BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
July 01 2025
Entry Point 30 - Lake One
Lake One entry point allows overnight paddle only. This entry point is supported by Kawishiwi Ranger Station near the city of Ely, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 21 miles. Access is a canoe landing at Lake One.
Number of Permits per Day: 13
Elevation: 1230 feet
Latitude: 47.9391
Longitude: -91.4792
My son Remy and I, and my friend Keith and his son Charlie put our canoes into Lake one at 9:30 Monday morning after dropping off a car at the Snowbank Lake landing. Lake One can be tricky to navigate. On our way to Lake Two we turned East too early and ended up paddling about a mile out of our way into a dead-end bay before we realized our mistake. We blamed the fact that Lake One was split between Fisher Maps #10 and #4 for our error. If the entire lake had been visible at once on a single map, we would not have made the wrong turn. Once we got back on course we portaged the 30 rods into a pond and then portaged the 40 rods into Lake Two. The weather was nice, and there was a bit of a tail wind out of the West. We stopped for lunch on the shore of Lake Two. After lunch we canoed through the North end of Lake Three and into Lake Four. We stopped for the night at a campsite on the West shore of Lake Four, just North of the channel heading toward Hudson Lake. We had to battle swarms of mosquitoes as we set up the tents. We then had a nice refreshing swim. Because we had brought steaks along for the first night, we didn't go fishing.
On Tuesday morning we had a bacon and eggs breakfast then packed up camp and headed out in our canoes. As we canoed past our campsite, we realized that Remy & I had left our hammocks pitched between trees. We landed again and quickly packed them up. Once again we had beautiful weather. We paddled East and completed 3 short portages before entering Hudson Lake. The 105 rod portage into Lake Insula was exhausting! Lake Insula is a large gorgeous lake broken up by multiple islands and penninsulas. We had lunch at a campsite on a large island just East of Hudson Lake. It felt like we had a tail wind as we were heading East, and then as we turned North it seemed like the wind shifted and was at our backs once again. We navigated Lake Insula flawlessly and camped for the night on the island just West of Williamson Island. After setting up the tents and a refreshing swim, Remy & I got back into the canoe and tried to catch some fish. We had no luck! At 9PM that night, just as we were going to bed, a thunderstorm rolled through. That night I was awakened several times by the loud croaking of bullfrogs from the shallows around our island. What noisy neighbors!
By Wednesday morning the weather had cleared, but the wind was now coming from the Northwest, pretty much in our faces. We paddled to the North end of Lake Insula and tackled the largest portage of our trip. The 180 rod walk to Kiana Lake actually seemed easier than the 105 rod carry into Lake Insula. We headed onward into Thomas Lake where we really started feeling the headwind. We finally made it to the campsite just Northeast of the portage into Thomas Pond in time for lunch. After lunch we proceeded across Thomas Pond and into Thomas Creek after hiking across the famous Kekekabic Trail. We managed to easily run the rapids in Thomas Creek and avoid the 2 short portages. We camped for the night on Hatchet Lake at the northern campsite. It was cool and windy, so we didn't swim. There was lots of threatening weather going by to the North of us, but we stayed dry. After supper we canoed back to Thomas Creek to fish and look for moose. No luck on either count, but we did see a beaver swimmming.
The weather was nice again Thursday morning, but the wind was out of the West which was the direction we were heading. We portaged into Ima Lake and canoed across it. Before portaging into Jordan Lake, we watched a bald eagle sitting in a tree get harrassed repeatedly by a seagull. The narrow channel leading into Jordan Lake is quite beautiful. It is narrow like a river with big rock outcroppings. We paddled across Jordan, Cattyman, Adventure, and Jitterbug Lakes. We found the Eastern campsite on Ahsub Lake taken, so we camped at the Western campsite which had a great place for swimming in front of it. There was a very brave loon in front of the campsite who didn't seem to mind if we got close to it. We tried our luck at fishing, but only caught 1 smallmouth which was too small to eat. Between 5:00 and 7:30 that evening we saw a number of canoes heading across Ahsub Lake from Disappointment Lake to Jitterbug Lake. We weren't sure where they were planning to camp, but it was getting late.
On Friday we awoke again to good weather. We paddled the length of Disappointment Lake and portaged into to Parent Lake and then on to Snowbank Lake. It was July 4th, and as we entered Snowbank Lake the sounfd of firecrackers reminded us we weren't in the wilderness anaymore. After a brief splash war on our way across Snowbank, we made it to the landing and our car was still there. What a great trip!
Number of Permits per Day: 13
Elevation: 1230 feet
Latitude: 47.9391
Longitude: -91.4792
My son Remy and I, and my friend Keith and his son Charlie put our canoes into Lake one at 9:30 Monday morning after dropping off a car at the Snowbank Lake landing. Lake One can be tricky to navigate. On our way to Lake Two we turned East too early and ended up paddling about a mile out of our way into a dead-end bay before we realized our mistake. We blamed the fact that Lake One was split between Fisher Maps #10 and #4 for our error. If the entire lake had been visible at once on a single map, we would not have made the wrong turn. Once we got back on course we portaged the 30 rods into a pond and then portaged the 40 rods into Lake Two. The weather was nice, and there was a bit of a tail wind out of the West. We stopped for lunch on the shore of Lake Two. After lunch we canoed through the North end of Lake Three and into Lake Four. We stopped for the night at a campsite on the West shore of Lake Four, just North of the channel heading toward Hudson Lake. We had to battle swarms of mosquitoes as we set up the tents. We then had a nice refreshing swim. Because we had brought steaks along for the first night, we didn't go fishing.
On Tuesday morning we had a bacon and eggs breakfast then packed up camp and headed out in our canoes. As we canoed past our campsite, we realized that Remy & I had left our hammocks pitched between trees. We landed again and quickly packed them up. Once again we had beautiful weather. We paddled East and completed 3 short portages before entering Hudson Lake. The 105 rod portage into Lake Insula was exhausting! Lake Insula is a large gorgeous lake broken up by multiple islands and penninsulas. We had lunch at a campsite on a large island just East of Hudson Lake. It felt like we had a tail wind as we were heading East, and then as we turned North it seemed like the wind shifted and was at our backs once again. We navigated Lake Insula flawlessly and camped for the night on the island just West of Williamson Island. After setting up the tents and a refreshing swim, Remy & I got back into the canoe and tried to catch some fish. We had no luck! At 9PM that night, just as we were going to bed, a thunderstorm rolled through. That night I was awakened several times by the loud croaking of bullfrogs from the shallows around our island. What noisy neighbors!
By Wednesday morning the weather had cleared, but the wind was now coming from the Northwest, pretty much in our faces. We paddled to the North end of Lake Insula and tackled the largest portage of our trip. The 180 rod walk to Kiana Lake actually seemed easier than the 105 rod carry into Lake Insula. We headed onward into Thomas Lake where we really started feeling the headwind. We finally made it to the campsite just Northeast of the portage into Thomas Pond in time for lunch. After lunch we proceeded across Thomas Pond and into Thomas Creek after hiking across the famous Kekekabic Trail. We managed to easily run the rapids in Thomas Creek and avoid the 2 short portages. We camped for the night on Hatchet Lake at the northern campsite. It was cool and windy, so we didn't swim. There was lots of threatening weather going by to the North of us, but we stayed dry. After supper we canoed back to Thomas Creek to fish and look for moose. No luck on either count, but we did see a beaver swimmming.
The weather was nice again Thursday morning, but the wind was out of the West which was the direction we were heading. We portaged into Ima Lake and canoed across it. Before portaging into Jordan Lake, we watched a bald eagle sitting in a tree get harrassed repeatedly by a seagull. The narrow channel leading into Jordan Lake is quite beautiful. It is narrow like a river with big rock outcroppings. We paddled across Jordan, Cattyman, Adventure, and Jitterbug Lakes. We found the Eastern campsite on Ahsub Lake taken, so we camped at the Western campsite which had a great place for swimming in front of it. There was a very brave loon in front of the campsite who didn't seem to mind if we got close to it. We tried our luck at fishing, but only caught 1 smallmouth which was too small to eat. Between 5:00 and 7:30 that evening we saw a number of canoes heading across Ahsub Lake from Disappointment Lake to Jitterbug Lake. We weren't sure where they were planning to camp, but it was getting late.
On Friday we awoke again to good weather. We paddled the length of Disappointment Lake and portaged into to Parent Lake and then on to Snowbank Lake. It was July 4th, and as we entered Snowbank Lake the sounfd of firecrackers reminded us we weren't in the wilderness anaymore. After a brief splash war on our way across Snowbank, we made it to the landing and our car was still there. What a great trip!
Granite River to Big Sag
by BananaHammock
Trip Report
Entry Date:
August 19, 2012
Entry Point:
Magnetic Lake
Exit Point:
Saganaga Lake Only (55A)
Number of Days:
7
Group Size:
2
Trip Introduction:
This was myself, and a friend's first trip to the Boundary Waters.
Day 1 of 7
Sunday, August 19, 2012 Gunflint Lake, Magnetic Lake, Clove Lake, Larch Lake Our adventure began when we left Northern IL at 3:30am the previous day to the tune of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. 10 hours later we found ourselves in the town of Grand Marais at Gunflint Tavern for a quick burger and beer before we headed up the Gunflint trail to our destination, Gunlint Lodge on Gunflint Lake. That night we both only slept about an hour in the camper cabins. The walls were paper thin and we could hear people being loud all night, and we were also too excited to sleep. That morning at 7am we loaded up our two man canoe and shoved off onto the picturesque scenery of Gunflint Lake. The weather this morning was about 50ºF partly cloudy and warming quickly. We paddled at a moderate pace across Gunflint and Magnetic Lake, taking in our first sights of Boundary water. We were wildly excited as we video taped our first footage, commenting, "To our left, United States, to our right, Canada." As we neared our what we thought was our first portage, about 20 rods, we looked at the rapids and being a bit green, we decided to take the portage. As we were putting on our overpacked 90liter backpacks, a man and his son passed carelessly over the rapids we were portaging around. We looked at eachother and laughed, saying somthing like we have a lot to learn here. Moving on we were in awe of the giant boulders we could see threw the crystal clear water. Making our second portage "blueberry portage", we passed two groups and were a bit dissapointed not to find any blueberrys. I was hoping to find some to add to my pancakes. 
At this point I was having trouble matching the lay of the land with what I looking at on the maps we had. Turns out I was not so good at this, we ended up passing our next portage, 115rods, and "exploring" the dangerous waters that were marked on our map. We spent a good hour and a half trying to find our way, eventually finding our portage, which then became obvious where it was, asking ourselves, how the hell did we miss that? We made the portage into Clove Lake at about 2pm, our longest of the trip, and then began scouting camping sites. This was easy since there are only two and one was already taken. I did make the portage into Larch lake to see if an island site was taken, it was I went back with the news and we finshed setting up at the first site on Clove. After setting up our Hammocks and camp we did a little shoreline fishing and had a little sip of moonshine. It wasnt long before our slip bobbers were going under, pulling in the first smallmouth and pike of our trip. 
We fished until the sunset, and then made dinner. We fried up one of the small pikes we caught and I cooked what was the best steak I have had to this day. 2 20oz ribeyes seasoned and cooked right on the cast iron fire grates, along with cheddar potatoe soup. 
At this point I was having trouble matching the lay of the land with what I looking at on the maps we had. Turns out I was not so good at this, we ended up passing our next portage, 115rods, and "exploring" the dangerous waters that were marked on our map. We spent a good hour and a half trying to find our way, eventually finding our portage, which then became obvious where it was, asking ourselves, how the hell did we miss that? We made the portage into Clove Lake at about 2pm, our longest of the trip, and then began scouting camping sites. This was easy since there are only two and one was already taken. I did make the portage into Larch lake to see if an island site was taken, it was I went back with the news and we finshed setting up at the first site on Clove. After setting up our Hammocks and camp we did a little shoreline fishing and had a little sip of moonshine. It wasnt long before our slip bobbers were going under, pulling in the first smallmouth and pike of our trip. We fished until the sunset, and then made dinner. We fried up one of the small pikes we caught and I cooked what was the best steak I have had to this day. 2 20oz ribeyes seasoned and cooked right on the cast iron fire grates, along with cheddar potatoe soup.
Lakes Traveled:
Gunflint Lake,
Magnetic Lake,
Clove Lake,
Larch Lake,
Day 2 of 7
Monday, August 20, 2012 Gneiss Lake, Maraboeuf Lake After my first goodnight sleep in two days, I awoke at 6am to make breakfast, eggs and cheese wrapped in a tortilla, yum. We broke camp and were back in the canoe by 8:30. We made our way out of clove lake via a 48 rod portage. Clove lake to Gneiss lake was, in my opinion, the most beatiful section of the Granite river, despite the damage done by the Ham Lake fire. 
We were all about covering ground today so the fishing poles stayed tucked in the canoe. We then had a 72 rod, labeled swamp portage, which wasn't bad despite the name. Then a 32 rod into Gneiss Lake. We were hoping for an island site on Gneiss, but it was occupied so we continued on thru Devils Elbow. We pulled out the fishing poles and landed on the shore in the elbow and tried a little fishing. We were unsuccesful and some clouds began to move in and it threatened to rain. 
The mood changed quickly from carefree to panic, as the rain began to fall, we pulled out our rain gear and paddled quickly as we entered Maraboeuf Lake looking for a campsite. We passed the first site, which had few trees, and opted for the 2nd site on Maraboeuf that had plenty of trees and a very nice rock outcropping to pull our canoe up on. As rain still threatened we quickly set up camp and tarps, fearing the worst. Just as soon as we set up, the sun came out and we were back to blue skies. We quickly made some mountain house for lunch and decided to try our luck fishing. We canoed all over the lake with no luck, we did find this huge spider on a rock, aprox 4" long. 
We returned to the small bay next to our campsite and found a drop off from 10ft to 30ft and began catching smallmouth. Sean hooked a very large pike but it broke his line when we were trying to land it. He definatelly outfished me this day at least 4 to 1. 
We made dinner of fish and mountain house and broccoli soup as the light began to fade to dark, and then to the most spectacular sight you could see. The crystal clear sky was perfect for the viewing of stars and we even could see what i believe was Mars and Neptune. With no rain threatening, we took down our rain flys and slept under the starlit sky.
We were all about covering ground today so the fishing poles stayed tucked in the canoe. We then had a 72 rod, labeled swamp portage, which wasn't bad despite the name. Then a 32 rod into Gneiss Lake. We were hoping for an island site on Gneiss, but it was occupied so we continued on thru Devils Elbow. We pulled out the fishing poles and landed on the shore in the elbow and tried a little fishing. We were unsuccesful and some clouds began to move in and it threatened to rain. The mood changed quickly from carefree to panic, as the rain began to fall, we pulled out our rain gear and paddled quickly as we entered Maraboeuf Lake looking for a campsite. We passed the first site, which had few trees, and opted for the 2nd site on Maraboeuf that had plenty of trees and a very nice rock outcropping to pull our canoe up on. As rain still threatened we quickly set up camp and tarps, fearing the worst. Just as soon as we set up, the sun came out and we were back to blue skies. We quickly made some mountain house for lunch and decided to try our luck fishing. We canoed all over the lake with no luck, we did find this huge spider on a rock, aprox 4" long. We returned to the small bay next to our campsite and found a drop off from 10ft to 30ft and began catching smallmouth. Sean hooked a very large pike but it broke his line when we were trying to land it. He definatelly outfished me this day at least 4 to 1. We made dinner of fish and mountain house and broccoli soup as the light began to fade to dark, and then to the most spectacular sight you could see. The crystal clear sky was perfect for the viewing of stars and we even could see what i believe was Mars and Neptune. With no rain threatening, we took down our rain flys and slept under the starlit sky.
Lakes Traveled:
Gneiss Lake,
Maraboeuf Lake,
Day 3 of 7
Tuesday, August 21, 2012 I awoke at 5am this morning, after a fantastic night of sleep. I was a little slow getting up this morning as two days of canoeing and portaging were something i wasnt accostum to. A cup of coffee and two IbProfen later I was ready to go. The same could not be said for Sean, the night before he only slept a couple hours, so that was his 3rd day in a row with little or no sleep. I let him sleep and fished for about an hour. I decided to throw a crankbait i have had since I was a small boy and have never caught a fish on. I landed a nice 2# smallmouth moments after I began casting. At 8am, I packed up and started making breakfast as Sean was just waking up. After some coaxing and coffee, and IbProfen, i got Sean going and we were in the canoe at 9am heading out of Marabouef. 
We saw someone had taken the site we passed on the day before. We made good time to Horsetail Rapids portage, only stopping once to eat some trail mix and watch a bald eagle we spotted in a tree. Horsetail Rapids portage was a little sketchy in areas but was my favorite. At the end of the portage there was a tree down that was perfect for walking out on and getting a good look at the falls we portaged around, probably not the safest thing I did on the trip. 
Next was a short paddle to Saganaga Falls portage 39rods. 
We looked over two campsites on an island just after the falls. After passing on the first site, that was extremly windy and had a long walk to the latrine, we settle at the later. Just after we set up camp, we planned to fish. As I walked to the canoe a group of 2 passed by our island. The girl in the front of the canoe exclaimed, "There is a bear right there!" Pointing to the north shorline of our island. I quickly alerted Sean and asked her where exactly is it and she said it was not on shore but swimming away from the island. She probably thought I was crazy because I just said thank you and we decided since it left the island, the bear wanted nothing to do with us. We did hang our food high that night to be safe. We paddled out to fish shortly after and the bear was nowhere to be found. We paddled back to the falls and some luck catching a couple snake pike. Later, Sean took a long cast into a small shallow weedy bay with a spinner tied on, with a leader this time, and thats when things took an exciting turn. He hooked something big, I immediatelly grab the video camera, catching a full body out of the water jump from what ended up being a 40" pike. We released her quickly, as it was a hot day. We were both shaking from the expierence, this being the biggest fish(aside from salmon fishing) either of us had landed, and in a canoe was something to be proud of. We felt a little redemption from the big one that got off on Maraboeuf Lake. That night was another perfect night, mountain house food and a few sips of moonshine would finish off a perfect day! That night at 1am I awoke to the sound of giant footsteps near to where I was sleeping. I yelled at Sean, he heard them, but there was no telling what it was. Kind of makes me want to bring a deer cam on my next trip. 
We saw someone had taken the site we passed on the day before. We made good time to Horsetail Rapids portage, only stopping once to eat some trail mix and watch a bald eagle we spotted in a tree. Horsetail Rapids portage was a little sketchy in areas but was my favorite. At the end of the portage there was a tree down that was perfect for walking out on and getting a good look at the falls we portaged around, probably not the safest thing I did on the trip. Next was a short paddle to Saganaga Falls portage 39rods. We looked over two campsites on an island just after the falls. After passing on the first site, that was extremly windy and had a long walk to the latrine, we settle at the later. Just after we set up camp, we planned to fish. As I walked to the canoe a group of 2 passed by our island. The girl in the front of the canoe exclaimed, "There is a bear right there!" Pointing to the north shorline of our island. I quickly alerted Sean and asked her where exactly is it and she said it was not on shore but swimming away from the island. She probably thought I was crazy because I just said thank you and we decided since it left the island, the bear wanted nothing to do with us. We did hang our food high that night to be safe. We paddled out to fish shortly after and the bear was nowhere to be found. We paddled back to the falls and some luck catching a couple snake pike. Later, Sean took a long cast into a small shallow weedy bay with a spinner tied on, with a leader this time, and thats when things took an exciting turn. He hooked something big, I immediatelly grab the video camera, catching a full body out of the water jump from what ended up being a 40" pike. We released her quickly, as it was a hot day. We were both shaking from the expierence, this being the biggest fish(aside from salmon fishing) either of us had landed, and in a canoe was something to be proud of. We felt a little redemption from the big one that got off on Maraboeuf Lake. That night was another perfect night, mountain house food and a few sips of moonshine would finish off a perfect day! That night at 1am I awoke to the sound of giant footsteps near to where I was sleeping. I yelled at Sean, he heard them, but there was no telling what it was. Kind of makes me want to bring a deer cam on my next trip.
Day 4 of 7
Wednesday, August 22, 2012 We broke camp early this morning, water quality was not great at this site. We could see a lot of micro organisms in the water. After paddling a lot and getting past our last portage of the trip we set our sites on staying 2 days at a really great site. This morning the weather was perfect again, and there was no wind to speak of, it was dead calm. We canoed past Conners island, Oskenonton Island, and then landed on Horseshoe island at what was to be the best site of our entire trip. The campsite was very large, it had some great rocks near the shoreline that we took a few leaps off of and took a swim. I found a down tree that was about 12 feet off the ground and looked to be a great spot for hanging food, upon closer inspection, we found what looked to be claw marks all over the log. We opted to hang our food somewhere else. This was the best day of the trip. The entire lake was like glass all day, not a cloud in the sky. 
We had our best fishing here also, catching a large number of 2-3# smallies and I got 3 pike while trolling 30+ inches. It seemed like every point we trolled past held a big pike. 
Fish dinner and mountain house that night, what a perfect day!
We had our best fishing here also, catching a large number of 2-3# smallies and I got 3 pike while trolling 30+ inches. It seemed like every point we trolled past held a big pike. Fish dinner and mountain house that night, what a perfect day!
Day 5 of 7
Thursday, August 23, 2012 The weather took a bit of a change this day, it rained for about 5 minutes at 3am, and rain clouds and heat lightning all around us. We decided to stay at this site another night before we moved again. We also didnt do any canoeing this day because of the wind. I did manage to catch a pike from shore for dinner. And we got a little break from the wind as the sun set. 
Day 6 of 7
Friday, August 24, 2012 After debating to stay a third night at our favorite site, we opted to move to an island site. We passed Campers island, for a site tucked away in a little cove on Clark Island. 
This ended up being our least favorite of all our campsites we stayed at. This is only because it was over 80ºF this day and the cove was tucked in and the air was dead calm. We had some success fishing our bay, landing one smallie and a small pike. 
We decided we were tired of eating fish so we just had mountain house for lunch and dinner. We were both getting a little homesick by this time, and we had drank the last of the moonshine the night before, and the heat was getting to us. We decided to break this mood by doing some exploring, we stopped and looked at all the islands surounding ours. We then stopped to reflect on all we had done and seen in the last few days as we watched our last sunset in the boundary waters. 
This ended up being our least favorite of all our campsites we stayed at. This is only because it was over 80ºF this day and the cove was tucked in and the air was dead calm. We had some success fishing our bay, landing one smallie and a small pike. We decided we were tired of eating fish so we just had mountain house for lunch and dinner. We were both getting a little homesick by this time, and we had drank the last of the moonshine the night before, and the heat was getting to us. We decided to break this mood by doing some exploring, we stopped and looked at all the islands surounding ours. We then stopped to reflect on all we had done and seen in the last few days as we watched our last sunset in the boundary waters.
Day 7 of 7
Saturday, August 25, 2012 We awoke early, ate breakfast and broke camp. We talked and decided there wasnt much left to see on our trip and the wind let us know we should be on our way. A vigourous paddle accross open water on Sag was a great way to exit. We paddled our butts off that morning, with boat traffic picking up and dropping off other canoers as we made our way to the boat launch. 
We were picked up by Gunflint Outfitters and we made our exit, until next year.
We were picked up by Gunflint Outfitters and we made our exit, until next year.
discuss this trip report (10 comments) - last post on December 15, 2012