I am curious what everyones favorite routes/entry points are. I am making my 5th trip in this Spring (I know, still somewhat of a green horn) and will be going in at Entry point 16, Moose/Portage River. I've also gone in on 23 Mudro twice, #38 Sawbill (rained for 90% of trip, so verdict is still out on Sawbill) and have also done a big portage trip going in on #14 Little Indian Sioux N.

Of the trips I have taken, I have learned that I prefer a base camp with good fishing and also a couple days of portaging and sight seeing. So my favorite location to date is Entry #23 into Mudro and into Fourtown and the surrounding lakes.

Now that I'm on my 5th trip (in June) I'm neck deep into gear and plan to make the BWCA a mostly annual trip. So, with that said, I'm looking for insight on other peoples favorite routes to take and why. Thought this would be a fun forum topic and looking forward to reading other peoples answers.

Thanks and Happy Paddling!
PointMe2Polaris.

Little Indian Sioux to Moose River North is a great trip. I like to break up the trip into 3 campsites. Nice mix of river and lakes and a variety of fish species along the way.

Mudro to Crooked Loop. Horse, Basswood River, Crooked, Wagosh, Gun, Fourtown. Either direction is a great trip.

For a longer trip (6-10 nights): Entering LIS and exiting Mudro via Shell, Oyster, Lac La Croix, Iron, Crooked and Basswood River. Favorite section of the BWCA for me.

Well, you certainly have hit on 3 of favorite entry points - LIS (north & south),Mudro, and Sawbill... especially for solo trips. You might also consider Lake One and Seagull entry points.

Sawbill is great, but my favorite has become Brule. Its a big lake and you really have 4 different directions to go so it is easy to spread out and explore something new.

Entry 37 - Kawishiwi to Malberg to Little Sag to Mesaba to Sawbill. Lots of varied paddlding - Rivers, small lakes, large lakes. Extreme variations in portaging. (Some of the easiest and some of the toughest.) It gets you into some of the least used portions of the BW.

Entry 14 LIS - Stay on the small lakes inside LLC. Rocky, Green, Gebe, Pocket, Finger, Thumb, Beartrack, Steep, North/South. Varied paddling - larger lakes, small lakes, rivers. We saw no one else from Rocky to North/South Lakes at the beginning of July. The portages have a wide variety of trees and landscapes. Several spots to see pictos. There are possibilities to hop out on LLC if you want bigger water or need to cover more miles in a day.

Entry 47 - Lizz Lake to Horseshoe and/or Gaskin to Long Island to Banadad to Skipper. See moose in the Horseshoe area. Great campsites on Gaskin. Love the long narrow lakes from Henson through Kiskadinna. The east end of Long Island can afford solitude. Very little traveled area from Long Island to Banadad. The west end of Banadad sees little traffic and has a terrific campsite for a layover day.

Entry point 61

Unlike you I don't fish and don't prefer a basecamp, so I'm not sure how relevant it is to you, but . . .

Michwall's first 2 suggestions are among my favorite trips.

I also enjoyed last year's trip in EP #37 Kawishiwi Lake to Alice-Fraser-Boulder-Adams-Kawishiwi.

Mudro EP #23 to Moosecamp was also enjoyable.

I also enjoyed trips in Little Isabella and Island River to Quadga before the Pagami Creek wildfire.

EP 71 From Canada

Nothing beats the luxury of a Tow from Crane Lake to the Bottle Portage, and then Iron-Crooked-Basswood. Plenty of fishing, plenty of water, plenty of space between sites.

When I have more time, EP 16 up through Agnes and onto the same route works too.

quote Atb: "EP 71 From Canada


Nothing beats the luxury of a Tow from Crane Lake to the Bottle Portage, and then Iron-Crooked-Basswood. Plenty of fishing, plenty of water, plenty of space between sites.


When I have more time, EP 16 up through Agnes and onto the same route works too."

Quetico entry point for Agnes is 61 and 16 for Agnes in the Boundary Waters, never noticed that before.......Backwards entry points for the backwoods.

The wifey and I went in at Baker Lake the last of Sept., out 5-6 days into Oft. one year. Fishing was outstanding, trees were peak, saw moose, and no humans. Just a real pretty and quiet area...and to boot, coming out, the trees were just blazing on the Caribou Trail. I remember looking across a lake, and the shore was the brightest yellow... no wind so the reflection was a perfect mirror..........dude, it was spectacular!!

Mudro > Fourtown > Boot > Fairy > Gun

quote BasecampMom: "Mudro > Fourtown > Boot > Fairy > Gun "

Mudro, horse, Crooked, then out through your route.

I love floating down the Horse River in high water and Crooked/Basswood River never ceases to amaze me

My favorite trip so far has been my last one: Stuart River looping through Knife, La Croix and out Moose River. I would highly recommend base camping in the Bolder Bay/Tiger Bay Area. Lots of great day trip options and it's a beautiful area. Good fishing is not far off either.

EP 25, Moose up to Knife. The options you can build into this route are plenty. It has the best diversity and quality in fishing I've found in the BW.

Good question. It's a bit like, "What's your favorite lake?" And I'm not sure how to pick from entry points...closest to Quetico? Easiest access to good fishing? Lack of company?

Anyways, I'll pick Mudro. So much access to good waters. Its popularity shows, though, as you gotta work to get away from the people.

Good question. It's a bit like, "What's your favorite lake?" And I'm not sure how to pick from entry points...closest to Quetico? Easiest access to good fishing? Lack of company?

Anyways, I'll pick Mudro. So much access to good waters. Its popularity shows, though, as you gotta work to get away from the people.

i have truly enjoyed them all, 35 + trips and counting. if i could pick, prairie portage and all points north would be my favorite area.

25 years ago when I lived in Duluth, my go to EP was Brule. Possibly a dozen or more trips through there. It was easy to get to and had a lot of options and campsites. After a long hiatus, I have been through Sawbill (and Kawishiwi) 3 times in the past two years. This year I may try something off the Gunflint because I'm looking forward to a bunkhouse the night before. You can't beat Sawbill and Sawbill Outfitters however.

I'm a fan of Sawbill and EP-37 alternately. Both give you many and varied trip options and I find that the east side is generally less busy than the Ely area. The big draw for me of the Kawishiwi entry point is the relatively low traffic, so permits are usually available. In either case, I prefer to put one long portage behind me as soon as possible. It tends to weed out the crowds in a hurry. I plan my routes to push hard the first day for that reason. I'll loaf around and go exploring once I'm remote. I'm not a bunkhouse kind of girl, so the bigger outfitters really don't appeal to me, but a hot shower at Sawbill when I get back is worth the price of admission!

I've enjoyed my trips out of Kawishiwi each time, though the further North I can get, the better the trip (Adams/Boulder area). Would like to take a long loop out of Sawbill thru the Lady Chain, Malberg, Little Sag, then Mesaba/Wine and back to Sawbill.

Looking forward to this years Cross Bay to Poplar trip.

Twin Falls

quote brux: "My favorite trip so far has been my last one: Stuart River looping through Knife, La Croix and out Moose River. I would highly recommend base camping in the Bolder Bay/Tiger Bay Area. Lots of great day trip options and it's a beautiful area. Good fishing is not far off either."

This is the area we are hitting in June. I've found about 7-8 good sites (based on reviews) in the Tiger Bay/Bolder Bay region. So we plan to push through from EP16 until we arrive there. This will be our first trip in this region, so I'm really looking forward to it. Based on your input, I think we're in for a great trip. Here's hoping for good weather:-)

About any route out of Clearwater Lake EP #62 or Sea Gull Lake EP #54.