Want to do a day trip tomorrow with my wife
and daughter. Not a whole day, maybe a few hours
give or take. Would like to find a loop of some kind,
with some scenery, waterfall, and a spot to
stop for lunch. Any thoughts?

Ely, Sawbill, or Gunflint area?

quote ducks: "Ely, Sawbill, or
Gunflint area?"

Live near duluth, so any location works for us

We started doing daytrips with the kids when they were 4 and 2 and really enjoy it.

Ely area.
Lake One entry but go into the Kawishiwi River. Then from there you can portage into Lake One and go back around to the landing. Not really waterfalls but some cool rapids near the portages.

North Hegman to the pictographs and back.

South Kawishiwi River and Little Gabbro entry points are close enough that you could paddle from one to the other and then walk back to the car.

Sawbill area
Sawbill to Alton to Kelso and back to Sawbill or you can reverse it. The Dohlmen rock is pretty cool at the northern end of Kelso. or Sawbill to the fire lakes and back

Baker Lake to wherever and back might be nice as a daytrip. I did a 3 night trip to Jack and back with my older daughter when she was 9 and we saw a lot of moose.

Gunflint area. East Bearskin to Johnson Falls is on our radar for later this summer but I've heard it's a 6 to 9 hour round trip.

Several options from Poplar Lake would be using the Lizz and/or Meeds entry points. Caribou, Horseshoe (good area to see moose), Gaskin, Meeds are cool lakes.

From West Bearskin Lake using the Duncan entry point you could see Rose Falls by the stairway portage and see the overlooks of Rose Lake. This is a very popular daytrip for good reason.

One of my favorite daytrips that we've done was starting at Round Lake using Missing Link entry point and going through Missing Link, Snipe (beautiful lake), Cross Bay (there is a small falls near the portage to Rib), to Ham, and coming out at the Cross River parking lot for Cross Bay entry point and then walking back to the car at the Round Lake parking lot.

We've done others that we didn't like as much as the ones listed above.

Thanks for all the ideas! Where do we find the
pictographs from North Hegman?

Use South Hegman Lake Entry Point #77 off of the Echo Trail. The pictographs are on North Hegman Lake in the skinny section at the northern end of the lake on the way to Tease Lake. The pictographs are on the western shore. If I remember correctly I think we picked up a map specifically for the North Hegman pictographs daytrip at the Ranger Station in Ely which you go by on the way to the Echo Trail.

If you don't want to use one of the campsites on South Hegman for a lunch spot there is an island on North Hegman that you go by on your way to the pictographs that is perfect. The girls were even lucky enough to catch some smallies when we stopped there for our lunch break.



This was their 2nd bwca daytrip at ages 4 and 2.

Thank you so much, ducks, for all the info! Knowing the weather wasn't going to be great, we decided to do a quick one and went to Hegman to see the pictographs.

This was the first time my wife was in the BWCA, and her reaction to seeing the lake after the portage was "wow, this is so beautiful!" She camps and fishes with me a lot, so she's seen plenty of lakes. I think it was just the fact that we had this one all to ourselves. She made a comment about not seeing anyone else, to which I replied, "that's what keeps me coming back."

The only people we saw were at the parking lot when we first got there. A very nice couple that I talked to for a couple minutes before throwing the canoe on my shoulders and hitting the portage. The portage was a nice length for my wife's first time, and we even saw a pink lady slipper along the way.

The paddle on South Hegman was nice, but shortly after getting on North Hegman, it started raining. We paddled in the rain to the pictographs, then made our way back to the portage, which we reached just as it quit raining. We then stopped at a campsite for a break and some snacks. Unfortunately, another wave of black clouds was rolling in, so we packed up quicker than I would've liked.

It was a fun day trip and perfect for getting my wife's feet wet (literally!) in the Boundary Waters. Even with getting poured on for part of the trip, she still really enjoyed it. She's not quite ready to stay overnight with me, but did say she'd like to do another day trip soon, maybe to see a waterfall or some rapids.

You're Welcome. Glad you had fun. My wife used to trip with me but now when she goes up there with me we stay in a cabin or hotel and do daytrips or go hiking. It's a different way to see the bwca, but it's still beautiful and a lot of fun. Now my canoe trips are one solo and one daddy/daughter trip each year.