Going in through Kawishiwi Lake July 13, and intend on getting to Lake Polly our first night. Though I know it is all dependent on a number of factors, can I expect it to be popular and perhaps crowded? I am not sure about this lake's popularity, though it appears to be at a crossroads of a couple different routes.

And while I'm asking, Koma Lake has five campsites, but I've not been able to find ratings. Any input as to Koma Lake campsites, just in case Polly is full?

I'd rather trip in May.... and probably wouldn't have needed to ask this if we were going tomorrow. But circumstances necessitated going in July, at the height of paddling season.

Thanks!

Mike

I traveled through that area in mid July last year. We entered on a Monday, with Malberg as our first night destination. On the way in, we passed two groups who said Polly was their destination for the first night. Traveling through the lake, it looked like about half the camp sites were full (before the groups we passed on the way got there). It wouldn't have been hard to find a site, but the prime ones would likely have been taken.

We exited on a Friday and the route into Polly was a highway. Nearly every portage was backed up, and nearly every group was headed to Polly. I wouldn't have wanted to be looking for a camp site late in the day there that day. Maybe could have found one, but it would have been stressful.

I can't speak to the camp sites on Koma, but I can say that it holds all the small walleyes you could want to catch on the edges of the weedy sunken point that extends out from the eastern shore. Fun fishing, thought not much for size, at least that we found. It's a shallow, somewhat swampy lake, so the camp sites there could be pretty buggy.

All in all, if your group size, entry time, and ability allow it, I would suggest seeing if you can get to Malberg on the first night. We made it in about five to six hours, double portaging.

I stayed on Polly this exact same time frame in 2015. We arrived at Polly shortly before 2:00 p.m. on a Monday and half the sites were full when we arrived. Friday may be more crowded. If you can get on the water by 7:00 a.m. and paddle hard you could get there by 11:00 a.m. and have a really good chance. Get on the water, paddle and portage hard, and set up camp. After that you can fish or ? Site #1073 on the northern part of the lake was a nice one.

Polly is a destination lake. It is a relatively short spate of canoeing and portaging to get there. It is also the first real fishing lake on your way north. Others have covered their success rate of finding campsites there.

Koma Lake will take another couple of hours of work to get to from Polly. It looks like it could be easy, but the portages get progressively longer and the paddling shorter as you near Koma. We have stayed on the peninsula site on Koma. It is large and has several tent pads. It is lower ground ( not much for hills) but I don't remember it as being particularly buggy. We have looked at two of the three campsites on the north end of the lake. I remember one as kind of brushy with not much room. I don't remember the other very well.

You are only a short portage away from Malberg Lake once you are on Koma. If you have the time, I would head there. The only problem with Malberg is that the bays with campsites are separated by lllooonnnggg sections of narrow lake. I have never encountered the sites on the central narrows unoccupied. If you are not headed out the northeast corner of the lake, I would stay in central or western bays. There are a couple of nice sites up there to the northeast but they are a long way from the rest of the lake.

Have a great trip.

Yes....Polly can get busy. Lots of popular sites up in the North end. The couple sites in the East arm are not that great IMO. One site that is very nice and not marked on some maps is in the SE Bay as you enter from Kawishiwi. Koma sites....the 3 in the North end are poor, the west peninsula site is good as mentioned and the far SW site I thought looked decent.

I've been through that entry 3X, but always in Sept. and usually mid-week entry. I've always found a spot, but don't know how that equates to July.

I agree with what has been said - it has a reputation as a destination lake.

I'd get on the water very early; it'll take you 3-4 hours double portage. You'll probably find a site there, but you might want to take the first open one you see. It's a long drive out there from Rt. 61, but there's a small campground there if you want to go that route.


If you go on, I'd take anything decent on Koma, especially if it's just for one night. I can attest to the fact that if you get to Malberg late (it's popular, too) there could still be a lot of paddling to find a site. The long narrow arms make a lot of shoreline to paddle between campsites. Just a guess, but it's probably around 5 miles to circumnavigate.

I don't know about camping on Polly going in. We've camped at it coming out once, because we needed a port in a storm. We hit campsite 2013 on the island and it was pretty nice. Both times we've gone that way, it was pretty busy and crowded. We were lucky to find the site we did. We were hoping to get to Kawasachong to make a shorter last day, but the downpour made us want to stop paddling, then the lightning scared us out of the water and made us stop at the next open site we found.

I think Polly is a nice paddle from EP37. We pushed on to Koma the first time and all the way to Mallberg the second time from EP37... both made for long paddling days and lots of portages. Our trips were post-Labor Day with moderate crowds in that corridor, so I suspect there will be substantial business on all three lakes and sites will be scarce during July. The earlier you can stop to find a site, the better.

Five of us stayed on Koma two nights last August. It's only one mid-size and two short portages from Polly. Well worth the effort to get away from the traffic on Polly. The peninsula site was taken, so we grabbed #1061, which is the closest to the portage to Malberg. Actually quite a nice site, with a sandy swimming area, a grassy ledge for sitting just up from the shore, at least two nice tent pads, and plenty of places for hammocks. And all the eater-sized walleyes you could want just a short paddle away, in the entrance to the little cove that ends in the Malberg portage.