BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 19 2024
Entry Point 16 - Moose/Portage River (North of Echo Trail)
Moose/Portage River (north) entry point allows overnight paddle only. This entry point is supported by La Croix Ranger Station near the city of Ely, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 27 miles. Access is a 160-rod portage heading North from the Echo Trail.
Number of Permits per Day: 5
Elevation: 1348 feet
Latitude: 48.1230
Longitude: -92.0991
A favorite route offering many trip options and memorable things to see including;
World Class fishing for all four BWCA Species
Pictographs
Soaring granite hills and cliffs
Small lakes
Small rivers
Tumbling rapids and waterfalls
Wildlife, including Moose
Vistas from high points across the region if you're willing to climb. Rating Easy to Moderate. Day One. Get to EP16 off of the Echo Trail early. The initial portage is long, but well worn and smooth, sloping gently downgrade to the launch area. Load your canoe and head North. You'll be paddling with the slight current on this narrow winding river. The water is clear and make sure to tell the bowperson to watch for looming rocks!
Number of Permits per Day: 5
Elevation: 1348 feet
Latitude: 48.1230
Longitude: -92.0991
A favorite route offering many trip options and memorable things to see including;
World Class fishing for all four BWCA Species
Pictographs
Soaring granite hills and cliffs
Small lakes
Small rivers
Tumbling rapids and waterfalls
Wildlife, including Moose
Vistas from high points across the region if you're willing to climb. Rating Easy to Moderate. Day One. Get to EP16 off of the Echo Trail early. The initial portage is long, but well worn and smooth, sloping gently downgrade to the launch area. Load your canoe and head North. You'll be paddling with the slight current on this narrow winding river. The water is clear and make sure to tell the bowperson to watch for looming rocks!
Mudro 2020 Fishing/Relaxing
by Hueyav8r
Trip Report
Entry Date:
August 21, 2020
Entry Point:
Mudro Lake
Exit Point:
Mudro Lake (23)
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
2
Trip Introduction:
This trip was originally planned in late 2019 for our my Wilderness Club. We planned for eight people to go. Had a pretty robust trip planned. After the concerns with Covid-19 happened my club cancelled their plans for the summer due to liability concerns. Since we had this trip planned and the entry reserved we decided to make it a private trip. Our group of eight went to four. My coleader had some conflicts and had to back out. Soon our trip was down to two.
My paddle partner Janice I knew from our wilderness club. She enjoys the outdoors and is an avid fisherman. She was hoping the trip would still happen, she had been to the BWCA twice before and was looking forward to a week of relaxing and fishing.
Part 1 of 4
I was in Ely in July taking my granddaughters to a YMCA camp I found called Camp du Nord. We had a week of cabin camping and a day trip to see the pictographs on Hagman Lake (that will be another story). But when I rented a tandem canoe from Voyageur North, John at VNorth helped me plan a new route that was designed for Janice fishing and me relaxing (I don’t fish). Planned two camp locations with two nights in each. 
~Mudro Lake 
~Mudro Lake
Part 2 of 4
When arriving at the Outfitter (Voyageur North) found out that part of our trip which was over a few beaver dams was impassable. Our route was taking us on the west side of Mudro up to Fourtown lake, Boot lake and stay in Gun lake. Mudro was low, we had to portage and then walk our canoe until we reached deep enough water to paddle. Even then we had to push our way through the mud and sand.
The first two portages labeled as rocky and hilly were just that. They were challenging especially since I wasn’t in as good as shape I have been in the past. I’ll blame quarantine lifestyle and the gyms being closed (lol). When we make it to Fourtown lake we paddled into a head wind. After our portage onto Boot Lake we decided to find a camp site and not try to make it to Gun that day. I like to find a place around 2:00 or 3:00. I’ve seen too many paddlers looking for a place in the early evening and not have much luck. We found a nice site on Boot lake and set up camp. Janice headed out to fish, I set up my hammock. Dinner that night was steak, potatoes and green beens. I try to have that the first night in the BWCA. Shows my backpacking friends that canoeist east better. My surprise was Janice caught her first walleye and a nice bass. She fried them and ate them also. We were stuffed. Figured neither would keep for the next day. We had a visitor that night, guess it smelled our cooking. At first I thought it was fox but later realized it must have been a coyote. The problem it would stay away. Finally it did, but that was a first. The following morning the water was like glass. I needed a day to relax after the previous day. 
~Mudro Lake, Fourtown Lake, Boot Lake
Part 3 of 4
A little rain the second night but I slept great. We packed up and were heading over to Horse Lake via Fourtown lake. The water was low and a couple areas were rock beds. These were non portage portages. Had to find our way over the shore and some ankle breaker rocks. Make our way to Horse lake and found a fantastic camp site. Unfortunately the campers before must not believe (or know) anything about Leave No Trace. There was a trench dug around a tent the night before. The trench was new, plus they cleared out all the pine needles under the tent. Before I left, I was able to undo most of it. While we were at this site, a couple groups stopped by to see how long we would be there. Guess this was a popular spot, it had room for multiple tents. Our time at this site included, fishing, solo paddling and of course relaxing. The second night as we were planning to head out in the morning it rained a second time. Very little rain, but just enough to make sure we packed up everything wet. 
~Boot Lake, Fourtown Lake, Horse Lake
~Boot Lake, Fourtown Lake, Horse Lake
Part 4 of 4
As we headed south on Horse towards Mudro one group from the day before saw us on the water and took one of their canoes and headed up to our former camp site. My guess they’ve been there before and really wanted it. The weather was overcast but the rain stopped. We made it to Mudro in just a couple hours. As we approached the stream to parking. There were a two boats with with two guys each ahead of us. They kept getting stuck and when they decided to portage the rest of the way they ended up in knee deep muck. They pointed to us a sandy spot in the steam. We utilized it but got out the same location. A little longer portage back to our car. After our portages on day one, this was nothing. But it was nice to have my own car there and not have to worry about a shuttle. The trip was great, weather was fine. Mission accomplished on the fishing and relaxing. The only thing that’s always difficult is the drive back to central Indiana. The two day drive seems forever. Now I’m thinking about next years trip. 
~Horse Lake, Mudro Lake
~Horse Lake, Mudro Lake
Lakes Traveled:
Horse Lake,
Mudro Lake,
discuss this trip report (3 comments) - last post on September 03, 2020