3-night trip with me and my 2 boys (9 & 7) in early August.

Having a hard time picking where I want to go...

Trip goals - I just want to give them a taste of canoe camping and the boundary waters. I've only done car camping with them in the past. So, I do want to do some portaging. With 3 days we can't accomplish much of a "route", but I would like to move sites one of the days (probably not every night, they might get sick of the packing and unpacking process). We will do some fishing, but probably not a ton...shore fishing would probably be easier. Swimming is pretty important. I'd like to stay on as much small water as possible - big lakes with the kids paddling scares me.

So I've checked the permit availability for our entry date and eliminated ones I have no interest in for whatever reason. Here's what I'm left with:

1 - Trout Lake...we'd get a tow across Vermillion, start paddling on Trout and head immediately to Pine and base camp there. It seems like a nice lake and maybe used less than a lot of lakes with as many sites as it has.

6 - Slim Lake...this entry which leads to 3 different one-site lakes intrigues me. I think the kids would really get a kick out of having our own lake. The fact that there are only 6 sites available without taking a 500+ rod portage scares me a bit though.

25/26 - Wood Lake/Moose Lake...if we did either of these I'd probably be targeting the same area - the Good Lake, Indiana Lake, Wind Bay, Hoist Bay area...and could probably connect the 2 entries to complete a little "route."

27 - Snowbank...would probably try to cruise right across Snowbank and get to Disappointment..campsites galore. It looks like we could possibly put together a "route" up around to Boot Lake and exit at the same place. Snowbank scares me a bit though.

38/39 - Sawbill/Baker Lake...these might lead me to the same area (Burnt, Smoke) and we could probably go in one and out the other if we wanted to. At Sawbill we could choose to go west though to Beth/Grace, etc. The amount of permits that go in at Sawbill every day kind of scares me though - how crowded is it going to be?!

41 - Brule...I would probably try to b-line up Brule to Brule Bay on far east side of the lake, then maybe to Vernon. Brule scares me a bit though...

51 - Missing Link...I'd probably be targeting Snipe Lake if we went in here. Maybe Cross Bay/Rib.

So....what am I overlooking here? Any that you think I should totally eliminate based on my stated goals and the fact I'll have 2 young-ish kids along? Anything stand out as an entry I shouldn't miss?

Thanks for any input!

Each year I do a daddy/daughter trip with one of my girls. They each did their first trip when they were 5 and sticking to small water is very important. I wouldn't do Snowbank with a kid in the bow. Brule has horror stories of people not finding a campsite and that's not a lake I'd want to be paddling with a kid in the bow.

I haven't been to Slim or Wood but have heard they are nice areas with kids.

51 Missing Link to Snipe is a pretty area and nice small water with kids. I did a trip to that area from 50 Cross Bay with my younger daughter at age 5.

38 Sawbill is nice but will be chaotic busy in August. I did Sawbill to Smoke with my younger daughter at age 7 and it was a great trip. Caught a few fish and the campsite was decent for swimming. That was a June trip.

39 Baker to Jack with my older daughter at age 9 was an awesome trip. We saw 5 moose from the entry point to our campsite on Jack and saw moose several times a day while camped on Jack. We were catching walleye so fast that I stopped fishing and just netted fish for her and enjoyed watching her excitement.

Edit.... I see that you found the canoeing with kids forum.

Wherever you go.. have a great trip. Time with your kids in the bwca is priceless.

quote ducks: "
Edit.... I see that you found the canoeing with kids forum.
"

Yep...doesn't seem to be much traffic in there though, so I thought I'd give this a shot as well. Thanks for all the input!

I think doing a few portages and moving camp once is a good plan to give them a little "taste of canoe tripping". They may get into the "adventure" aspect of it and be "helpful" :).

I haven't been in most of the entries; I've heard good things in the past about Slim.

Sawbill will probably be crazy busy as ducks said, but could still be a possibility.

I have been in Cross Bay a couple of times and Missing Link. I've been to Snipe from Cross Bay, but have not done the Snipe-Missing Link portage. I've gone from Snipe to Tuscarora via Copper and Howl Swamp, and I've been from Tuscarora to Missing Link. I'm thinking those two are more than you'd want for portaging, although Tusc is a nice lake and has campsites with nice beaches. Snipe is a nice lake and the trip to Cross Bay from there wouldn't be too hard. You could consider exiting at Cross Bay entry if you and your boys can walk a mile on a FR road to Round Lake. It is not too hard a trip from Cross Bay Lake to Cross Bay EP. You could do this either direction - I entered at Cross Bay and exited at Round Lake from Tuscarora. Another option would be to drop your car at the exit and be shuttled to your entry if the mile walk would be too much. I've stayed at Rockwood's bunkhouse and had them shuttle me to Cross Bay and finished back at Rockwood. Cross Bay/Round aren't far from Rockwood Lodge on Poplar Lake, so the shuttle shouldn't be too bad. If this turns out to be an option that interests you, I have some information in trip reports and a lot of pictures of the area in my albums on shutterfly.

quote boonie: "it and be shuttled to your entry if the mile walk would be too much. I've stayed at Rockwood's bunkhouse and had them shuttle me to Cross Bay and finished back at Rockwood. Cross Bay/Round aren't far from Rockwood Lodge on Poplar Lake, so the shuttle shouldn't be too bad. "

Thank you Boonie!

Take a look at ep 69. Then go in East/west pike. Smaller lakes portage experience less busy, you will love it. Stay off of Brule, keep your sanity. The Ely side is the most busy but the easiest portage's. Grand Marais/Tofte side has better views, fewer people, harder portages going north and south. Most of the lakes you mentioned were huge. I would not recommend any of those in early August unless you put in at 7am and get your campsites by 10am. Also expect 1.5mph avg for travel times. You will have fun!