BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
July 01 2025
Entry Point 24 - Fall Lake
Fall 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 7 miles. "Access is a boat landing at Fall Lake. Several trip options to Newton, Basswood, & Mud Lakes with additionalportages." This area was affected by blowdown in 1999.
Number of Permits per Day: 14
Elevation: 1324 feet
Latitude: 47.9527
Longitude: -91.7213
"This trip will be taking off from Fall Lake up through Newton Falls portage onto Pipestone Bay campsites. 3 day, 2 night trip into the wilderness.
Number of Permits per Day: 14
Elevation: 1324 feet
Latitude: 47.9527
Longitude: -91.7213
"This trip will be taking off from Fall Lake up through Newton Falls portage onto Pipestone Bay campsites. 3 day, 2 night trip into the wilderness.
Mudro to Crooked via Horse River
by shlemon
Trip Report
Entry Date:
June 02, 2025
Entry Point:
Mudro Lake (restricted--no camping on Horse Lake)
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
4
Trip Introduction:
Traveled to campsite on Crooked Lake via Mudro, Horse River and Basswood Falls
Put in at Mudro Parking lot 22/23. Water level was very low which made navigating the entry to Mudro Lake tricky
Portaged and paddles to Horse River. Again the water levels on the river were very low. There are 3 portages on the river on the way to Basswood Falls but all of the rapids also needed to be walked past/over. We mistakenly believed we could paddle around Basswood Falls on the Basswood River —this is NOT possible—the rapids to the left of the river are not navigable. So we portaged on the Canadian side of Basswood Falls. So in all there are 8 portages (plus rapids negotiating) from Mudro to crooked lake past Basswood Falls. It took us around 9 hours. We ended up camping off of the Basswood portage on the Canadian side. We didn’t have a permit but it was late and the campsite unoccupied so…. We paddled the next day to an excellent campsite on Crooked Lake about a mile or less past Painted Rock. Perfect campsite. All of the sites at basswood falls were taken by forest service workers fighting the Horse River fire. I’ll note that almost all of the campsites from the Falls to Wednesday Bay were taken by mid afternoon. So get there early!!!
Fishing was a 6 out of ten—meager at best. But the weather was perfect and NO BUGS!!!
It will be a very tiring journey from Mudro to the Basswood area — so have your water sources ready and food/snacks available for energy.
Fun to be able to fish in Canada and MN within minutes of each other.
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