BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 25 2024
Entry Point 39 - Baker Lake
Baker 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 26 miles. Access is a boat landing at Baker Lake with a 10-rod portage into Peterson Lake to reach first campsite. This area was affected by blowdown in 1999.
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.
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.
Father & son on Vern
by superzimm
Trip Report
Entry Date:
June 22, 2012
Entry Point:
Homer Lake
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
2
Trip Introduction:
I have lived around Cloquet MN. my entire life, and began making trips to the BW's as a teen. My 23 year old son moved to Florida almost 2 years ago now, and when he called this winter and suggested making a trip up this summer, I jumped at the chance! I kind of let things slip, as to making reservations early on, and when I finally did, my first two entry points were full the day we planned on going. So I chose EP40, going in on Homer lake.
Report
Entered Homer lake (EP40) on June 22. Just days after the 500 year flood around home (Cloquet, Carlton, Duluth). Glad we made it up there without any real trouble. Easy paddle across Homer and we chose to take the creek to Vern. No problem! Checked out the 1st of two sites on Vern (NE site).....not real good and quite wet. We continued on to the other site on the SW side of the lake. Perfect! I'd give it a 4 out 5. Nice rocky slope, pretty big tent pad, and actually had 3 pads you could use. Also some well placed logs and flatter rocks you can use. We both felt it was the best site on the lake by far. 
The lake offered up quite a bit of wildlife.....ducks, turtles, golden eagles, and MANY beavers!!! 
The waters were very calm while we were there, and fishing was fair. We caught smallmouth, a few walleyes, and quite a few little northern's. 
We grilled ribeyes over the fire the first night. Can you smell them cooking? 
The beavers had houses everywhere on the lake and river. They had built a dam on the river where the water dropped about 5 feet. 
We paddled up to the portage into Juno, and what a great sight! Here are a few photo's of the dam, falls and a great one looking down from Juno into Vern. 
And the sunsets were breathtaking! All in all a wonderful trip with my son. This is what memories are made of folks! 
The lake offered up quite a bit of wildlife.....ducks, turtles, golden eagles, and MANY beavers!!! The waters were very calm while we were there, and fishing was fair. We caught smallmouth, a few walleyes, and quite a few little northern's. We grilled ribeyes over the fire the first night. Can you smell them cooking? The beavers had houses everywhere on the lake and river. They had built a dam on the river where the water dropped about 5 feet. We paddled up to the portage into Juno, and what a great sight! Here are a few photo's of the dam, falls and a great one looking down from Juno into Vern. And the sunsets were breathtaking! All in all a wonderful trip with my son. This is what memories are made of folks!
discuss this trip report (4 comments) - last post on July 08, 2012