I am planning a 70th birthday trip for my mom. She has always wanted to go to the BWCAW, but with her health at age 70 she is not able to canoe trip. I am looking for a nice resort with cabins facing west on a lakes edge that is an entry point to the BWCAW to paddle her in on day trips.

I would appreciate any information or experiences you may have.

Thanks for your time, have a great day!

DJ

What an awesome idea! Others will have to offer the suggestions because I've never utilized a cabin on the edge of the BW. How cool of an idea, though.

Kawishiwi Lodge on Lake One. They are nice folks and have a good operation.
Since it is not a motor lake like Fall or Moose, it seems more like BWCA.

Not sure what direction the cabins face, but would highly recommend Rockwood Lodge on Poplar Lake (almost an entry point), or Clearwater Lodge on Clearwater. The cabins at Trail Center are nice, too, but not right at water's edge. Another suggestion, if you don't want to be on the Gunflint (but that would certainly be my choice) would be Fenske Lake. Really nice accommodations there. Again, not an entry point lake, but you can take a lovely trip out of there.

There are many really nice resorts on the Gunflint that have cabins on the lake and are entry point lakes. Check the sponsors on this board for other ideas. I just recommended the ones where I have personal experience.

Another nice option is Bearskin Lodge on East Bearskin Lake, which is an entry point. Half of the lake is inside BWCA. It's along the Gunflint Trail. Very nice.

Rockwood is a wonderful operation - cabins face south.

Moosetrack adventures is on farm lake. Beautiful. Good people.

Lots of good recommendations above and I've stayed at a few of them.....

I really like the Gunflint Trail and spend more time there than the Ely area now, BUT..... Kawishiwi Lodge on Lake One is the only one that is on a nonmotorized lake which we really liked when we stayed there. Something to know about Kawishiwi Lodge is that they only do week long stays and you have to book well in advance. The time we stayed there we booked in February for an August stay and we got the last available cabin for that week only because someone had cancelled a couple of days before I called. They get a lot of people that stay the same week year after year.

1. The people at Rockwood will take good care of you
2. Trail Center only has 2 cabins which is nice. We've stayed in both of them including just last week......... Cabin 1 is bigger w/ a sauna but Cabin 2 is very close to the water.
For both Rockwood and Trail Center on Poplar you would have to portage to get into the bwca as mentioned by Spartan
3. East Bearskin and Clearwater are very nice places but much more expensive than the other 3 I mentioned above if that's a factor for you. I've only used a bunkhouse at Clearwater and the time we stayed at East Bearskin it was late Oct. so we enjoyed off season pricing. Both of those places are well run and have nice cabins.

I stayed at Kawishiwi in the late '90's, maybe 2000 when we took my grandparents up there and it was good choice. I've also stayed at Little Ollie Cabin for a few nights before and after trips. Highly recommended. Little Ollie is a lift over away from Poplar Lake, and an easy paddle to Trail Center and over to Lizz Lake EP. Also some quiet paddling on Poplar Creek. If you stay at the guesthouse, bring loose clothes. You will gain weight eating their breakfasts!

Little Ollie and Poplar Creek Guesthouse

We have stayed at the Little Ollie cabin as well. The reason I didn't recommend it is because it is so far from the lake. No real lake view. But we loved the solitude.

Totally agree about the Guest House. Would love to stay there again some day. That breakfast is to die for! And such a beautiful place! But again, not really near the lake.

quote Grandma L: "Kawishiwi Lodge on Lake One. They are nice folks and have a good operation.
Since it is not a motor lake like Fall or Moose, it seems more like BWCA. "

I have experienced them. Very nice.

I must admit a curiosity about Fenske Lake Cabims though

Seagull Outfitters rents cabins on Seagull and Saganaga, both are on motorized portions and on big lakes with good fishing opportunities. Not a lot of wildernessy feel until you paddle out of those areas though.

Check the Ely Chamber website for resorts or possibly AirBNB for private homes on White Iron/Garden/Farm Lakes. Many of them will provide you with a boat that you can use to tow a canoe up to the EP31 line at the east end of Farm Lake. From there you can paddle up the North Kawishiwi. I did this with my mother from Silver Rapids Lodge back in 2000, so she was 64 or so. She helped paddle one way, but once she got tired I told her to just sit back and let me do the work. That was a special day.

JD

quote Oisinirish: "

quote Grandma L: "Kawishiwi Lodge on Lake One. They are nice folks and have a good operation.
Since it is not a motor lake like Fall or Moose, it seems more like BWCA. "

I have experienced them. Very nice.


I must admit a curiosity about Fenske Lake Cabims though"

We had a good time on Fenske Lake a few years ago on a trip with our grandson. Actually stayed there in a cabin for more than a week. If you want to see some photos, check out my trip report.

It is close enough to Ely if you want to go there, but you can also go canoeing out of Fenske and take a trip beyond Fenske Lake if you want to do that. It is a pretty quiet place, and the cabins are very nice.


Fun On Fenske Lake

You might check out " log cabin hideaways dot com" . Maybe their triangle lake cabin or others. Not sure about facing west but they would know.