Any past basecampers on this lake out there? Just curious. Thanks.

Spent two nights there years ago; nice little lake. What are you looking for?

spent one night on daniels en route to rose lake. stayed at an apparently seldom (very) used site near the western end of the lake-on the north. we saw a cow and two calf moose on out way to the site. this was labor day (i think) about 3 years ago.

rich

Ok, I give up. Where the heck is Daniels?

east of duncan.

north of the gunflint trail near hungry jack and bearskin, west of clearwater lake, south of rose and as kanoes mentioned east of duncan:)

my wife and i hike on our canoe trips and the border trail lakes have great fishing and hiking. we have not stayed on daniels, but i have read it gets more day passes, except for the abitious who will portage the ne corner to rose, or lake east on the border. could be a possible lake for 09.
i was also looking at maybe isabella, as the pow wow trail is right there. we have hiked it from lake 3. i am a little concerned about heavy traffic on isabella.
banadad is another area i am checking out. tis the planning season.
thanks for your help.

How about a base camp on Duncan?? You can access the Boarder Rout trail at the stairway portage as well as several lakes from Duncan. I've done the portage from Rose into Duncan and don't recommend it unless you like drudgery. I'm thinking you would likely see less people on Daniel's though, as it's sort of a "dead end" lake. If you access the Boarder Route trail from the Stairway portage, you can go east or west to get up on some impressive shear cliffs. Keep in mind, this entire area is very popular.
This photo is looking west from a rock outcropping just east of the Stairway Portage.

Base camp on Rose would be good too, I've spent a couple of nights there. Beautiful lake with some great views & nice campsites.

The two days we spent on Daniels, there were always people around. I believe people portage into Daniels on day passes. There was one canoe there just for the day & they spent all their time trolling for lakers. Duncan & Rose we saw fewer people. But who knows!

Smallies in all those lakes & the rumor of lakers, too.

two years ago we spent 8 days on duncan. it was the week after labor day. we had the lake to ourselves, and yes smallies were nice.
we did hike the border trail.
i was looking at daniels primarily due to the dead end lake idea.
plus, there are other hiking trails from daniels, and day trips to the canadian border would be a good hike as well.
i am sure the smallies would cooaperate as well.
thanks for your help.

Good lake, just if your portaging, make sure you go the right way on the fork in the road, and don't follow the border route trail (unless you intend to) when i was there, rose lake had no open campsites though...

Well, then I think you should base on Daniels. Pretty lake and good fishing... no walleyes though as per a local guide. I would take the portage into Rove, Watap, and Mountain. Very pretty lakes. Have you seen 'em?

yes we have been on mtn lake.awesome. we took a trip from john lake west thru east and west pike. the arrowhead region is really nice.

As most of you know there used to be a railroad along the border route for logging. There is an actual sunken steam engine in the middle of Daniel's lake. It's visible on a clear, calm day. Very cool.

I'm gonna bring this one back to the top. I'm looking at a loop from West Bearskin to Duncan to Rose, then follow the border to North/South Fowl then work our way back. Anybody with insight on this loop would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Steve

I am also interested in similar information to 3DSteve although I may go in the opposite direction through Partridge and into South Lake, Rose Lake and back to Duncan.

Does anyone have info on the streams, ponds, portages from Partridge to South Lake? Thanks.

ChadLeo,
When are you putting in?
Steve

I've been on both ends of that loop but somehow never made it into the middle lakes.

The Fowl lakes are nice, but there are some motors, & the entry point is quiet. It's been years since I was there, but the campsites on the Fowls were in really bad shape, I'd try to avoid them if I were you.

If you're going in on Daniels, you may want to go straight to Rove rather than detouring to Rose unless you're a sucker for unpleasant portages. We took the Rose/Daniels portage & I'm still suckered by the breezy (& beloved) Mr. Beymer: "In spite of its length, it isn't rough. It follows a wide, gently sloping path over an old railroad bed with canoe rests scattered generously along the way." Needless to say this is an old printing, & we chanted those words like curses when we waded through the mess the beavers made of that portage.

Have fun. Very pretty part of the BWCA.

3DSteve, I have no definitive date yet. I have two trips planned for next year and one will be probably be in late June with the other in early September.

Anyone recently spend some time on Daniels, or do the portage between Daniels & Rose or Rove?

I have been to Daniels on day trips more times than I can count, dozens at least. Have base camped for several days to a week or more many times. Used to be big bass and good sized lake trout. Now, not so big. Sill can catch supper there easily, but the fish run smaller than they used to. Same story with lake trout. A few moose and bear there over the years, but not a lot. 2nd campsite on the North coming from the West end is on a point and the best of the lot. One near east end on south side is closest to best fishing. Lakers on west end, bass best on North side and East end. Because the fishing has declined (size, not numbers), I can fish better lakes so I don't go back much anymore. Lot's of places to go from there on day trips.

quote TuscaroraBorealis: "Anyone recently spend some time on Daniels, or do the portage between Daniels & Rose or Rove? "

been from rose to rove and beyond...

Spent three days on Daniels this past summer. We first stopped at the 2nd campsite on the north side of the lake; but didn't like it much. So we went to the 1st campsite on the south side of the lake. That one isn't very good either, but it did have a nice area for the kids to go swimming all day.

As far as the lake goes, it's OK. Better than Gotter, but not nice quite as nice as some of the surrounding lakes.

quote mocha: "

quote TuscaroraBorealis: "Anyone recently spend some time on Daniels, or do the portage between Daniels & Rose or Rove? "

been from rose to rove and beyond..."

So is that section just a matter of the long distance, or have the beavers somehow altered the portage as one of the previous comments suggests?

StormFront: "As most of you know there used to be a railroad along the border route for logging. There is an actual sunken steam engine in the middle of Daniel's lake. It's visible on a clear, calm day. Very cool."

Dredging up 10+ year old comments. First family trip with the 7yo and 5yo in August, and Daniels is the spot.

Can anyone confirm the existence of this sunken steam engine? Approximate location? If it exists, I am assuming somewhere east or north in the lake closer to the old railroad grade. Have not found any other mentions or marks on the BWCA.com map.

uirgreyjay55: "any past basecampers on this lake out there. just curious. thks."

wow that's an oldie, i believe one of my first online names. didn't know you kept post this old.
i have been thru there since, decent lakers, quiet at the time, saw moose.

No info on sunken steam engine but, here is a trip report starting at Daniels.

bwcasolo: "

uirgreyjay55: "any past basecampers on this lake out there. just curious. thks."

wow that's an oldie, i believe one of my first online names. didn't know you kept post this old.
i have been thru there since, decent lakers, quiet at the time, saw moose."

Thank you for starting the thread, even if we don’t locate the steam engine.

TuscaroraBorealis: "No info on sunken steam engine but, here is a trip report starting at Daniels."

I had read that trip report a few months ago when we booked the permit, and I just re-read it. I always appreciate the mix of history, detail, relevant info in your trip reports.

My son and I have stayed on Daniels lake a few times. It's tremendous small mouth bass fishing. Only drawback is that there are no walleye. We used lipless crankbait and senkos (fake worms). Some campsites are better than others. It's a great lake if you like to catch-and-release small mouth and have limited time: it's solitary, no portages from Daniels. To get to Daniels, you have to put in at west Bearskin, paddle to the portage site. The portage is fairly easy.

ArsGratiaArtis: "My son and I have stayed on Daniels lake a few times. It's tremendous small mouth bass fishing. Only drawback is that there are no walleye. We used lipless crankbait and senkos (fake worms). Some campsites are better than others. It's a great lake if you like to catch-and-release small mouth and have limited time: it's solitary, no portages from Daniels. To get to Daniels, you have to put in at west Bearskin, paddle to the portage site. The portage is fairly easy. "

You can portage out of Daniels on the north end to go west to Rose Lake or east to Rove-Watap-Mountain. Last year my friends and I may a nice short loop Duncan-Rose-Daniels.