I'm planning a trip for 3 days 2 night ( wish it could be longer) the first week of June and have a couple questions:

Where can we go Ely side in this time frame and see cliffs and waterfalls.

Prefer base camp.

I know it depends on the weather but what has been your experience in late May early June with bugs.

I've been up LIS to Shell and the loop around to Loon and back. And also into Knife to Eddy Falls and back. Really liked Knife Lake.

Thanks.

One option: Enter East Bearskin, camp on Canoe, hike to Pine and Johnson Falls, exit at East Bearskin.

boonie: "One option: Enter East Bearskin, camp on Canoe, hike to Pine and Johnson Falls, exit at East Bearskin. "

This is the Gunflint area, not "Ely side".

A lot depends on when you can travel to start or end your trip. If you can begin your trip at the crack of dawn or maybe 7:00, you can move a fairly good distance before using night one of your 2 nights. On the larger lakes, you can take a tow service to and from entry points such as on Moose lake.

By the same token the process is reversed on day 3 depending on when on day 3 is the actual time you need to be in the car.

Some consideration must be made for travel time to your entry point or from your likely same exit point.

Having said all that, I suggest a Fall Lake entry to Basswood Lake and base there. A couple of falls along the way and from Basswood Falls, you can easily travel the border lakes almost to Crooked Lake and back on your one full day. Several falls and if you are good at paddling and portaging, you with an early start possibly could include the pictographs on crooked. If doing that, do not go over 1/2 of your allocated time going as you will not get back to your base on time if you do. Allow at least an hour extra in this regard for travel delays and do your sightseeing and lunch on the way out.

Have a great trip.

bwcadan: "Having said all that, I suggest a Fall Lake entry to Basswood Lake and base there. A couple of falls along the way and from Basswood Falls, you can easily travel the border lakes almost to Crooked Lake and back on your one full day. Several falls and if you are good at paddling and portaging, you with an early start possibly could include the pictographs on crooked. If doing that, do not go over 1/2 of your allocated time going as you will not get back to your base on time if you do. Allow at least an hour extra in this regard for travel delays and do your sightseeing and lunch on the way out.

Have a great trip."

This a good trip to see falls. Like Dan said you would have to travel over to Crooked and back if you want cliffs.

You could also get a tow from Moose and make it to Knife to basecamp in a day. From there you'd have Thunder Point & Eddy Falls as daytrip options.

Jackfish: "

boonie: "One option: Enter East Bearskin, camp on Canoe, hike to Pine and Johnson Falls, exit at East Bearskin. "

This is the Gunflint area, not "Ely side"."

Yes, it is - I missed the Ely side part.

I agree with Mirth for the Ely side. Very doable and the best bang for your buck. There are some jumping cliffs( not too tall) North East of Eddy Falls in the corner of Knife.

Cliffs, waterfalls and base camping on the Ely side is awful tough do do in a three day period.

Cliffs (cliff jumping?) can be done on Insula with base camping In about 6 to 7 hours of paddling from entry 30, but no water falls

Basswood would be a good place to base camp 4 to 5 hours from Fall Lake entry, Basswood falls but cliffs not so much. Nice site just above the falls or if you have kids "whale island" is a great base camping site( look on the map for and island that looks like a whale, great sandy wading area) Three days is just not a lot of time .

Also most of the "falls" in the Bdub are more akin to a 45 degree drop than a 90 degree drop.

Change your plans and go out of Grand Marais. It's only a couple of hours drive further depending on where you come from.

Thanks for the advise. Plans changed completely now. We're taking lis north to shell to base camp. Do the little shell, lynx, heritage loop back to shell on the second day. Hike the Sioux hustler trail to devils cascade. Back out the 3rd day. Or hit devils cascade on the way out.

Let me know if you need a guide. I'd be happy to help!!

Have fun. Done this many times, to include a solo.

Mike

Enter Mudro. Camp Horse lake. Day trip to Basswood Falls. Below the falls are cliffs and pictographs.

I been looking at this similar situation, do you think you could get to crooked lake from fall and back in 3 or 4 days without to much work?
Thanks

Raue3600: "I been looking at this similar situation, do you think you could get to crooked lake from fall and back in 3 or 4 days without to much work?
Thanks
"

From Mudro, yes. From Fall....not as easily.

Clearwater has some nice cliffs and some other scenic areas. The portage from Clearwater to Caribou has some waterfalls. If I were choosing a trip based solely on scenery I would choose Clearwater. Eh, that's not Ely side though. That's off of Gunflint.

Search for Curtain and Rebecca Falls off of the Moose River. I've read that those are the most spectacular falls in the BWCA.

NorEyeWest: " I know it depends on the weather but what has been your experience in late May early June with bugs.
"

Based on a potential late ice-out, you might be there before the bugs get bad. Might not.

Sounds like a fun trip regardless.

manmountain8: "Search for Curtain and Rebecca Falls off of the Moose River. I've read that those are the most spectacular falls in the BWCA."

Curtain Falls is on the border and viewable with a BW permit. Incredibly awesome waterfall, clearly one of the best in canoe country.

Seeing Rebecca Falls, however, requires about a 15 minute(?) paddle inside the Canadian border. In order to see it within the complete letter of the law, you'll need a Remote Area Border Crossing (RABC) permit (from Canadian border services - applications cost $30 Cdn), a Quetico day permit and a passport to show the US Customs office to declare yourself back in the US. (I may have missed something.)

Do people paddle up to Rebecca Falls, take a few pics and head back without a second thought? I'm sure quite a few do, if not the vast majority. Just stating the rules and regs for the record.

Rebecca Falls is pretty awesome, too. This is one of the two chutes.