BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
July 01 2025
Entry Point 39 - Baker Lake
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.
Trout Lake Base Camping
Entry Date:
May 27, 2025
Entry Point:
Trout Lake
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
1
Kayak - Perception Sound 10.5ft (45 lbs with nothing in it) Bags - 60L sea to summit Dry bag - This was tied to the back of my Kayak which has a nice cut out square area in the back which it fit into nicely. - 25 L Day pack - Put between my feet in the front of the Kayak - 20 L Food pack. - Placed behind my Kayak seat. - 2 Fishing Poles tucked on the insides of my kayak - 1 spare paddle also tucked on the inside of my Kayak. - Spill Bag - dry bag with rain gear and dry clothes incase of a capsize.
Day 1 - Tuesday - 4/27 - Picked up Permit from Ranger Station in Cook - Drove to Moccasin Point on Lake Vermillion Parked Car and dropped in to paddle across the lake. Took me about an 1 hour to paddle in my kayak from Moccasin Point to EP. 1. Just over 3 miles. When you arrive to EP. 1 you are greeted by a beautiful waterfall and an old submerged dock. - The Portage was short and a little up hill with one downed tree that I was able to step over comfortably. A few rocks but overall a very smooth portage. I did this it 2 trips. One with my 2 packs and 1 with my kayak and paddles. - From Portage Bay on Trout Lake I paddled about another 3 miles to an island Camp Site right off of Norway Point which I base camped from for the duration of the trip. One of the things I loved most was it had a great Fire pit area with several great sitting logs as well as a huge rock front porch that sloped down into the lake which was great for views and drying off on after a dip in the lake. All said and done it took me about 3.5 hours to get to my campsite from where I dropped in on Vermillion.
The Campsite also had a Latrine with a lid! The entry for canoes and kayaks was very nice just on the back south east side of the island. It also had a nice calm back bay to fish. If the wind was up and the waves were rolling on the main Trout Lake this would still be an okay spot to fish. Really enjoyed this campsite. Definitely room for 2, 2-3 person tents maybe more. Had a tough time finding trees to hang my food pack from but managed. I had a 50 ft rope that I ended up tying a rock to and throwing up and over a couple of branches and made it work.
Day 2 and 3 - Spent the days trolling, jigging, and casting spoons for lake trout. Unfortunately I struck out on this trip. It goes without saying that Trout lake is HUGE. I did have success with small mouth bass right off the back side of my campsite in the back bay area I mentioned above. Rocky bottoms and lots of cover from overhanging branches, bushes, and trees.
I also took breaks looking for lake trout and scouted some of the other campsites on trout lake for future trips.
Norway Point - Right behind my campsite and to the north around the point if you follow the coast line of Trout Lake there will be another campsite. It has a gravel driveway like entrance which made exiting my water craft super easy. Probably the best one I found on the lake that week. It was like someone built a gravel driveway for Canoes and kayaks. From there a trail leads to the left to an elevated camp area which is surrounded by tall trees. You still had some views but it definitely felt insulated from the wind. The bathroom was standard. Wouldn't mind staying here for future trips.
Sioux Pine Island I stopped at the southern most and northern most campsites on the Sioux pine island and would have stayed at either. Lots of room and maybe better trees for hanging food packs. Decent landings for Canoes or Kayaks as well. Okay latrines. Great Views. I would imagine the north site would have some decent fishing.
Cramer Island - on the East bay of the lake is Cramer Island. I stopped for a snack break here and scouted it out. It's on an exposed point with gorgeous views. Bathroom is okay. Small trails around part of the island with rocky shores that could be nice to fish from. The Fire pit area was okay, several downed trees from years past. Definitely wouldn't mind staying here if I had to. The views alone would make it a good stay. But the other sites I think would be more comfortable being less exposed.
Day 4 - Paddling out from Trout Lake - This was the roughest weather day where I experience the most chop of the entire week. It definitely required all of my focus paddling out. Once I reached the portage bay the water was MUCH calmer the rest of the way.
It was a Friday so Vermillion was MUCH busier that when I had entered. I stuck to the shore line and most boats steered clear of me once they saw me.
I definitely would go explore trout lake again. It is a big body of water and involved LOTS of paddling which I expected. Next trip I'd like to make it to the North arm of Trout lake and maybe 1 or 2 of the surrounding lakes like Orinack and Little Trout Lake for day trips. It is a lake which allows motor boats, but it never really bothered me or made it feel any less like the Boundary Waters to me. I only saw 2 other paddling groups from a distance the entire week.
