BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
July 13 2025
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.
Mudro - Jackfish Bay - Basswood River - Crooked - Gun - Mudro
by cyclones30
Trip Report
Entry Date:
August 17, 2014
Entry Point:
Mudro Lake
Number of Days:
7
Group Size:
4
Trip Introduction:
We've been planning this trip for a while, it was the first
ever for my wife of one month and first in 9 years (too long)
for my brother, father, and myself. We rented MN II canoes and
got food thru VNO, otherwise brought our own gear.
Day 1 of 11
Sunday, August 17, 2014 This is my first ever trip report, hopefully it goes well... After staying the night at the VNO bunkhouse (nice and convenient) we got a good breakfast at Brittons, and were packed and putting in at Mudro around 8am. We saw a moose in the road on our drive up! First ever for 3 of us. Our goal was to make it at least into the no-motor section of Jackfish Bay for night one and see how things were going since the mile portage around the upper falls loomed.
Things went well for the first small lakes but the wind was getting stronger out of the NE which wasn’t good for Jackfish Bay. Dreading what we’d see when we got there, we were delighted to have a slight headwind but no huge rollers. We got lunch at a nice beach site and then started looking for a site for the night on the “whale island” but both were taken. We got one just to the NW and set up. We also noticed my dad (who always has his watch) forgot it so our only way to tell time were our 2 way radios with weatherband. Glad we had those, but it was also nice to not know what time it was :) 
Mudro Lake, Sandpit Lake, Basswood Lake
Lakes Traveled:
Mudro Lake,
Sandpit Lake,
Basswood Lake,
Day 4 of 11
Monday, August 18, 2014 Woke up to a lot of fog and haze (common theme this week) and got the long portage out of the way while picking blueberries along the way. My wife wanted to try carrying the canoe so she got it on the following 2 portages which ended up being 2 of the harder for their length. She did extremely well. Lunch below lower falls was good. Mist turned to light rain by the time we saw the picto’s and then harder rain by table rock. We were looking for sites but didn’t like what we’d seen to that point. We ended up in the Wed. Bay area and wet. Good thing I ordered a CCS tarp a month ago. 
Basswood Lake, Crooked Lake
Basswood Lake, Crooked Lake
Day 7 of 11
Tuesday, August 19, 2014 Our goal was to get a site between Thurs and Fri Bays, we ended up at the one on the north end of Friday Bay on the island. Wednesday was supposed to be dry so we stayed an extra day here to dry out, relax, and fish. Good decision. 
Crooked Lake
Crooked Lake
Day 9 of 11
Wednesday, August 20, 2014 We stayed at the same site and enjoyed our one partially sunny day for the week. Went for a swim and was able to get everything dried out on the rocks/line. 
Day 11 of 11
Thursday, August 21, 2014 Our goal was to get at least to Gun if not Fairy/Boot. Made it to the long Wagosh-Gun portage around 8 or 9 and had a good site on Gun by 10:30 or so. Fishing was downright slow on Gun which was a change but not unexpected. 
Crooked Lake, Niki Lake, Chippewa Lake, Wagosh Lake, Gun Lake
Crooked Lake, Niki Lake, Chippewa Lake, Wagosh Lake, Gun Lake
Day 12 of 11
Friday, August 22, 2014 Get to Fourtown early to get a site so we’d have a short trip on Sat. morning to get picked up at 10 at Mudro. We got to a nice site before 10 just as the previous group was packing up and they let us claim it, which was great because many other groups came by and asked the same thing while we were there. Fishing was verrrry slow during the day Friday and then picked up in the evening which was nice.
Fairy Lake, Boot Lake, Fourtown Lake
Day 14 of 11
Saturday, August 23, 2014 Not much besides the roughest portages of the whole trip. We got out around 10:10 (I think) and said our goodbyes to the wilderness for now. When we were loading the van at Mudro, I did see a maroon Saturn Ion with a Kevlar and flying moose onboard. Our driver was ready to go so I didn’t get to chat but hope you’re having a good trip right now! (whoever you are)
Fourtown Lake, Mudro Lake
discuss this trip report (5 comments) - last post on November 07, 2014