BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
January 07 2025
Entry Point 39 - Baker Lake
Baker Lake entry point allows overnight paddle only. This entry point is supported by Tofte Ranger Station near the city of Tofte, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 26 miles. Access is a boat landing at Baker Lake with a 10-rod portage into Peterson Lake to reach first campsite. This area was affected by blowdown in 1999.
Number of Permits per Day: 2
Elevation: 1497 feet
Latitude: 47.8452
Longitude: -90.8169
Summary: A 5-day loop from Baker up the Temperance lakes to Cherokee, and back through Sawbill and Smoke lakes back to Baker. A fairly difficult trip.
Day 0: We drove up from Stillwater in the morning and camped at one of the 5 walk-in campsites at Baker Lake, and it was nice.
Day 1 (Baker to S. Temperance) - A beautiful day, we decided to paddle all the way to South Temperance the first day which was a great paddle with easy portages except for the last one. We picked the campsite on top of a huge rock that was close to the middle of the lake. Tried fishing some but no luck
Day 2 (Rest) - In the night, we encountered the worst storm of the entire season. While we were there 19 people had to be rescued from the BWCA. We had about 50mph straightline winds, and I'm still surprised that the huge tent we had stood up to it. We slept in and took a rest day because of the intense winds. Amazingly beautiful sunset.
Day 3 (S. Temperance to Cherokee) - We left as early as we could to beat the heat, but it was no good. The lengthy, hilly portages were challenging and by the last portage we were pretty beat. We overpacked and single portaged which led us to speedier exhaustion. Still amazing weather. North Temperance was a beaut- I wish we had stayed there instead of South. We took the southeasterly facing campsite on Cherokee on the southeastern skinny island. Neat little site.
Day 4 (Cherokee to Sawbill) - Left a little later in the day but it was ok. We took our time going down the river letting out of the southwest part of Cherokee and it was a great area. BEWARE: The area between Ada and Skoop Lakes appears to be floatable, but a dam built recently has made the portion impossible to float. Be prepared for a long portage through muck and water. A guy that we saw there said he had been going to the BWCA for 40 years at least once per year and it was the worst portage he had ever seen. By the time we got to Sawbill it was pretty hot. We paddled all the way down to the site next to the portage onto Smoke.
Day 5 (Sawbill to Baker) - Cooler, cloudier weather for the first time on the trip. We were pretty hungry (I underpacked food a little and I felt really bad) and we were taunting each other with vivid descriptions of the burgers we were going to eat ASAP after getting out. We paddled back to Baker and returned our gear to Sawtooth outfitters.
Overall great route.
Number of Permits per Day: 2
Elevation: 1497 feet
Latitude: 47.8452
Longitude: -90.8169
Summary: A 5-day loop from Baker up the Temperance lakes to Cherokee, and back through Sawbill and Smoke lakes back to Baker. A fairly difficult trip.
Day 0: We drove up from Stillwater in the morning and camped at one of the 5 walk-in campsites at Baker Lake, and it was nice.
Day 1 (Baker to S. Temperance) - A beautiful day, we decided to paddle all the way to South Temperance the first day which was a great paddle with easy portages except for the last one. We picked the campsite on top of a huge rock that was close to the middle of the lake. Tried fishing some but no luck
Day 2 (Rest) - In the night, we encountered the worst storm of the entire season. While we were there 19 people had to be rescued from the BWCA. We had about 50mph straightline winds, and I'm still surprised that the huge tent we had stood up to it. We slept in and took a rest day because of the intense winds. Amazingly beautiful sunset.
Day 3 (S. Temperance to Cherokee) - We left as early as we could to beat the heat, but it was no good. The lengthy, hilly portages were challenging and by the last portage we were pretty beat. We overpacked and single portaged which led us to speedier exhaustion. Still amazing weather. North Temperance was a beaut- I wish we had stayed there instead of South. We took the southeasterly facing campsite on Cherokee on the southeastern skinny island. Neat little site.
Day 4 (Cherokee to Sawbill) - Left a little later in the day but it was ok. We took our time going down the river letting out of the southwest part of Cherokee and it was a great area. BEWARE: The area between Ada and Skoop Lakes appears to be floatable, but a dam built recently has made the portion impossible to float. Be prepared for a long portage through muck and water. A guy that we saw there said he had been going to the BWCA for 40 years at least once per year and it was the worst portage he had ever seen. By the time we got to Sawbill it was pretty hot. We paddled all the way down to the site next to the portage onto Smoke.
Day 5 (Sawbill to Baker) - Cooler, cloudier weather for the first time on the trip. We were pretty hungry (I underpacked food a little and I felt really bad) and we were taunting each other with vivid descriptions of the burgers we were going to eat ASAP after getting out. We paddled back to Baker and returned our gear to Sawtooth outfitters.
Overall great route.
Border Paddle
by SPOR
Trip Report
Entry Date:
August 19, 2023
Entry Point:
North Fowl Lake
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
1
Trip Introduction:
This was my first solo trip into the BWCA wilderness. I was told at the ranger station prior to launching that there was significant bear activity in this specific area of the boundary waters which definitely didn't calm my nerves about my first solo trip. My overall goal for the trip was to relax both at camp and during traveling time in addition to seeing some beautiful wildlife.
Day 1 of 4
[Saturday, August 19, 2023~McFarland Lake, Little John Lake, John Lake, Royal Lake, North Fowl Lake.] I got off to a very late start for the first day of the trip not reaching my entry point until nearly 5:00 PM. Entry in McFarland lake was well marked and easy to find. There were several houses on McFarland Lake which took away from the feeling of uninterrupted wilderness; however, these quickly disappeared as I got into Little John. Travel was smooth and the portages were relatively pain free until I got to Royal lake. The weeds were completely overgrown to the point that I was unable to see the path forward. I was able to find the next portage by using my compass to keep a constant direction and pulling myself and my canoe through the weeds. To complicate matters more I could tell that I was quickly losing daylight while I was lost in this overgrowth. After I got through this rough section I walked alongside my canoe and gear down the rest of the Royal River onto North Fowl as the water level was low. Got into my site just as the last bits of daylight were disappearing 
Lakes Traveled:
McFarland Lake,
Little John Lake,
John Lake,
Royal Lake,
North Fowl Lake,
Day 2 of 4
[Sunday, August 20, 2023~North Fowl Lake, Moose Lake] I got off to an early start on day 2 and was able to get moving by 8:30. Unfortunately the wind on North Fowl was a strong westerly wind all day which made travel (especially solo travel) move at a snails pace. The portage between North Fowl and Moose Lakes was fairly flat and well taken care of. There were some weeds near the entry for the portage but it was much easier to find than the day before. Given the significant wind any my own exhaustion I stopped on Moose lake for the day near the middle campsites. 
Lakes Traveled:
North Fowl Lake,
Moose Lake,
Day 4 of 4
[Monday, August 21, 2023] It rained overnight into this morning. It was not heavy rain but was constant for most of the day. Given the rain and slow progress with the wind the day prior I decided to stay in this camp and relax on the third day. I ended up reading and birdwatching from my site and had a small fire at the end of the day. This site overall was wonderful and large enough to accomidate a maximum sized group. The latrine was present in a strange location in this site (straight up a hill the latrine was overlooking the lake and site although you could not see clearly through to the lake due to tree cover. 
Day 6 of 4
[Tuesday, August 22, 2023~Mountain Lake, North Fowl Lake, Royal Lake, John Lake, Little John Lake, McFarland Lake] With my last day I was feeling fairly tired from all the sitting and waiting the day prior so I got up and got an early start to the day with the goal to make it all the way back to my takeout point. Unlike day 2 with the severe wind there was almost no wind and the lake was glass when I set off in the morning. I made great time and ended up making it to my takeout point abour 2-3 PM which left plenty of time and energy for my long drive home. 
Lakes Traveled:
Mountain Lake,
North Fowl Lake,
Royal Lake,
John Lake,
Little John Lake,
McFarland Lake,
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