not done the Horse to Basswood trip, sounds like a great route...BUT I also think that 70 % of the people entering Mudro that don't basecamp on Fourtown go that way. No scientific evidence, just from what I have read on this site.


West and north is a great route, probably my favorite in the BWCA. Beautiful area, great campsites, good fishing, and less busy than Horse or Fourtown out of Mudro. If basecamp is your thing, I would try for the eastern site on Fairy or the peninsula site on Gull, first site after the portage. Both 5 star sites you will love.


Day tripping in the area is good - we went in the same week as you a couple years ago and daytripped from Gun to Beartrap to check out the legendary campsite for lunch. Didn't see a soul the entire trip. Maybe just lucky. "

This is great info. I checked out the camp reviews on the map pages. This is what I was thinking. Looks like we will be going north and west. I really like small lakes. My favorite area on the Gunflint side is Caribou/Horseshoe. Can't wait until August!

Mike

Thanks to everyone for the replies!

Mike

quote plainspaddler: "

quote schweady: "I'm partial to the falls and pictographs route. Fondest memory of all time there.
"

Schweady which area tends to be more crowded in your opinion. This will be an area that I will come back too sometime as I want to see table rock, the pictographs, and the falls sometime.


Mike"

They're both "crowded" by the standards of many folks posting here. Getting beyond that 5th or 6th portage thins the herd a bit either direction. So, stopping at Horse or settling in near the falls, "crowded," but we have always found an open site in either area. Conversely, stopping at Fourtown, "crowded," but pushing to Fairy or Gun or even 'sidetracking' to Gull theoretically provides some breathing room.

quote BobDobbs: "There is an amazing site on Fairy FYI"

I'm heading in Mudro entry point on August 20th with Fairy as our destination the first night.