BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
June 30 2025
Entry Point 32 - South Kawishiwi River
Number of Permits per Day: 2
Elevation: 1201 feet
Latitude: 47.8419
Longitude: -91.6632
South Kawishiwi River - 32
Can we do a more difficult loop?
Entry Date:
May 30, 2025
Entry Point:
South Hegman Lake
Number of Days:
3
Group Size:
2
We dropped off a vehicle at Mudro and headed over to South Hegman. We were on the water shortly after 9:00. We settled in nicely and moved along up to the Picto's on North Hegman. 
From there we continued on to the Trease to Angleworm Portage. Now, I've done the Horse Portage, Gun Portage, Muskeg to Kiskidinna, Tuscarora to Missing Link, Seagull to JAP and a few others that consistantly make the worst portages in the BW list. A quick rating...1. Seagull to JAP; 2. Trease to Angleworm 3. Tuscarora to Missing LInk (in that direction).
The portage was longer than advertised, the swamp is hard to pick your way through. There's easily a dozen options of people trying to find higher ground or less mud...good luck, if you miss stepping on a log or grass patch, your calf to knee deep in muck. We arrived at Angleworm, put on some bug dope and had a quick lunch. We paddled straight into a strong headwind up Angleworm and made our wat to Gun Lake by 5:00. The 271 portage into Gull was a breeze. Every portage, even those around a mile in length felt easy for the rest of the trip. We camped on Gun Lake, site 1083. This is a 5 star site in my opinion. One of the best i've come across. 
After a kind of restless night, we awoke had some snacks and hit the water a little before 8:00. We stopped to check out the Pictos on Crooked. 
From there we made our way to Lower Basswood falls. It was roaring. ThE FOREST SERVICE WAS SET Up in camp 1548 as a base camp for fighting the Horse River Fire. When we eventually made our way into the Horse River we could hear chainsaws, from what I assume were cutting containment lines. 
Onwards to the Horse River. In all my years in the BW and trips up to Crooked, I've never been on the Horse River. As a former kayak racer, I always preferred paddling and we'd just jump on Basswood and fly up. In this case, to make what I felt like was the more difficult route, we chose the Horse River. Now I tell you that to tell you this...there are a number of rapids on the Horse, some marked on maps, some not. I don't know if they're paddlable under higher water or not. I also don't know if there are portages around these unmarked rapids or not. We came to them and they were a surprise and we opted to just wade and push/pull the canoe through. %2EJPG&name=TripReport">
HORSE lake was uneventful, other than more wind. It's a phenomenon that should really be studied - how it's possible that 90 plus percent of the time you'll be paddling into the wind in the BW. You can switch directions 4 times in a day and be paddling into the wind every time. Someone needs to study this.
The lakes between Horse and Mudro went by rather quickly and we exited. Stopped by the boathouse for a beer and burger, well for me, water and burger for my kid. Absolutely fantastic trip - I loved every minute of it.
After a kind of restless night, we awoke had some snacks and hit the water a little before 8:00. We stopped to check out the Pictos on Crooked. From there we made our way to Lower Basswood falls. It was roaring. The Forest Service was set up in camp 1548 as a base camp for fighting the Horse River Fire. When we eventually made our way into the Horse River we could hear chainsaws, from what I assume were cutting containment lines. Onwards to the Horse River. In all my years in the BW and trips up to Crooked, I've never been on the Horse River. As a former kayak racer, I always preferred paddling and we'd just jump on Basswood and fly up. In this case, to make what I felt like was the more difficult route, we chose the Horse River. Now I tell you that to tell you this...there are a number of rapids on the Horse, some marked on maps, some not. I don't know if they're paddlable under higher water or not. I also don't know if there are portages around these unmarked rapids or not. We came to them and they were a surprise and we opted to just wade and push/pull the canoe through. 
Horse lake was uneventful, other than more wind. It's a phenomenon that should really be studied - how it's possible that 90 plus percent of the time you'll be paddling into the wind in the BW. You can switch directions 4 times in a day and be paddling into the wind every time. Someone needs to study this.
The lakes between Horse and Mudro went by rather quickly and we exited. Stopped by the boathouse for a beer and burger, well for me, water and burger for my kid. Absolutely fantastic trip - I loved every minute of it.