My kids and I were all set to enter LISN next Wednesday and do a six-day trip through the smaller lakes just south of LLC, east to see the pictographs on LLC, then south through Agnes and out at Moose River North. But a change of schools means we need to finish one day earlier to make the start of the school year. We now have just five days, and what we planned is just too long. Any suggestions? We could still go in at LISN, but there are also permits available for Moose River North, Mudro Lake, and many other places. Fishing is not our aim. (People always ask this, it seems.) We're pretty much open to any suggestions at this point.

Instead of going to lac la croix, after pocket head down to gebeonaquet to oyster and back to little Indian Sioux through Shell.
Mudro, go up into fairy and take a day trip to beartrap lake, go up around through moose camp to fourtown, and maybe a side trip to horse... or go to horse. Back out to Mudro.

Crab Lake ( EP 4 ) to Cummings. Lots of smaller lakes along the way for day trip options, or Trout Lake ( EP 1 ) to Pine Lake.

I second the Mudro entry idea -- how old are your kids? How many of you are there? The portage starting off into Mudro via Picket Creek right now is longer because of shallow waters. Mudro is a beautiful lake -- deep, clear, and bluffs (I've only been there in the late fall -- not sure if they're visible with leaves on the trees). Also, the three portages going from Mudro into Fourtown all present challenges. That said, once you get to Fourtown, you'll have a blast! In the vicinity of the first three campsites on the SE corner of Fourtown lie some interesting relics from the logging days, including an old car! Your kids might get a kick out of seeing that! Several nice sites on Fourtown. You could go up through Fourtown and do the loop through Boot-Fairy-Gun-Bullet-Moosecamp back to Fourtown.

You could then paddle over to Horse (nice scenery on the river/creek in between Fourtown and Horse) and camp there -- a really nice site on the east-central part of the lake at the start of the Horse River. Another nice sight is in the SW corner of Horse Lake -- there are two sites there -- the northern most one is VERY NICE -- and potential good fishing in the channel. If you camped a couple nights on Horse, an exciting day trip would be down the Horse River to see Lower Basswood Falls -- they are truly incredible! It's about a 2-3 hour trip one way depending on water levels on the Horse (higher the water the better). You could then come back via Tin Can Mike Lake, Sandpit Lake, and Mudro. The portage from Sandpit to Mudro is VERY STEEP going up into Mudro. The other two are easy!

If you wanted to see Lower Basswood Falls and wanted a good balance of time to paddle, fish, explore, and savor the wilderness, I'd suggest the following itinerary:

DAY ONE:

Mudro-Sandpit-Tin Can Mike-Horse. Should only take you a few hours to get to Horse. Plenty of sites, but depending on when you're going ,they will fill up quickly.

DAY TWO: - Day trip up to Lower Basswood Falls via Horse River. Fish/explore the falls area and paddle 1.5 miles north of the falls to see some amazing Indian pictographs.

DAY THREE: - Find a spot over on Fourtown Lake -- camp. Explore the creek/river areas in between Horse and Fourtown. There is a very short portage into Fourtown that goes right through a campsite -- it's a neat little waterfall/rapids area! Plenty of nice spots on Fourtown. Fish, swim, setup camp, savor the day.

DAY FOUR: Do the loop through the lakes west and north and around back to Fourtown.

DAY FIVE: Exit the BWCA via the three portages into Mudro and back to the EP. On your way out, check out the relics by the three campsites. This way, you can either take your time getting out or if the weather is crappy that last day, you won't have that far to paddle out.

ENJOY YOUR TRIP WHEREVER YOU GO!! Five days in the BWCA is five days better than anywhere else!

Stick with LIS to Nina Moose River. Do a smaller loop. We did it on a 7 day trip with a 10 and 7 yr old, but we really took our time. 4 travel days and 3 layover days. It's easily due able on a 5 day trip with 1 lay over day.

Day 1 get to Lynx if you can, we stayed on Shell but wish we would have pushed just a little further to Lynx. But that had to do a bit with fishing.

Day 2 your not traveling very far, but you have one long portage. It keeps people out of Hustler. Just take your time. There is a 5 star camp site on Hustler with lots of room and a rock cliff that we found safe for jumping into the water. The fishing on Hustler was great for pike, though it's not your main focus, I would give it a try. Just troll a something.

Day 3 layover on Hustler It's honestly our family's favorite lake in the BWCA, could spend a week there. If you are into hiking, you could jump on the Sioux Hustler Trail from Hustler up to Range Line and see another beautiful lake that is inaccessible by canoe, therefor rarely seen.

Day 4 to Agnes - Yes another long portage into Oyster, but relatively flat if I remember right. Agnes is another beautiful lake, but with more people. If the pictos were your main reason for choosing this route, you could make Agnes your layover lake and take a day trip up to LLC and see the pictos, they were pretty awesome.

Day 5 Out Nina Moose River

Thanks for the suggestion. We leave tomorrow and I still haven't determined the route! Too busy packing, checking gear lists, etc. I like your idea a lot--except for the long portages. We'd love to see the pictos on LLC. Easy Fisher--Here's my one question: How did you do the shuttle between LISN and Moose River?

I just checked and Moose River is still open as well as 2 permits for the #22 Mudro restricted entry.

I've done all 3 of those entries, all are good. Instead of a LISN to Moose R. North you could just come back out LISN.

LISN - very cool smaller lakes in that area that have already been mentioned. Devil's Cascade is cool too, but just park canoes on portage and walk to see it and walk back. No reason to get on Loon and compete with boats on the border.

Moose R. North - Head to Agnes for a while, then Boulder or Tiger Bay of LLC. You can see Warrior Hill and the awesome picto's on the Canadian side. Very simple but nice trip.

Mudro - if the weather is calm, head in to Sandpit and Jackfish Bay. Paddle to north end of Bay and stay as long as you want. See the falls the next day or two and come back out. If the water is low, heading from there into Horse would be a chore with all the portages and rocks. Otherwise the Fourtown/Horse/Boot/Fairy/Gun route is nice but no real landmarks to see.