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BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog

March 18 2024

Entry Point 50 - Cross Bay Lake

Cross Bay Lake entry point allows overnight paddle only. This entry point is supported by Gunflint Ranger Station near the city of Grand Marais, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 45 miles. Access is thru the Cross River with two portages to Ham Lake and a 24-rod portage to Cross Bay Lake. This area was affected by blowdown in 1999.

Number of Permits per Day: 3
Elevation: 1670 feet
Latitude: 48.0760
Longitude: -90.8222
Cross Bay Lake - 50

1st Trip with the kids - Cross River to Snipe Lake

by dbjerknes
Trip Report

Entry Date: June 18, 2020
Entry Point: Cross Bay Lake
Number of Days: 3
Group Size: 4

Trip Introduction:
Over Father's Day weekend my wife and I took our two kids on their first BWCA camping trip. This is a video of our adventure! YouTube link: https://youtu.be/c4yz4r0bCtw

Report


The video may tell the story better, but below is a small summary as well.

We drove up from Woodbury, MN Thursday morning, spent some time in Grand Marais, had Sven & Ole's Pizza, and headed out on the Gunflint Trail. We made it to Tuscarora Lodge & Canoe Outfitters by about 5:30pm, checked in, and settled into our Bunkhouse for the evening. The bunkhouse was nice and the separate restroom facilities were very nice.

We woke up at 6am Friday morning packed our stuff and headed over to the dining hall. We paid for the morning breakfast prior to heading out on our family adventure. The breakfast was very good and we left with full bellies. We hit the water on Cross River Entry Point 50 by about 8:30am. Our plan was to check out the southernmost campsite on Cross Bay Lake to see if it was available because of the better fishing and we were told it was a nice campsite. From Cross River, we went through Ham Lake. The location of the actual portage is incorrect on the two map brands that we had. It is much earlier than the rapids and what the map shows. When we finally got to Cross Bay Lake, we could see that the site where we wanted to be was occupied so we turned around and headed to Snipe Lake(our Plan B). After another portage, we made it to Snipe Lake and we had a little trouble finding the NW campsite because we got a little turned around. It's a pretty unique lake with lots of beauty. We finally arrived at our campsite a little after 12 noon. We set up a campsite and had a quick lunch. The site was beautiful and there was a steady breeze to keep most of the mosquitos away. Surprisingly, the black flies were not a problem at all for us. The worst thing about the site was that the fishing from the campsite was not the best, not one bite... We also tried canoeing around the lake and finally, we found a consistent spot where northern pike were biting. My son caught the first fish and he was very proud.

The next day we did a day trip over to Cross Bay Lake to try the fishing over there. We didn't have much luck, but I did catch a smallmouth bass. Full disclosure, we are not the best fishermen in the world :). When we got back we went for another peaceful swim off our campsite. That evening my son and I went fishing again and we spotted 3 bear cubs as we were canoeing. We did not see the mama bear, but I'm sure she was close by. They quickly ran up into the woods when they saw us. Overall, our kids did an amazing job and really enjoyed the beauty and being in the middle of the wilderness. They both said they'd like to go again next year. We lucked out on the weather as well, Mid 70's for highs and 50's for the lows with just a few sprinkles. We can't wait for the next trip! ~Ham Lake, Cross Bay Lake, Snipe Lake

 

Lakes Traveled:   Ham Lake, Cross Bay Lake, Snipe Lake,

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