BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
July 03 2025
Entry Point 1 - Trout Lake
Trout Lake entry point allows overnight paddle or motor (25 HP max). This entry point is supported by La Croix Ranger Station near the city of Cook, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 30 miles. Access from LakeVermilion via 60-rod canoe portage or 180-rod portage that allows the use of portage wheels. This area was affected by blowdown in 1999.
Number of Permits per Day: 12
Elevation: 1381 feet
Latitude: 47.9144
Longitude: -92.3220
Trout Lake - 1
Number of Permits per Day: 12
Elevation: 1381 feet
Latitude: 47.9144
Longitude: -92.3220
Trout Lake - 1
Milestones in the BWCA
by patatcso
Trip Report
Entry Date:
August 07, 2010
Entry Point:
Brule Lake
Number of Days:
7
Group Size:
3
Trip Introduction:
I had planned to celebrate my 50th birthday in the BWCA with my three sons - Patrick (26), Nick (23), and Ethan (20). Unfortunately, Nick has a new job and he cannot make it but 50 won't wait and two out of three ain't bad.
Day 1 of 7
Saturday, August 07, 2010[paragraph break] The weather forecast for the week of our trip is warm with a chance of rain each day. The highest chance is for our first day (60%) so I have placed the rain gear at the top of the clothes pack. The kind folks at Sawbill Outfitters, where we are picking up our three man canoe, told me that the bugs were light this year which is very good news. Last year, on our July trip, they ate us alive. We figure to do a little tripping, a little star gazing, a little fishing and a little climbing. [paragraph break] We are trying several new things this year and the entry point is one of them. We picked Brule as our starting point since we heard there is more glacial effect there - one of the adjacent lakes is even named Cliff! We usually leave from entry point 38 - mainly because of the convenience of Sawbill Outfitters. Besides the new entry point, we are bringing our two year old Sheltie, Max, on his first trip and since we are sleeping in Hennessy Hammocks (also a first), I purchased a little doggie tent for Max. And finally, I figure with the three man canoe, no cooler, and some gear reduction, we should be able to single portage rather than our usual double.[paragraph break] So we leave Chicago at 6:00am for the long uneventful drive to Sawbill and arrive at about 5:00pm to watch the video and pick a campsite. Afterwards, I char some jumbo hot dogs on the fire grate and wash them down with a few cold drinks. During dinner, I try out the 16GB Zen mp3 player with the docking station that I picked up for the trip. It weighs .5 lb, sounds pretty good, and is supposed to have battery life for 16 hours. I keep it real low so as not to disturb the other campers and before long it is time to try out the new hammocks. 
Day 2 of 7
Sunday, August 08, 2010[paragraph break] Anticipation wakes us early and I am happy to report that the new hammocks are a pleasure to sleep in. It was a warm night - around 60 degrees I think - and I tried the hammock without the underpad at first, which was a mistake. It is too cold without the pad but once I slipped that underneath me, I was toasty. My back feels better than after a night in my own bed at home. I am not too sure that Max enjoyed his night in the pup tent. He was not happy to go into it and sprinted out of it this morning when I unzipped it but maybe it will just take a little getting used to.[paragraph break] Although it rained last night, we get a fire going quickly and have hot instant maple and brown sugar oatmeal plus coffee for breakfast. We clean up, pack up, and pick up the canoe for the gravel road drive to Brule. It is only about an hour's ride and the road is well marked which is good because Patrick and I can get lost going around the corner. Ethan declares that he is confident in his own navigation skills and we quickly elect him the 'Navigateur'. [paragraph break] At the landing, I am grateful for the calm. I have read that Brule can be pretty rough in even a light wind. Everything fits well into the canoe but Max doesn't seem too sure that this is my best idea. I, however, have anticipated his reluctance and saved one cooked jumbo hot dog just for him. I toss a piece of it into the canoe to entice him and he jumps after it without too much consideration. We face six portages today but if I get it right, this one hot dog should do it. We shove off from the entry point's gentle slope and dip our paddles into the big water on our way to Cone Bay. Brule's charm on the eastern half is heightened by numerous islands, points and bays. I foresee several adventures that might start here. [paragraph break] We portage and paddle through the South, Middle and North Cone lakes before crossing into Cliff and although all of the portages are rocky, North Cone to Cliff is the only difficult portage of the day. We make great time single portaging. My sons and I have found a real rhythm as we load and unload the canoe at each portage. Max is still tentative but the hot dog continues to lure him into the canoe at each landing. 
[paragraph break] There is a monster sheer cliff on Cliff, go figure, and Ethan makes a note of it for future climbing and rappelling. 
Next, we cross easily into Wanihigan and then finally into Winchell. Max is becoming more sure-footed. Once under way, he lays his head against the curve of the hull like it is an old pillow and catches some sleep. We have seen no other travelers so far (except some loons) and it is quite surprising to me. I guess Sunday is a pretty good day to start a trip if you are expecting to get a premium site. Heading east on Winchell, we pass another climbing opportunity and make note of it. Moving on, we are met by two Rangers who paddle over to check our permit. We ask them about a site just ahead in front of a little cove that I have read is quite nice. They indicate that it is indeed a great site and is currently open. All the sites on Winchell are on the north shore and the uninhabited hills to the south are covered in pine. Upon reaching our destination, we beach the canoe and gather at the fire grate to absorb the breathtaking view. I have been to the BWCA three times before and I think this site is my favorite. It can easily support a larger group than ours. 
[paragraph break]
[paragraph break] There is a monster sheer cliff on Cliff, go figure, and Ethan makes a note of it for future climbing and rappelling. Next, we cross easily into Wanihigan and then finally into Winchell. Max is becoming more sure-footed. Once under way, he lays his head against the curve of the hull like it is an old pillow and catches some sleep. We have seen no other travelers so far (except some loons) and it is quite surprising to me. I guess Sunday is a pretty good day to start a trip if you are expecting to get a premium site. Heading east on Winchell, we pass another climbing opportunity and make note of it. Moving on, we are met by two Rangers who paddle over to check our permit. We ask them about a site just ahead in front of a little cove that I have read is quite nice. They indicate that it is indeed a great site and is currently open. All the sites on Winchell are on the north shore and the uninhabited hills to the south are covered in pine. Upon reaching our destination, we beach the canoe and gather at the fire grate to absorb the breathtaking view. I have been to the BWCA three times before and I think this site is my favorite. It can easily support a larger group than ours. [paragraph break]
We hang the hammocks and set up Max's pup tent while sharing some summer sausage wrapped in tortillas. Then Ethan and I head out for a little fishing while Patrick collects and cuts firewood. Patrick loves the woods and is a great guy to have with you as your woodpile is never lacking although I am pretty sure he plans to sneak in a nap in the hammock as well. Max surprises us by jumping in the canoe as soon as he sees us loading our fishing gear - no hot dog. We paddle east, against the light wind, plunking Rapalas and Mepps spinners along the north shore. After an hour or so, we hear rushing rapids and draw the canoe up to investigate. Max suddenly jumps out of the canoe ahead of us, onto the rocks and into the woods, picking his steps like an old pro! We bushwhack our way through the woods and over the small rapids to two ponds. 
[paragraph break] Its pretty but there really isn't much access to the ponds so we trek back through the woods to the canoe and cross Winchell to try our luck on the south shore. The breeze carries us slowly west until we have to paddle back across to camp. Tonight, we cook up some Bear Creek Tortilla soup with foil packed chicken added. This is good stuff! It is supposed provide eight servings but three men and a dog do a pretty good job on it. Afterward, I enjoy some chilled wine (from a bag I sank earlier) and the boys have Crystal Lite lemonades with Smirnoff. There is cloud cover so no stars tonight. Once I corral Max into his tent it's hammock time for everyone. 
Day 3 of 7
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 ********** -We leave the cities at 730a. -Pick up permit at Isabella Ranger Station; nice lady there. -3 adults, 2 kids and 2 canoes put in at 34-Island River at mid-day. Picturesque locale; placid river… lily pads. -The river paddled easily; water was high enough, but flow was reasonable. -Gorgeous weather; blue sky, hot… but not too hot. -Run the 1st two (gentle) rapids. Portage the next 2 rapids; now everyone knows what its like to portage & to paddle up a wonderful river.
-Find campsite on Isabella; on west-end peninsula (island was taken); has plenty of room, cedar trees; eastward facing. -Wind is mild and out of west; bugs are bad. -My new Taj 3 sets up lickety-split. -Supper is ham and Asian noodles; so far, they like the cook.
-Hang my new Byer Amazon hammock; it is awesome! -Catch a largemouth and a pike; Skip catches pike; I let my pike go; other pike & largemouth escapes thru weaknesses in the fish pen (that Skip warned me about) that the kids completed. -Kids name resident chipmunk “Chippie”; we never feed him, but he must think he’ll find something; he’s there dawn & dusk. -Hang the bear ropes and the food; using 5-gal bucket for the food works SWEET! -Short campfire; too warm for long one. -Go to sleep giving Isaiah (my son) a long backrub; he can’t fall asleep.
Day 5 of 7
Tuesday, August 10, 2010[paragraph break] It's apples and cinnamon oatmeal with Tang for breakfast today. Then we take turns using the portable shower that I brought. I filled the bag yesterday and laid it on a rock in the sun before I hung it in the trees last night. The water is still pretty warm. With single portaging, we do not have many luxuries but this is one that I insisted upon and it is glorious. [paragraph break] We break camp before shoving off for Gaskin where I have heard the fishing is good. This is another lush lake with a lot of shoreline variation. I spy an island site ahead but the boys out-vote me and we take a site just east of the portage from Winchell as a man and his wife are leaving. They tell us it is a fantastic site - and they are right - and that you can catch smallmouth right from the shore - and the site was nice! 
[paragraph break] We try fishing from the shore of the site for a little bit with no luck.
[paragraph break] Ethan and I leave Patrick and Max at the site while we go fishing hoping to pick up some lunch. We get a couple of hits but it turns out that we must eat noodles of defeat and a little beef jerky. [paragraph break] Leaving Gaskin, we paddle towards Hensen and as soon as we portage in, we cross paths with a beaver swimming nose up towards his dam. We slow up to give him the right of way but he still slap slap slaps the water with his tail to let us know who is boss. [paragraph break]Moving on, we find an open site just across from the portage into the Otto Lakes and we stop to check it out. It looks small so we continue on to towards Omega, passing a group of six girls who tell us that only one small site in a bay is left open there. We consider dropping down into the Otto Lakes - and we should have - but decide against it and continue on to take the last open site on Omega. [paragraph break] This is a small site, just as we were told, plus it is a little buggy and a lot rocky. It has a very nice, if small, single tent pad that we don't need but would be nice for a small group of say two to four.
We quickly hang our hammocks while Max scours the shaded woodland floor for chipmunks. The unsuspecting rodents scurry from his fierce attacks until they are safely in the trees. Once there, they become sassy, chittering their taunts down on him. 
[paragraph break]I make Bear Creek vegetable beef soup for dinner - not so good but I might have rushed it a little. We do a little swimming and some fishing before we huddle around the smoky fire. 
It is another starless night but buried back in the trees as this site is, it probably wouldn't have mattered. Eventually, we settle into the hammocks for the night as Max patrols the camp. We continue to set up his pup tent just in case but he is happy to roam until he settles under one of the hammocks where I think he spends his whole night.
[paragraph break] We try fishing from the shore of the site for a little bit with no luck. [paragraph break] Ethan and I leave Patrick and Max at the site while we go fishing hoping to pick up some lunch. We get a couple of hits but it turns out that we must eat noodles of defeat and a little beef jerky. [paragraph break] Leaving Gaskin, we paddle towards Hensen and as soon as we portage in, we cross paths with a beaver swimming nose up towards his dam. We slow up to give him the right of way but he still slap slap slaps the water with his tail to let us know who is boss. [paragraph break]Moving on, we find an open site just across from the portage into the Otto Lakes and we stop to check it out. It looks small so we continue on to towards Omega, passing a group of six girls who tell us that only one small site in a bay is left open there. We consider dropping down into the Otto Lakes - and we should have - but decide against it and continue on to take the last open site on Omega. [paragraph break] This is a small site, just as we were told, plus it is a little buggy and a lot rocky. It has a very nice, if small, single tent pad that we don't need but would be nice for a small group of say two to four. We quickly hang our hammocks while Max scours the shaded woodland floor for chipmunks. The unsuspecting rodents scurry from his fierce attacks until they are safely in the trees. Once there, they become sassy, chittering their taunts down on him. [paragraph break]I make Bear Creek vegetable beef soup for dinner - not so good but I might have rushed it a little. We do a little swimming and some fishing before we huddle around the smoky fire. It is another starless night but buried back in the trees as this site is, it probably wouldn't have mattered. Eventually, we settle into the hammocks for the night as Max patrols the camp. We continue to set up his pup tent just in case but he is happy to roam until he settles under one of the hammocks where I think he spends his whole night.
Day 7 of 7
Friday, June 26, 2009********** -Beautiful day… even calmer and warmer than yesterday. -Learn new card game from Skip… “President Scum”; a VERY kid-minded game.
-We plan day trip to other end of lake & up Perent River; set out in late morning. -Isaiah doesn’t feel so well; is “tired”. Doesn’t paddle much as we cross Isabella. -After portaging to Boca, Sai says he’d like to go back; Scott, Becky and Skip continue on… I paddle Isaiah back to camp. -My son and I take long nap in side-by-side hammocks; divine.
-S-B-S return from trip, happy, hungry & THIRSTY; I had the water filter. :( -Isaiah feels better. -I paddle alone to fish; catch nothing. -Kids learn how to hang in hammocks… upside down. -Supper is chicken wild rice soup… and side dish of buttered rice; they still like the cook.
-Very calm evening; at dusk, bugs are everywhere. Not biting bad… damselflies by the thousands, dragonflies, etc, etc. -After dusk… bugs gone… calm; nice… very nice. -In the tent, I think to myself “could there BE any more sand in a tent? Sheesh! Perhaps I should buy an innie.”
Day 9 of 7
Thursday, August 12, 2010 [paragraph break] We are up before the rooster crows, eager to start our last adventure for this trip. It is already a warm day. Since this is the first day we travel with less than full gear (just the fishing poles plus the cooking supplies we hope we will need) getting organized is a breeze at the large Sawbill landing. Max entertains a couple of little kids and their Mom for a few minutes and then he jumps into his spot in the canoe as we each slip in. We get a few strokes from shore before I realize we forgot the fillet knife so we turn back and Patrick makes a run to camp to get it.[paragraph break] We quickly cross Sawbill and find the portage into Alton. There are lots of people about now and we have to wait at the portage as a group of nine men cross from Alton into Sawbill. I had heard that there was good fishing off the point that leads out into Alton right from the portage so we break out the portable depth finder and try for some Walleye without luck.[paragraph break] As we paddle towards the portage from Alton to Kelso, we spy the site that Patrick and I stayed at in 2007 and snap a picture of it with its current occupants. It is a beauty with an elevated open area for multiple tents and a sandy beach off the west side. 
[paragraph break] The portage into Kelso is so short and flat that we just grab each end of the canoe and carry it over. Paddling smoothly, we pass the entrance to the Kelso river and glide north for the furthest bay. The last site on Kelso is empty and we drop Patrick and Max with the gear so they can collect wood and prep the fire grate. Ethan and I begin fishing under the watchful eye of Max who doesn't seem to like being left out of the canoe.
[paragraph break] We are deep in the little cove and in no time we have a couple of small Northerns on the stringer. As we move out of the cove we hook a couple more - larger this time - and paddle over to shore to start lunch. 
All week we have been eating dehydrated food and and most of it wasn't bad but this lunch is special. None of us had been looking forward to a lunch of just the parmesan noodles that I brought along but with the filleted, breaded and pan-fried fish as an entre, they are now declared 'Victory Noodles'.[paragraph break] Once we clean up, we pack up and paddle towards the Kelso river while taking nips from the Vodka as we glide along. The Kelso River is mostly a wetlands, rich in wildlife. All of the BWCA that I have seen is beautiful but this really feels like canoe country to me - like we are a part of it, not just spectators. We three paddle in alternating unison, confident in our measure. Silently passing a small flock of geese, they seem to accept our presence as if they can read my thoughts. [paragraph break] Further on, there is a giant boulder that we couldn't resist getting a photo of. 
[paragraph break] From there it is a short portage back into Sawbill and then an easy paddle to the big landing, completing the circuit by 5:00 pm. After we pack up, we check in with the Outfitter to return the canoe and grab some showers before making camp for our last night. The card game, music from the mp3 player still surprisingly alive, and cigars were great!
[paragraph break] The portage into Kelso is so short and flat that we just grab each end of the canoe and carry it over. Paddling smoothly, we pass the entrance to the Kelso river and glide north for the furthest bay. The last site on Kelso is empty and we drop Patrick and Max with the gear so they can collect wood and prep the fire grate. Ethan and I begin fishing under the watchful eye of Max who doesn't seem to like being left out of the canoe. [paragraph break] We are deep in the little cove and in no time we have a couple of small Northerns on the stringer. As we move out of the cove we hook a couple more - larger this time - and paddle over to shore to start lunch. All week we have been eating dehydrated food and and most of it wasn't bad but this lunch is special. None of us had been looking forward to a lunch of just the parmesan noodles that I brought along but with the filleted, breaded and pan-fried fish as an entre, they are now declared 'Victory Noodles'.[paragraph break] Once we clean up, we pack up and paddle towards the Kelso river while taking nips from the Vodka as we glide along. The Kelso River is mostly a wetlands, rich in wildlife. All of the BWCA that I have seen is beautiful but this really feels like canoe country to me - like we are a part of it, not just spectators. We three paddle in alternating unison, confident in our measure. Silently passing a small flock of geese, they seem to accept our presence as if they can read my thoughts. [paragraph break] Further on, there is a giant boulder that we couldn't resist getting a photo of. [paragraph break] From there it is a short portage back into Sawbill and then an easy paddle to the big landing, completing the circuit by 5:00 pm. After we pack up, we check in with the Outfitter to return the canoe and grab some showers before making camp for our last night. The card game, music from the mp3 player still surprisingly alive, and cigars were great!
Day 10 of 7
Friday, August 13, 2010[paragraph break] We want to hit the road at 6:00 am so we break camp at 5:00 and pack it all back in the van. One last photo to remember the trip by and we are on the road. 
[paragraph break]I think I will turn 50 again next year.
[paragraph break]I think I will turn 50 again next year.
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