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S. Murphy
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07/07/2017 08:52AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
We are planning to head to BWCA August 1-4 and our outfitter recommended the Granite River route entering at Magnetic Lake and going to Saganaga. We are a family of five with two adults (pretty in-shape) and 3 kids ranging from 15 to 10. All kids are very fit and have done multiple day hiking/backpacking trips with us out west. Want to make sure that this route will give us a great BWCA experience and won't be too easy or too overwhelming. Our plan is to camp 3 nights. Any insight into this trip and/or recommendations for doing this or doing something else?

Thanks!
 
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MikeinMpls
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07/07/2017 09:44AM  
Great first trip. Portages aren't tough, fishing is good, US on one side-Canada on the other, scenery is wonderful. There is some burn here and there, but that's part of the woods, and it attracts moose. The only potential issue is paddling on Sag.... be very careful, as the water can get whipped up in a hurry. And the boats on Sag often don't slow down for canoeists, so you're left eating their wake.

I've done this route at least a dozen times. Let me know if you require more info.

Mike
07/07/2017 11:10AM  
I did that route in 2015 with my then 10 year old son. I have a trip report under my name on this website for it.

We hit some big wind, but I'd recommend this trip. Longest portage is 100 rods, and you won't have to travel very far on any given day. Are you getting a tow at the end from Sag Falls, or paddling on Saganaga back? Sag is a big lake and can get pretty rough.

Nice campsite on the north side of Clove Lake with a sandy beach. Don't be tempted to run any of the small-looking rapids. You can find a couple of border markers on this route, I remember one just after the first portage exiting Gunflint Lake.

Have a great trip.

07/08/2017 06:16AM  
Great route, I've done it twice. Should not be a problem in 4 days unless the wind comes up on Big Sag.
SaganagaJoe
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07/08/2017 09:40AM  
Previous thread on Maraboeuf Lake

I can only comment up to Devil's Elbow coming down from the north side, but the thread I've linked above covers this area pretty good, including where I found the walleyes. Devil's Elbow itself is great bass fishing, just make sure to fish the American side unless you have the Canadian licenses, etc.

As far as navigating on Saganaga - once you leave Sag Falls, keep the shoreline on your left side. Look for a large, obvious rocky cliff (larger than it's surroundings) when you're headed west from the falls toward the channel. Once you reach that you should see the point at which you turn and head south, through the narrows where the motorboats are allowed to go, until you hit the channel. Just don't turn into any bays on your left and you won't get bewildered, as I have been many times on Sag.
SaganagaJoe
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07/08/2017 09:47AM  
quote Captn Tony: "Great route, I've done it twice. Should not be a problem in 4 days unless the wind comes up on Big Sag."


For the most part, given you'll be coming from Sag Falls, unless you swing out into Big Sag for one of the island campsites, there's only going to be a few places where you have large stretches of water to think about, and hence where the really bad paddling conditions would be in a strong wind. including an open stretch between the southern end of Clark Island and the channel, depending on where the wind is coming from. I've paddled into the wind for the entire duration of the channel before. But there's enough options to get out of the wind to where I feel a tow boat isn't necessary. The earlier you get up in the morning, the better.

If you time it right, Saganaga can look just like this:

OregonDave
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07/08/2017 10:21AM  
Did this route some years ago in August with my daughter. Didn't see the entrance to portage 270 (see Pddleplanner) into Gneiss Lake, but as a group had just paddled through the rapids (or chute), we did too. The channel was about 15 feet wide or so, for about 100 feet, with a rocky lining; and we scraped a couple times but otherwise it went well. (TuscaroraBorealis says, 7/28/2011, At certain water levels the stretch of rapids the portage goes around can easily be run. But the portage itself is quite easy. The landing on the Gneiss lake side will likely be mucky.,,.)
Starting out from Magnetic Lake, all the camps were taken so we portaged into Larch Lake and took the one remaining near the portage on the south side.
Jackfish
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07/08/2017 10:13PM  
My son and I did this route last September. We put in at Gunflint Lodge and paddled through Magnetic Lake into the river. We paddled all the way to Sag, turned westward, then southward down the Sag corridor to the boat landing where we got picked up. We found it to be an enjoyable trip with mild to modest portages.

And we camped three nights. First night at the sandy beach campsite that was mentioned about. The 2nd and 3rd nights at the same site in "the elbow". My son and I can make some miles when we want to so, in order to shorten your last day, you might consider staying one night at the elbow and another night closer to Sag.
07/09/2017 07:36PM  
Did this exact route in August 1976 and still remember it as probably the most scenic I have done in the BW. Initially we intended to hitch back from Trails End to Magnetic Lake but we reversed the route and paddled back to the car. Easily done in 5-6 days as I recall.
07/10/2017 01:10PM  
Did this route last August with my buddy and our daughters. Should be a fun time! Keep an eye out for berries.....
Mad_Angler
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07/10/2017 02:39PM  
quote S. Murphy: "We are planning to head to BWCA August 1-4 and our outfitter recommended the Granite River route entering at Magnetic Lake and going to Saganaga. ..."


I did this trip in 2014 as a large family trip. It was me, my wife, our 4 daughters, one husband, one fiancee and one of my daughters' friends. The girls were in high school and college. It was a great trip.

We did it in a week but we only paddled every other day.

Blueberries were all over the route and August 1-4 should be about the right time for them (bring empty plastic containers for taking lunches to work. Those containers are light and relatively crush proof.)

Ask your outfitter for a marked-up map. Our outfitter was Seagull Outfitters and I still have that map. The marks were very good.
wrestlencanoe
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07/10/2017 03:12PM  
Me and my son did this 2 weeks ago as part of our border route. We went upstream from Sag to Gunflint. Saw only one group camping at Devil's Elbow and another group at the portage from Granite Bay to Granite Lake. The portages are short but very slick the day we did it from all the rain. Here are some pics of the Clove Lake site. I think it
was affected by the blow down last year.


Little Rock Falls
07/10/2017 04:11PM  
quote wrestlencanoe: "Me and my son did this 2 weeks ago as part of our border route. We went upstream from Sag to Gunflint. Saw only one group camping at Devil's Elbow and another group at the portage from Granite Bay to Granite Lake. The portages are short but very slick the day we did it from all the rain. Here are some pics of the Clove Lake site. I think it
was affected by the blow down last year.



Little Rock Falls"


We stayed at that site last August. Wonder why somebody rearranged all the rocks around the fire grate to put the sitting area facing away from the lake.....
wrestlencanoe
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07/10/2017 04:25PM  
That was the first thing we noticed. Only site I've been on with the fire crate facing away from the lake.
07/11/2017 10:42AM  
There's also probably double the rocks from last August too. Huh, weird....
northallen
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07/12/2017 08:22AM  
We do this route every other year or so. However, we get a tow up to Sag Falls and then paddle out through Gunflint. Avoids the paddle through Sag and gets us to base camp on Gneiss with only one portage. You don't run the rapids going against current, but the water is typically too low by end of summer anyways.
The only current is at the portages. The rest is open water.
As stated, lots of good fishing and the forest is coming back nicely ten years after the burn; great bluberry patches.
I have some pics in my album if you want to check them out.
 
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