BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
January 07 2025
Entry Point 25 - Moose Lake
Moose Lake entry point allows overnight paddle or motor (25 HP max). This entry point is supported by Kawishiwi Ranger Station near the city of Ely, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 21 miles. Access is an boat landing or canoe launch at Moose Lake. Many trip options for paddlers with additional portages. This area was affected by blowdown in 1999.
Number of Permits per Day: 27
Elevation: 1356 feet
Latitude: 47.9877
Longitude: -91.4997
Labor day weekend 2024.
Entry point was 25-Moose lake. Went north, and then west onto Ensign Lake. Camped on eastern end of Ensign lake. Very busy and lucky to get a campsite. Day 2, went to Cattyman Falls and on down to Disappointment Lake. All sites full. Had to get off the water due to inclement storm. Ended up on Parent Lake on day 3, western camp site. Beautiful site. Exited from Snowbank lake on day 4. Overall fishing was poor. Some small mouth bass on Parent lake.
Nothing elsewhere. Approximately 20 miles of paddling/portaging. 11 portages in total. Already planning for 2025.
Number of Permits per Day: 27
Elevation: 1356 feet
Latitude: 47.9877
Longitude: -91.4997
Labor day weekend 2024.
Entry point was 25-Moose lake. Went north, and then west onto Ensign Lake. Camped on eastern end of Ensign lake. Very busy and lucky to get a campsite. Day 2, went to Cattyman Falls and on down to Disappointment Lake. All sites full. Had to get off the water due to inclement storm. Ended up on Parent Lake on day 3, western camp site. Beautiful site. Exited from Snowbank lake on day 4. Overall fishing was poor. Some small mouth bass on Parent lake.
Nothing elsewhere. Approximately 20 miles of paddling/portaging. 11 portages in total. Already planning for 2025.
Back to BWCA
by Hawk777
Trip Report
Entry Date:
July 12, 2017
Entry Point:
Fall Lake
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
2
Trip Introduction:
Excited to get going and take in all the beauty.
Report
Hey folks! I wanted to share my BWCA experience(s). So it's been many many years since my last BWCA trip before recent, and I've seen a few changes since then and I'll get to that in a moment. But first, I took along a friend who experienced the BWCA for the first time. We entered on Fall Lake July 12th. It was raining and windy which made it difficult to stay positive as we unloaded gear and set out. Come to realize, my friend had brought way too much gear. Being this was my 4th time in the BWCA, I should've known to relay such information about gear capacity beforehand. Luckily, we had a raft for the extra gear. As we set out it was difficult to get going on the lake due to the rain and wind in which it threw our timing off to the campsite area we were going. We made it to camp and waited out the rain. The rain didn't stop until the next evening. About 24 hrs later. Anyway, I noticed a few changes while in the BWCA. One is that it seems the fire grates over the fire pits are a lot lower than I remember. Which made it super difficult to keep a fire going. A fire AT THAT if the wood is wet. We failed to bring a camp stove for backup. So once we were able to get a fire going, it was extremely difficult to keep it going due to fire grates level over the pit. You really have to keep feeding it continuously just to keep a small fire going. I'm guessing the BWCA decided to do this to keep fires small. Understandable. But at the same time, it's hard to keep a good fire. Second is they no longer allow biodegradable soap. No big deal. Back to our gear and watercrafts. As I mentioned our gear weight was too much which resulted in us using a raft. So if anyone on Fall lake or in and around the Pipestone Bay Area seen a canoe towing a raft full of gear, that was us. Haha. I will definitely know for next trip.
To add, in no way am I complaining about the changes I've seemed to notice. I enjoy the BWCA and I'll always return. I just know that I'll be smarter about gear amount and back up cooking supplies for next time. I'd like to take a second trip up this summer, but I may have to wait until next year. Cheers and good camping folks!
discuss this trip report (1 comments) - last post on July 31, 2017