I’m planning my 1st trip to BWCA in 2025. I now canoe and kayak the Adirondack lakes of New York. I’m looking for a cabin rental for 5-6 days near multiple lakes. I’ll be doing day trips,out and back and no camping this time,just mostly fishing and hiking. Wondering if anyone with experience has any suggestions for me to research? I’ll be bringing my Hornbeck and my Tsunami kayak.

Welcome to the board!

I'm calling on Ducks to respond as he has lots of experience doing just what you mention. :)

Rockwood on Poplar up the Gunflint Trail through Grand Marais is our favorite and we do a family cabin stay there each year now. There are 3 entry points Lizz/Swamp, Meeds, and Skipper that you can access from Poplar. Caribou is a good fishing lake and 2 portages in through Lizz. Swamp is a good fishing lake and one portage in and is very quiet because it doesn't have any campsites so most people with a Lizz/Swamp permit will enter through Lizz. Meeds is one long portage in and has good fishing. Skipper is one long portage (easier than Meeds) in and is a pretty and quiet lake. For this coming summer they probobly have little availability so if you're flexible on dates that will help.

Trail Center (also my favorite restaurant in the world) on Poplar has 2 cabins for rent and we've stayed in each of those before and liked them . Whiite Pine Lodge is right next to Rockwood and has new owners that Rockwood talks highly about if you can't find availability at Rockwood.

Clearwater Lodge on Clearwater is nice. We ha\ven't stayed in their cabins, but have used their bunkhouse. Clearwater is a beautiful lake with some beautfiul lakes with good fishing one portage away. Caribou (a different Caribou than the one near Lizz) and Mountain.1/2 way accross the portage to Mountain you intersect the Border Route Hiking Trail which has some beautiful overlooks.

Tuscarora Lodge on Round Lake gives you access to 2 Entry Points Brandt and Missing Link. The Cross Bay EP is also a short walk from Tuscarora so you can do a nice daytrip entering at Missing Link and exiting at Cross Bay and then walk less than a mile down a dirt road Round Lake is a nice quiet lake without any private cabins and the resort is small with only a few cabins.

On the Ely side we've stayed at Kawishiwi Lodge on Lake One but they only do week long stays Sat to Sat. and they are very hard to find availability. When we stayed there I called in January and got lucky because someone had just canceled earlier that day for the week we wanted. We liked that it's the only resort on a non motorized lake. You can go into the numbered lakes or into the Kawishiwi River.

Lots of good options, but those are the ones we have experience with and liked.

Ducks has great suggestions. I second staying at Rockwood and day tripping from Poplar through EP 47. Book early, cabins go fast. If you don't stay overnight in the BWCA, which it sounds like you won't, you can just get day permits. Day permits are self-issued the day of entry and their is no quota's like overnight permits have. The team at Rockwood is exceptional.

Maybe consider an outfitter bunkhouse?

Thanks for all the info,,,how early do I need to book at these places?

I wouldn't wait . . .

I would book right away. If you can't find availability at the excellent places already mentioned here, I know of but have no experience with cabins at the Poplar Haus and Hungry Jack Lodge. There are a handful of USFS cabins at the East Bearskin Lake Campground, that I have experience with, however they are probably more primitive than what you're looking for.

There are also plenty of hiking opportunities off of the Gunflint Trail. To clarify, the "Gunflint Trail" is the paved road that heads inland from Grand Marais. These trails are hiking trails.
Border Route Trail
Kekekabic Trail
There are abundant brook trout, lake trout, northern pike, smallmouth bass and walleye in this area. These are both great resources from the MN Department of Natural Resources.
Trout Lakes
Lakefinder

Planning on August 2025,,,,,way too early to book now,,right?

Buckhd: "Planning on August 2025,,,,,way too early to book now,,right?"

Correct,
Rockwood opens up their booking window 11 months prior for the following summer. They do this so people that are staying there have an opportunity to rebook the same cabin for the following year. I don't know if everyone does this, but I know many do.
For example... for the month of August 2025 you will want to book in September of 2024 if possible. At the latest I suggest Nov. or Dec. of 2024. If you are solo and plan on Rockwood you will probably want to try to get Cabin 5. It's the smallest and least expensive. It's also about 15 feet from the waters edge which is nice. Cabin 9 would be my 2nd choice if I was alone or with just 1 other person.

We will be at Rockwood the end of July/beginning of Aug. and will book when we leave for the following year.

bobbernumber3: "Maybe consider an outfitter bunkhouse?"

I've done that before because it's an inexpensive way to stay near the bwca, but most outfitters have a 1 night maximum for bunkhouse stays unless they know you really well. A few bad eggs have ruined it for everyone.

Thanks a lot,that’s probably what I’ll do. I appreciate all your comments and advice…

Buckhd: "Thanks a lot,that’s probably what I’ll do. I appreciate all your comments and advice…"

You're welcome. Now you have some specific outfitter websites to explore while you're researching over the next 8 months.

Edit.... For a point of reference for next year I just looked at Rockwood's website and for August of this year all they have left is 3 nights in cabin 5 and 5 nights in cabin 7.

I would NOT recommend Rockwood lodge under the new management, which is not so new anymore. See my previous posts for reference. However my stay at Tuscarora last year was incredible and I’ll be using them again this summer. Give them a try would be my recommendation.

Diego: "I would NOT recommend Rockwood lodge under the new management, which is not so new anymore. See my previous posts for reference. "

Diego, I'm not sure what prompted your comment and I'm not about to go digging to find a previous post, but Carl and the gang at Rockwood are not only excellent outfitters, but they're also longtime supporters of BWCA.com. I wouldn't hesitate for a second in recommending them to folks looking for an outfitter.

ducks: "

bobbernumber3: "Maybe consider an outfitter bunkhouse?"

I've done that before because it's an inexpensive way to stay near the bwca, but most outfitters have a 1 night maximum for bunkhouse stays unless they know you really well. A few bad eggs have ruined it for everyone. "

ohh... never thought of that!

Jackfish: "

Diego: "I would NOT recommend Rockwood lodge under the new management, which is not so new anymore. See my previous posts for reference. "

Diego, I'm not sure what prompted your comment and I'm not about to go digging to find a previous post, but Carl and the gang at Rockwood are not only excellent outfitters, but they're also longtime supporters of BWCA.com. I wouldn't hesitate for a second in recommending them to folks looking for an outfitter. "

I’m happy they are supporting this site- it’s a valuable asset to us all. However, my negative experience was echoed by several others two years ago when I made the post. I’d hate for anybody to start a vacation off the way we did, so I think the members here deserve to hear when somebody has positive and negative things to say so they can make an informed decision. I will say that Carl- was an extremely nice and helpful guy-

Jackfish: "

Diego: "I would NOT recommend Rockwood lodge under the new management, which is not so new anymore. See my previous posts for reference. "

Diego, I'm not sure what prompted your comment and I'm not about to go digging to find a previous post, but Carl and the gang at Rockwood are not only excellent outfitters, but they're also longtime supporters of BWCA.com. I wouldn't hesitate for a second in recommending them to folks looking for an outfitter. "

Jackfish, saying that they are long time supporters doesn't exactly help your case here. I know your intent is to say that they are good people, but to some people it says that you might be biased because of their contributions.