BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
January 08 2025
Entry Point 16 - Moose/Portage River (North of Echo Trail)
Number of Permits per Day: 5
Elevation: 1348 feet
Latitude: 48.1230
Longitude: -92.0991
A favorite route offering many trip options and memorable things to see including;
World Class fishing for all four BWCA Species
Pictographs
Soaring granite hills and cliffs
Small lakes
Small rivers
Tumbling rapids and waterfalls
Wildlife, including Moose
Vistas from high points across the region if you're willing to climb. Rating Easy to Moderate. Day One. Get to EP16 off of the Echo Trail early. The initial portage is long, but well worn and smooth, sloping gently downgrade to the launch area. Load your canoe and head North. You'll be paddling with the slight current on this narrow winding river. The water is clear and make sure to tell the bowperson to watch for looming rocks!
A week in paradise- crooked/iron lakes
Entry Date:
September 09, 2024
Entry Point:
Little Vermilion Lake (Crane Lake)
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
2
We started our Journey from Duluth around 4 AM so we could make it to Anderson's outfitters by 630. We took the boat ride in with Anderson's that drops you off at Paddle portage. The boat ride itself is worth the trip, and Mark is a great guy to take the journey with. It was about 2 hours, beautiful scenery, and a fun fast ride. We then unloaded everything and started our first portage. The first portage into Iron is not bad, but the mud made it a little tricky. There were spots that you sink up to your knees in if you are not careful. But it was nothing terrible. We then paddled through Iron and portage into crooked (a bit longer portage, but relatively easy). The curtain falls were amazing (see pic), but we stayed away due to the recent tragedy that occurred there. We found a spectacular site on crooked, with a great view and even a sand beach next to it! We fished a little, caught a TON of bass (a few with some size to them, like 18-19" even). One smaller walleye did find itself into the boat but we let it go. We cooked some steaks over the fire, and enjoyed some great campfire discussions. 
We set an alarm this morning, the first time in my life I have set an alarm while camping. But we didn't want to miss our 9 am pick up! We usually get up early anyway, but we couldn't take any chances as the paddle out without a boat ride would take us quite some time! We made it back with time to spare, and the boat ride back was again awesome. Our guide even stopped and showed us some pictographs that were pretty cool (see pic). Apparently they were painted with some botanicals and blood. There was a moose, hand prints, and other cool artwork there. Another awesome and successful BWCA trip! 