Hi, I am planning a trip to the BWCA in late August (already have a permit) and I am looking to solidify a route.

We are entering at Moose Lake, but taking a towboat on the first day to either Indian Point Portage (Sucker to Birch Lake), Ensign Lake, or Prarie Point Portage (Sucker to Basswood Lake)-- they are all in the same general area. We will be in the BWCA for 4 days, and 3 nights and need to finish at our outfitters on the southern part of Moose Lake.

We are looking for an immersive BWCA: some lakes, some rivers, some portages, and really the whole thing! Does anyone have any good route suggestions?Hi, I am planning a trip to the BWCA in late August (already have a permit) and I am looking to solidify a route.

We are entering at Moose Lake, but taking a towboat on the first day to either Indian Point Portage (Sucker to Birch Lake), Ensign Lake, or Prarie Point Portage (Sucker to Basswood Lake)-- they are all in the same general area. We will be in the BWCA for 4 days, and 3 nights and need to finish at our outfitters on the southern part of Moose Lake.

We are looking for an immersive BWCA: some lakes, some rivers, some portages, really the whole shebang! Does anyone have any good route suggestions?

Here's my recommendation based on what you sent and assuming you are up for some travel:
1) Sucker dropoff and stay the first night on Knife.
2) Drop down through Kekekabic and stay on Wisini site 1909 if possible - cool cliffs.
3) Head back west and stay on Jordan site 1201
4) Arrive back at landing

You'll have some streams, small lakes, big lakes, cool channels, a few neat portages, and several spots for vista views if you want a short day hike. It's nearly 50 miles with 10 of that portages so only you will know if your group is up for that. It also doesn't leave much margin for any possible weather delays or much time for fishing. If you are looking for something different, include a few more details and I'm sure you'll get some recommendations.

Also, you could modify the above route for the weather by going from Knife down to Ensign and out to Moose. If you spend two nights on Ensign, you could day trip over to Ima, for example, and enjoy the narrows between Jordan and Ima.

So many options...I hope you have an awesome trip!

As an alternative suggestion:

Day 1:
Get a tow to Lincoln Island in Basswood (beyond Prairie Portage), go up to US Point on the Canadian border, camp near Upper Basswood Falls.

Day 2:
Take a day trip to river west of the falls.

Day 3:
Paddle down to Pipestone Bay, portage into Back Bay, and camp somewhere on Basswood near Wind Bay.

Day 4:
Portage from Wind Bay to Wind Lake to Moose.

This is a trip of around 25 miles with three relatively easy portages. You could do this trip starting at Prairie Portage instead of Lincoln Island, but be aware that the stretch of Basswood between Prairie Portage west to Lincoln Island has a lot of fetch and can experience big waves in windy weather.

Down to Kekakabic from Knife and back out would probably be enough for 3 nights. Maybe one night on the South arm of Knife on the way out. It's pretty narrow and feels a little like a river area. You can come out through Eddy falls area to see falls and smaller lakes. The bass seemed really hungry through there. It might be a long haul to the south of Moose without a pick up from Birch portage though.