I will have accrued a lot of time off of work by next summer and have settled on the most likely trip option for myself and my wife to be a chunk of time in the central BWCA. Any of your thoughts on destinations or routes are welcome. Below are the tentative plans.

Total Trip Duration: Up to 27 days
Entry Date: June 1
Entry Point: #25 Moose
Exit Date: June 27
Exit Point: #30 Lake One

General route idea is:
- Moose to Sag via Knife
- Sag to Brule (and how is Brule pronounced?) via Gabimicigami, Long Island, and possibly Winchell
-Brule to Lake One via Frost River and Insula

Start st Kettle Falls area in Voyageurs and work your way down to Loon to enter Shell. Head east from there.

Do you have limitations on portages you are willing to do? Do you like to travel almost everyday?

Some of my favorite places in the central area:
Little Saganaga, Mora to Little Sag portage, Makwa Lake, Boulder Lake, Adams Lake, Thomas and Fraser, anything along the Kawishiwi River, Fishdance pictographs

No limits on portage length or difficulty. We do not fish. We travel each day except rest/windbound days.

What a cool opportunity! A few suggestions:

1) My favorite area is Boulder/Adams, similar to straighthaircurly
2) Perhaps plan to be close to the Kek trail during a rest day. The walk along the trail would provide a change of pace and see some beautiful country.
3) Any interest in PMAs?
4) Are you planning a supply exchange? Seems like an opportunity to get rid of garbage, keep weight low, and have a fresh meal or two in the middle of the trip, if that is appealing.
5) Maybe find as many waterfalls or lookout points along the trip.

Just a few ideas. Fun to consider the options. Enjoy the process and be sure to share a trip report or highlights when you are done!

I have a text file written for someone else you may be interested in. Email me at bennojr@yahoo.com and I'll send it to you.

General route idea is:
- Moose to Sag via Knife
- Sag to Brule (and how is Brule pronounced?) via Gabimicigami, Long Island, and possibly Winchell
-Brule to Lake One via Frost River and Insula

So many choices:

Moose to Sag: Not so familiar with all the choices from Moose to Knife, but, make time to stop and hike to the top of Thunder Point (where Knife and South Arm of Knife split) for a view of the border.

Choice: Stay north on Knife to Sag OR take the South Arm of Knife to Hanson/Ester and out to Sag:
North – You get to visit Ottertrack and the wonderful cliffs on the Canadian side.
South – SAK has its own set of palisades and you get to visit Eddy Falls on the way past.

Sag to Gabimichigami: I am assuming that you will pass through Red Rock and Alpine Lakes on the way to Seagull Lake. This is a very busy part of the BW. Alpine is usually busy and so is Ogishkemuncie Lake.

Choice:
At Seagull turn west through Ogishkemuncie Lake OR continue south through the 640rd. portage to JAP Lake.

West – This passes through a burn until you reach Ogishkemuncie Lake. You may find a campsite on Jasper Lake. Ogish can get full. We have had varying luck finding a campsite here. Turning south out of Ogish toward Gabimichigami you will find Mueller Falls. Between Mueller Lake and Agamok Lake the portage crosses the Kekekabic Trail. Turn east and walk about a quarter mile to find a bridge over the river. Great falls viewing here.

South – This will pass through a very little visited portion of the BW. Guarded on the north by a 640 rd portage and the south by a very confusing series of in and outs of the canoe. In early June you may find JAP occupied by those looking for the lake trout in these waters. This will also bypass your intent to visit Gabimichigami, but I thought you might want to investigate this route further.

Gabimichigami to Tuscarora (assuming you have to pass through this lake to get to Long Island):
Choices:
Turn east immediately – Through Peter and French to Gillis Lake, Crooked Lake and Owl Lake to Tuscarora. You have entered a nicely recovering burn area. I have not been on Peter Lake but have been on French Lake to Gillis. Enjoyed paddling through here.

Continue south to Little Saganaga – This is one of my favorite BW lakes. It is iconic. Many islands. Big Water. Small water. Private bays.

Choices:
Continue east out of the northeast corner of Little Sag to Virgin, West Fern, Powell, and Fern Lakes to Gillis. Again you are in recovering burn. There is one portage end that would be problematic for a soloist out here. Pretty paddle otherwise.

Continue east out of the southeast corner of Little Sag to Mora Lake, Tarry Lake, Crooked Lake, Owl Lake and Tuscarora Lake. The portage out the southeast corner of Little Sag is a beautiful walk along side a wonderful rapids. Mora Lake splits the burn zone and you re-enter as you get to Tarry Lake. The take out on the north end of Tarry is a boulder field. Walk in to find the waterfall in the waterway between Tarry and Crooked Lakes. Crooked and Owl Lakes leave the burn area behind and you find yourself on Tuscarora.

(Option – You could turn southeast out of Mora Lake toward Whipped/Fente/Afton Lakes and enter the Frost River from the west end. I don’t recommend doing the Frost River upstream to Frost Lake and Long Island, but you could research it.)

Tuscarora to Long Island
There is no easy way to jump these watersheds
Choices:
North out of Tuscarora across the 480 rd. portage to Missing Link Lake then east to Snipe Lake. I have not crossed this long portage. Some say “no big deal”. Others say “never again”. The portage from Missing Link to Snipe is less traveled but not hard.

East out of Tuscarora to Snipe through Howl Swamp, Hubbub Lake, and Copper Lake. This is a spot to find solitude. And for a reason. The portages are little travelled and have some ups and downs in them. Start early and take your time it is a route to be savored.

Snipe to Long Island Lake is a nice paddle through the Cross River basin. Enjoy. There are some very nice campsites on the far east side of Long Island.

Long Island to Winchell – The portage out of Long Island to Muskeg Creek is a boulder field that follows a (sometimes) dry creek bed to the top of a massive beaver dam. There is sometimes a pullover portage just as you reach Muskeg Lake. Muskeg Lake to Kiskadinna portage contains “The Wall”. Take your time and enjoy the heart rate building walk up this hill.

The portages from Kiskadinna to Winchell tend to go up and down substantially.

Winchell Lake – Climb to the top of the cliffs (there is a labyrinth of paths). Find the water fall on the south shore and climb to the top. Again there are paths here.

Winchell to Brule – I would suggest the route through the Cone Lakes. Check with an outfitter on the status of Mulligan and Lily Lakes before attempting that route. The water levels here can be a problem.

The portage from Cliff Lake to North Cone – I remember this as a boulder field/goat trail.

Stop in the northwest corner of Brule Lake to take in the boulder field.

Choices:

Northwest out of Brule to Cam, Gasket, Vesper, Town Lake to Cherokee. I have had this route on a bucket list for some time, but it is not for the faint of heart. Please research. It seems to me that I have read of both lots of mud and boulder fields.

East out of Brule to South Temperance Lake. - Very short/easy portage brings you to one of the loveliest lakes in the BW. Island studded and wonderfully scenic. There are only a few campsites here so arrive early to find one.
Headed to Frost River:

Turn north to North Temperance Lake and then turn east to Sitka and Cherokee Lake. The Sitka to Cherokee Lake portage has not one flat portion. You are headed uphill or downhill everywhere. And there is one place where you will have to put the canoe down to scramble up or down a 4’ rock face.

Cherokee is often busy but has many beautiful campsites. Enjoy a night of stargazing here if you can.

I like to stop on Frost Lake any time I am in the area. Golden sand beaches and a better than average chance to see moose are the draw to this off the beaten path gem.

The Frost River can be done in one day. There is an option to stop on Bologna Lake, but we found it too early in the day to consider stopping.

Frost River to Insula: This leaves a lot of routes open for consideration. I think most head through Malberg Lake though.

Choices:
Northwest – Little Sag to Malberg
After completing the Frost River head northwest through Fente and Whipped Lake to Mora Lake and Little Sag. From here had southeast out of the little Sag to Elton Lake. (I like the route with 2 portage through the beaver pond, but others like to the one 180 rod portage.) Marvel at the amazing beaver dam holding back acres of water at the north end of Elton Lake. Makwa Lake has some amazing cliffs to visit. The rest of the route to Malberg Lake is not hard, just a lot of in and out of the canoe. The canyon into the northeast corner of the Mesaba Lake is a great visit also.

(Option – Turn west at Makwa Lake and then south through the Boulder/Adams/Alice or further west to turn south through Fraser/Thomas/Alice)

South and east along the Louse River.
At Fente Lake turn south. This portage will again test your cardio fitness as the first quarter mile is an uphill that never fails to get my glutes burning. Mesaba Lake is the definition of Solitude in the BW. Here turn west to follow the Louse River to Trail Lake and then continue on to Malberg Lake. This is another favorite route of mine. We had one of my all-time favorite wildlife encounters at Trail Lake. Magical.

South to Sawbill Lake.
At Fente turn south and keep going south over the Zenith/Lujenida portage to Kelso/Alton Lakes. Turn west to follow the Lady Lakes to Polly Lake and then turn north to get to Malberg Lake. The Lady Lakes route is high quality BW river route with a few lakes thrown in for fun. The portages are plenty but not hard.

Malberg to Insula:
If you are at Malberg, I think you have to take the opportunity to visit the pictographs at Fishdance Lake. If you have not visited the canyon at the northeast exit to Malberg, head that way and then circle back around to the north and west of Malberg. Otherwise west out of Malberg to River Lake (Kawishiwi River) and head southwest. After visiting the pictographs, be careful as you approach the portage to Alice Lake. This is very close to the lip of the rapids. This is a very scenic walk along the Kawishiwi River. You will need to put in and take out in the middle. We did this in August with low water. It may be another thing to do it in high water.

Alice Lake has many sand beach campsites to enjoy. We stayed in a little camp in the back bay on the far east side.

everyone i have ever spoken with pronounces Brule like Drool :)

Michwall2: "General route idea is:
"

Hi Michwall2,

One of the outfitters should hire you to do route planning for clients! Impressive options for some cool trips. I enjoyed looking through the options you wrote about on a canoe route planner and I've added several options to my own trips. So, thank you for sharing your knowledge...much appreciated! :)