BWCA Quieter routes out of Lizz Boundary Waters Trip Planning Forum
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mashpotatomezzo
member (31)member
  
06/25/2017 02:07PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Hi, I posted awhile back asking for route ideas for a couple of first timers. My husband and I are headed out via Lizz on July 20th for a 4 day trip. I hear the area can be pretty busy if you take the typical Caribou and Horseshoe route from that entry point. Are there any other suggestions for good trips we could take that might be a bit less congested? Or do we need to take that route and just go farther out on the first day? We're looking to base camp, not interested in fishing, just a nice spot with good day trip options! Thank you so much - really enjoying lurking and learning from all the posts here!
 
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Grandma L
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06/25/2017 02:27PM  
Hey there, Welcome to the site!
You can look at Horseshoe Lake - (about 6 miles-3 hours travel) almost all of the sites on the lake are good. Or, you check out heading over (south west) to Gaskin. (about 9 miles-4.5 hours travel) The site on the western side/point of the lower penninsula (#634)in the middle of the lake is wonderful. The eastern side of that penninsula was burned in 2006 in the Red Eye Lake fire.
06/25/2017 03:09PM  
exit out the north arm of Horseshoe into Allen...maybe Pillsbery and Henson. Sometimes things are quieter there. You can loop back through Gaskin at some point. Still close enough to Winchell to day trip down there for some site seeing.
06/25/2017 06:50PM  
Busy as it might be, Horseshoe is a really cool lake and known for moose sightings. It would be worth a night for sure. But then perhaps you could backtrack and go west from Caribou and spend a few nights on Meeds Lake. Kind of off the beaten path due to a long portage from Poplar. Three campsites available and some really excellent fishing for smallmouth and walleye. On the way out you can take the long portage or head back east to Caribou, Lizz and out.
06/25/2017 09:58PM  
quote cowdoc: "exit out the north arm of Horseshoe into Allen...maybe Pillsbery and Henson. Sometimes things are quieter there. You can loop back through Gaskin at some point. Still close enough to Winchell to day trip down there for some site seeing. "


+1, One more and you're on Omega, a nice lake.
06/26/2017 08:12AM  
I've been to the area several times and have also found the Allen, Pillsbury, Henson, and Omega stretch to be much quieter than the main lakes in the area. On an August daytrip from Gaskin we saw 1 group on Omega, 1 on Henson, and Pillsbury and Allen both empty while Caribou, Horseshoe, and Gaskin were all pretty much full. On another trip in June we entered at Meeds and Meeds was full as we paddled through and then camped on Pillsbury for 3 days and had the lake to ourselves. Only 1 group traveled through while we were there.

Allen only has 1 site even though some maps show 2 and Pillsbury only has 2 sites. The eastern one is ok and the western one is pretty bad.

I agree with lindylair that Horseshoe can be worth a stay if you find an open site even though it's busy. It's a very cool lake and is well known for moose sightings.
plainspaddler
distinguished member (310)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
06/26/2017 08:45AM  
Pretty much echo what everyone has said. Horseshoe is one of my favorite lakes. Have base camped there twice and have seen multiple moose. Even saw a cow with two calves as well as a small bull. Lots of day trip options from there too!

Mike
mashpotatomezzo
member (31)member
  
06/26/2017 07:33PM  
Thank you all so much for your suggestions! We are definitely interested in seeing wildlife, so we will have to consider a night on Horseshoe. I'm open to moving once, but my husband would prefer to stay in one place the entire time. We'll take everything into consideration, though. I really appreciate all of the ideas!!!
BigBri
member (10)member
  
06/26/2017 08:27PM  
I would suggest either going to Meeds or Vista for base camping. Both are quieter and have great fishing.
jwb747
senior member (76)senior membersenior member
  
06/27/2017 06:46AM  
We spent 4 nights on Meeds last year on the island camp site just across from the portage. Great lake, quiet, and chances are you will not see any other canoes. Don't be intimidated by the long portage form Popular to Meeds. Long, but not that bad. You defiantly wont have to wait in line to get in.
 
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