BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
September 18 2025
Entry Point 38 - Sawbill Lake
Sawbill 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 25 miles. Access is a boat landing at Sawbill Lake. This area was affected by blowdown in 1999.
Number of Permits per Day: 11
Elevation: 1802 feet
Latitude: 47.8699
Longitude: -90.8858
Sawbill Lake - 38
Number of Permits per Day: 11
Elevation: 1802 feet
Latitude: 47.8699
Longitude: -90.8858
Sawbill Lake - 38
Seagull Lake
by bjsmith
Trip Report
Entry Date:
June 30, 2017
Entry Point:
Seagull Lake
Number of Days:
3
Group Size:
4
Trip Introduction:
Short weekend trip with one BWCA newcomer.
Report
Getting back to our annual girls trip with one newcomer who hadn't been into the BWCA before. We chose to paddle in from 54 and then stay on the SW part of the lake, a short distance from the portage to Alpine. This would give her the ability to experience the BWCA without being overwhelmed with portaging.
Our campsite was wonderful and although the bugs were numerous, they didn't really land on us. The water was cold, but a few of us swam. The weather report was horrible, but it turned out to be a decent weekend.
We took a few day trips and hiked the portage to Alpine and then the portage to JAP. We were really surprised to see that both portages were almost completely under water. I'm not sure what the conditions are now, but we're thankful we didn't push our new BWCA partner to move to another lake!
discuss this trip report (3 comments) - last post on August 02, 2015