Boundary Waters Trip Reports, Blog, BWCA, BWCAW, Quetico Park

BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog

June 29 2026

Entry Point 1 - Trout Lake

Trout Lake entry point allows overnight paddle or motor (25 HP max). This entry point is supported by La Croix Ranger Station near the city of Cook, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 30 miles. Access from LakeVermilion via 60-rod canoe portage or 180-rod portage that allows the use of portage wheels. This area was affected by blowdown in 1999.

Number of Permits per Day: 12
Elevation: 1381 feet
Latitude: 47.9144
Longitude: -92.3220
Trout Lake - 1

Burntside to Cummings Lake

by Aleino
Trip Report

Entry Date: June 24, 2026
Entry Point: Crab Lake and Cummings from Burntside Lake
Number of Days: 4
Group Size: 5

Trip Introduction:
Our trip was four days and included two relatively seasoned middle aged adults, two relative newbies in their early 20s, and one tweenager. We started our trip with a tow across Burntside Lake. Thank goodness, because we are not early risers, and the trek from the Burntside to an open campsite on Cummings took us about seven hours.

Part 1 of 3


The portage head on Burntside is a beautiful, relatively open area beneath tall pines. There is plenty of space to spread out should multiple groups arrive at once. The portage itself is over one mile, divided approximately in the middle by a beaver pond which must be crossed by canoe. Not going to lie - this portage was tough for us and took about two hours. We were dropping packs, taking breaks, and doubling back. The first section from Burntside to the pond is narrow, rocky, slick in areas, and boasts several rugged inclines. The trail on the section from the pond to Crab Lake is mostly smooth, but it is a long gradual uphill climb, so be prepared for burning leg muscles. We were fortunate to see beavers on our way in. One was swimming about, the other sitting on a dam. Neither seemed to care about our existence moving through their pond, allowing us to sit and quietly watch them for several minutes. The portage head into Crab has a sandy landing and plenty of space to drop your gear.

 



Part 2 of 3


With the weather on our side, the paddle through Crab Lake was easy. Only one campsite appeared to be taken from our vantage point as we cruised along. After the exhaustion of the portage from Burntside to Crab Lake, we discussed breaking up the trip by spending one night on Crab Lake before continuing on to Cummings but decided to keep moving and to break the trip up on the way back to Burntside instead, especially with a forecast of SE winds from 15-25 mph for Sunday.

We paddled through Crab Lake and on to the portage to Little Crab which is undemanding. The paddle through Little Crab Lake was quick and culminated in a lift over between Little Crab and the Korb River, with two more lift overs before reaching Korb Lake. Paddling through Korb Lake and the following section of the Korb River was easy but felt interminable in anticipation of getting to Cummings, yet there was much to observe along the Korb River, including several beaver lodges and hundreds of gorgeous maroon blossoms from the purple pitcher plant.

The portage at the end of the Korb River is rocky and it took some doing to land and unload, but the portage is short, and we were happy to have made it to our destination lake. Now to find a campsite!

Our top two campsite picks were taken, but we finally settled on an island site (#287) on the eastern section of the lake and totally lucked out. We were spoiled by great campfire seating, decent tent pads, dappled sun exposure the entire day under red pines, minimal bugs, an airy latrine, and lovely breezes. Fishing was high on the activities list and many small mouth bass were caught out on the water, while a few sunnies were landed when shore fishing. Another favorite activity was collecting empty dragonfly nymphs along the rocky shore. We even got to watch two dragonflies emerge.

 



Part 3 of 3


We truly enjoyed our time on Cummings and would have stayed another night were it not for the time it had taken us to get there alongside forecast high winds out of the SE. We broke camp and left our Cummings island site, paddling into the wind. Once back on the Korb River, we enjoyed a leisurely pace to Crab Lake, but the winds had picked up by the time we reached Crab Lake and going was tough for a time. Thankfully, we found another great campsite (#312) on an island in a sheltered bay and set up camp for our final afternoon and night.

 


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