BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
January 15 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.
Gabbro Trip
by Evenflow
Trip Report
Entry Date:
July 04, 2010
Entry Point:
Little Gabbro Lake
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
4
Trip Introduction:
5 day trip to Gabbro
Report
I finally had some time to get around to posting some pictures and a trip report from our trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota at the beginning of July. Initial plans for this years trip changed several times as well as people who could go along. It finally worked out and my friend Justin, my father, my fiancees brother Jeff and myself made the trek. We went to a different area this year than we have in years past so the fishing was not as good as it usually is, plus torrential rains in the days prior to our arrival did not help the fishing either. Nevertheless, we still managed to catch some nice fish; walleyes, smallies, northerns, and rock bass. We also enjoyed the awesome scenery, wildlife, and nature. This year was the first time we were able to find ripe blueberries and raspberries, which I thought was pretty neat as they were very abundant around our campsite. We also saw a lot of wildlife like waterfowl, eagles, deer, and even a couple ruffed grouse. Overall it was a successful trip, except for one mishap, Justin got to play surgeon on my fiancees brother (Jeff). Jeff caught a northern pike on a rapala with three sets of treble hooks with a firm hold on the fish, so he thought, he tried grabbing the lure with his bare hand and not a pair of pliers, and wouldn't you know it the northern thrashed, he ended up with a treble in his right thumb and also a treble in his index finger on his left hand with the northern still attached! Justin ended up cutting the lure from his left hand and they had to push the barb through on his thumb, the northern ended up as dinner. Jeff took it pretty well according to Justin and his fingers are now doing fine.
Myself with one of the bigger smallies I have ever caught. 
My dad with a good smallmouth. 
Walleyes! 
Justin with some walleyes (he should have some pics of some huge smallies if he ever uploads them) 
Northern...we didn't catch any monsters this trip. 
Blueberries and raspberries...second pic is a blueberries plant/bush. 
Golden Eye ducks (I think thats what they are) 
Snapping turtle 
Ruffed Grouse 
Scenery Pics 
discuss this trip report (9 comments) - last post on July 27, 2010