BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
July 15 2025
Entry Point 41 - Brule Lake
Brule 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 35 miles. Access is a boat landing at Brule Lake. Large lake with several campsites. This area was affected by blowdown in 1999.
Number of Permits per Day: 7
Elevation: 1847 feet
Latitude: 47.9261
Longitude: -90.6448
Brule Lake - 41
Number of Permits per Day: 7
Elevation: 1847 feet
Latitude: 47.9261
Longitude: -90.6448
Brule Lake - 41
Lake One loop to Snowbank
by CoffeeInTheWoods
Trip Report
Entry Date:
May 26, 2007
Entry Point:
Lake One
Exit Point:
Snowbank Lake Only (28)
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
2
Trip Introduction:
I apologize in advance as I am not much of a writer. This trip was originally supposed to be 4 members but ended up just as my brother-in-law and myself. The goal was to fill in some gaps in areas we have explored between the Ensign and Kek areas to the north and the Gabbro to Isabella areas to the south. If a few fish happened to jump into our boat along the way, that would be ok too. Weather on this trip was upper 60's to low 70's, light rain and clouds half of the trip. Water levels seemed average with water temp around 50-55. Fishing was slow.
Day 1 of 14
Saturday, May 26, 2007 Got a late start leaving St. Cloud and did not arrive at Lake One until about 1pm. It did not take long to unload and get on the water, a little adrenalin and a lot of anticipation go a long way. The weather is a little cloudy but the water is calm and makes for great paddling as we loop around the north end of Lake One. As we get off the second portage from Lake One to Lake Two we hit with a downpour that takes us by surprise. It only lasts about 5 minutes but we a are soaked through...good time to take a break. After we dry out a bit we move on through Lake two and find ourselves paddling into a headwind and decide to make camp on Lake Three as campsites look to be filling up quick.
Day 1 of 14
Sunday, May 27, 2007 We get moving fairly early this morning and grab a couple of granola bars for the road. Both of us are glad we waited out the wind last night as we are now moving across Lake Three and Four with a Tailwind. The portages along this stretch are pretty easy and don't really pose a challenge which is probably why it is so popular. Spemd some time fishing below the rapids below Hudson Lake and pick up a few Northerns but don't keep as they are a bit small and today is a travelling day. The rapids are beautifula dn seems like a good spot to take a break for a while. We end up making camp early just before the portage to Insula on hudson lake and spend the rest of the day fishing and exploring Hudson. Beautiful evening. 
Day 1 of 14
Monday, May 28, 2007 No rush again today. Taking kind of a relaxed pace on this trip compared to other, nice to slow it down a bit and do a little fishing and exploring as we go. First thing this morning we portage from Hudson into Insula and end up spending some time chatting with a couple in their 50's. I hope I am still making these trips for another 20 years. After the portage we set out across Insula as the wind picked up...luckily mostly from our backs. Insula is a big island studed beauty that we navigated quickly as we wanted to get the portage into Kianna over with today. That portage was just enough to finish us off for the day, not terrible but put together with the long windy paddle up Insula we were ready to make camp. Luckily Kianna is an awesome lake. One of my 2 favorites on this trip. Lovely cliffs, nice big White Pines (perfect for trying the new hammock), decent fishing...just what I look for. 
Day 3 of 14
Sunday, July 03, 2011. We have been planning this trip for over a year. The only thing we couldn't plan on was our departure time. My Boys play lacrosse and we didn't find out about their summer schedule until late. We changed our departure date from June 18th to July 6th. because of their games but still didn't know when we would finally leave. Big Al had a Tournament At Gettysburg College on July 4th weekend. Starting on Friday and ending on Sunday depending on how well they do. Well they lost their first three games so I thought they would be ready to leave on Saturday and we could make Milwaukee by Sunday night. They won their next four games and had to play in the finals on Sunday. They lost to a team from Boston and we are on the road. What the hell it is only a game right? Three of the trippers played in that final game and were saddened by the lose but happy to get under way. We had been packing for a month but still need more time to get everything in order. I had put a power point presentation together to get everybody on the same page, I wanted to make sure everybody had all the gear they need and that we didn't duplicate any thing. We needed camping gear and travel gear so it got a little complicated. The Boys had spent the last two weeks at Lacrosse Camps and had a pile of dirty clothes that needed to be cleaned at the last minute. All the planning I had done and all the importance of getting ready didn't sink in to the Boys who had other agendas. It was a very hectic weekend to say the least and I was ready to start my vacation! The group consisted of two adults and five junior members; Scott is my friend from work, Nick is my oldest son, age twenty one and his friend Dan, Big Al is my youngest son and his friends Brady and Mike, all seventeen years old. Everybody was ready to get going.[paragraph break]We left Frederick Maryland around 12:00 noon on Sunday July 3rd. Everything was going good until I felt a little hesitation in the drive train as we got into the Appalachians. I didn't notice it as a transmission problem but thought it to be a carburetor problem and nothing to worry about. I had the Suburban checked out before we left but she has a lot of road under her belt. As we rounded Pittsburgh she was having trouble climbing. I thought to myself that this is not the time to have transmission trouble but didn't want to worry the kids. It didn't take long before everybody realized that the transmission was going south as we were headed north. We struggled through Ohio and Indiana and finally died at South Bend Indiana. I thought that this was going to be a big enough city to get back on the road and realized I had to modify our plans. The only problem is that it is the forth of July weekend, and our entry date is July sixth. We limped into a motel and prayed! 
Day 3 of 14
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 Slept in once again, feels wierd, but oh so good. We set out this morning with the intention of making it to Disappointment lake and spending the night. As we head down through Adventure and spend some time searching for the monster Ahsub lake Smallies we decide that it is still so early we could make it out of Snowbank tonight and have a couple extra days at home to get some other things done. I would be just as happy spending the next day or two fishing but unfortunatly my bow man does not enjoy fishing as much as I do, so I don't press the issue and we head for Snowbank. We end up battling a headwind all down Disappointment and Parent but by the time we get done portaging to Snowbank the wind has died down. We have a nice paddle across Snowbank and I wait with the gear while my Bro hikes to get the car 4 miles away at the Lake One EP. Good trip overall, beautiful areas, but lots of people except for the Thomas and Kiana lakes area.
discuss this trip report (9 comments) - last post on September 23, 2011