Hello all! I'm so excited to plan my first BWCA trip for this summer! I know I'm starting a bit late in the planning process, so I understand that flexibility will be important in terms of permits that are available. We are planning on either the weekend of June 21 or the last weekend in July. I have no idea where to start planning a route. We are planning on doing a 3 day Friday-Sunday trip. Sunday we will have to drive home to Minneapolis. I'm hoping we will be up at least in the Ely area on Friday morning and ready to leave right away in the morning. My friend that I'm going with has been to the BWCA once. We are both pretty experienced hikers, campers, and have done some backpacking as well. I have canoe camped once but it was on a river, which I know is a pretty different ballgame. I kayak frequently in the summer and have canoed many times before as well. We are both fit but not necessarily super experienced or extremely strong canoers.

We would like this trip to be relaxing and aren't necessarily looking to really to push ourselves majorly. I would say an easy to moderately difficult route is preferred. We are mostly just looking for beautiful scenery and peace and quiet. Wildlife sightings and great photography opportunities would be a bonus.

Where do I start the planning process and how do I pick a route that will give us this?

Thank you!

Welcome to bwca.com!

Here's one option of a trip that should fit into your criteria. Fall exploration of the Kawishiwi triangle

There is a lot of information available under the Planning tab at the top of the web page. If you need a canoe with a yoke for portaging, I suggest that you contact an outfitter. The outfitter could also suggest many routes that would meet some of your criteria. Other than route ideas, what other information do you need?

Having only two nights limits your options - if you could get even one more night it opens things up a bit and you will be glad you did. In any case...do you look at the canoeing part of the trip as a major part of the fun, or is it more of a means to an end and you enjoy the camping, relaxing, photography, etc. more?

Here are a couple easy entry options with relatively little time in the canoe and more in camp:

Baker Lake #39 north to Kelly or Jack lake (known for moose sightings, easy portages) abandoned gold mine down a short trail off a portage, kinda neat to see. Some nice narrow river like stretches of paddling in this area.

Homer Lake # 40, there are three campsites on Homer with the first two not even in the BWCA but nice. Move on to Vern Lake and set up camp. Daytrip up the Vern River for beautiful scenery (and good fishing) Quiet area

Permit is for # 66 but you actually put in at East Bearskin Lake. Paddle 35 minutes and take a moderate portage uphill to Crocodile lake. Quiet dead end lake with nice scenery, great walleye fishing, can explore down the Crocodile River for a daytrip. Car to camp in a few hours. Good wildlife possibilities.

#33 Little Gabbro Lake, one long but easy portage from the parking lot to the lake. Couple sites on it but more likely paddle through the riffle between Gabbro and Little Gabbro for many more nice sites to choose from. Beautiful lake, good fishing but a busy area. Can also go down to Bald Eagle lake. Pretty easy entry, not far from the car time wise.

These are all entries where you can be in camp just a few hours from your car, which given your short time span makes some sense...unless of course the paddling part is your favorite aspect of the trip.

Many more to choose from, these are some of my favs. Ask away, we like helping.

I agree with working with an outfitter for your first trip. They will make sure that if possible it goes well.

Because of mosquitoes and black flies, I'd recommend the July dates.

Sounds like you have all your own gear, probably are fine taking care of food, which just leaves canoe and paddles perhaps. Because you only have three days, I suggest an outfitter with a base where you can launch from so just drive there, get canoe and load, and off.

My best advice is to go in on the Wednesday. That gives you 4 nights. You’ll thank me later. Driving 6 hours each way for two days? Do what you have to do to get those 2 extra days. Life is short.

Choosing which area of the BW to go to is usually a good starting point, along with dates. It sounds like you'll be going out of Ely . . . ? If so, we can eliminate the Sawbill Trail and Gunflint Trail entries on the other side of the BW. You can eliminate any entries in the Ely area that don't have permits available for your entry date. Check at Recreation.gov. Many entries - Little Gabbro, Mudro, Slim, South Hegman, South Kawishiwi River, Little Indian Sioux South, Moose River North - have no available permits for 6/21. That narrows the field considerably. I did not check July.

If you need to rent a canoe from an outfitter, they would help with this. Almost any outfitter can issue your permit, saving you an extra stop at the FS office. They usually have more extended hours also.

At any rate, click on the outfitters tab above, then click on some Ely outfitters, visit their websites. Most have suggested routes on there. Call a few if you want.

How do you feel about portaging? A tow? A shuttle? The East side of BW - probably a longer drive, but maybe more options.

If you don't mind a tow or paddling across Burntside, along with a long but not overly difficult portage, there are Crab Lake entries available for that date and would make a nice short trip for you.

If the other side of the BW is an option, you've already been given several options there and I could add some, although I haven't checked any availability there.

TomT: "My best advice is to go in on the Wednesday. That gives you 4 nights. You’ll thank me later. Driving 6 hours each way for two days? Do what you have to do to get those 2 extra days. Life is short. "

Yes! And use an outfitter for your permit and whatever else you need. Give them your date(s). Click outfitters tab above. West side is Ely and East side is Grand Marais. You WILL thank TomT later! :)

We often go for just a 3 day weekend and have tried out a number of entries. I second the Kawishiwi. Last year we also tried out a Trout Lake entry and liked it a lot once we got past Vermillion Lake with the motor boats. Here is a trip report: Basecamp with a broken ankle

I would not rule out the Sawbill Trail. Nice Forest Service campground and great outfitter right there.

Baker Lake entry has already been mentioned.

Sawbill Entry - Cherokee Loop - Day 1 - Sawbill to Cherokee Lake, Day 2- Cherokee to Jack Lake, Day 3 - Jack Lake to Sawbill Lake. Cherokee is a beauty. Nice hills, great islands. South Temperance Lake is another Island studded beauty. The Temperance River area gives you chances to see moose. Day 2 will be longer as you have a substantial amount of portaging. (This is also the Baker Lake entry area.)

You could also do this: Day 1 - Sawbill to Cherokee, Day 2 - Day trip to Frost Lake and back, Day 3 - Cherokee to Sawbill. Frost Lake has beautiful golden sand beaches and a better than average chance to see a moose. This would be the easier of the two routes here.

Kawishiwi Lake Entry - (You will need to have the outfitter shuttle you to Kawishiwi Lake as you will be ending back @ Sawbill.) . Lady Lakes Chain.
Day 1 - Kawishiwi Lake to Lake Polly, Day 2 - Lake Polly to Grace Lake, Day 3 - Grace Lake to Sawbill Lake. This is your most varied paddling route. Lakes and rivers. The days are not long per se, but there is substantial portaging here. You will pass through the eastern end of the Pagami Creek fire. The Kawishiwi River and the Phoebe River are both delightful paddles. You will need to master the technique of pulling over beaver dams on this route. Lots of wildlife viewing chances if you are quiet.

overthehill: "

TomT: "My best advice is to go in on the Wednesday. That gives you 4 nights. You’ll thank me later. Driving 6 hours each way for two days? Do what you have to do to get those 2 extra days. Life is short. "

Yes! And use an outfitter for your permit and whatever else you need. Give them your date(s). Click outfitters tab above. West side is Ely and East side is Grand Marais. You WILL thank TomT later! :)"

Agree, too!
I'd recommend Baker Lake entry with nearby outfitter, Sawbill Outfitters. There is a quiet campground there w/$5 hot showers & a small general store. Location is on the Sawbill Trail, kinda off-center-right between eastern and western BWCA boundaries. Planning is half the fun and excitement.
Oops! Just reread your post. Looks like your headed for Ely. If you can get it, a Mudro Entry is a gem. Doable in 3 nights/4 days, too. In early September of 2018, I reserved a Mudro lake Restricted permit. I paddled to Fourtown, Boot, Fairy, Gun, Bullet, Moosecamp and back to Fourtown with a lazy southbound paddle on Moosecamp river. A gem!
Soon after reserving your Entry Permit, get a map or download a specific map to GPS you may already own. Voyageur, McKenzie & Fisher are the three online map sources. Outfitters stock'em too.

Ask more questions as you progress with your planning. It's an encyclopedic website!

Hi all,

Wow, thank you so much for all the advice! I'm feeling quite overwhelmed by all the options! It seems like finding a good outfitter and getting some advice on routes would be a good idea. Do most outfitters in the Ely area transport if necessary to entry points on their side of the BWCA? I may have access to a car rack, but we may still need transport unless we do an in and back route or a loop. Is shuttling common in order to be able to exit and enter different entry points? Any recommendations on outfitters? I think we want Kevlar canoes, but will otherwise provide our own gear.

A bit of additional information:

My aunt and uncle have a cabin on the cook end of Lake Vermillion, we are planning on staying the night before there; we are happy to drive to the right outfitter/entry point but will be staying on the Ely Side of the BWCA.

We definitely are looking forward to the canoeing portion of a trip the BWCA, but prefer leisurely canoeing and still want plenty of relaxing and camp time. I would like to avoid big open lakes that could get very windy. I will do easy and/or short portages for a great route.

I'm confident in our abilities to quickly and easily set up and take down camp, so I'm happy to move to more than one camp site on the trip.

Waterfalls and increased probability of wildlife sightings are a plus!

I would love to do a 3rd or 4th night. I have the PTO but my friend I'm going with does not. She is looking to see if she can swing one more day off or we may have to try for 4th of July weekend to add another night for "free" ;)

Thank you so much for all your help!

Don’t be too ambitious with your first trip. My first “real” backpacking trip was too ambitious, and I paid for it. My first BWCA trip was manageable, and we enjoyed it despite mostly bad weather.

Even if you paddle to the first open campsite and base camp with day trips, it will be an awesome experience. There are a lot of little things about your tripping style that you need to discover for yourself that we can’t tell you. Also, assume one day of any trip will be wind bound; more for the longer trips. Part of the reason for a less ambitious first trip. If the weather is great, you just get more day tripping.

Fall, Angleworm, Slim, Farm, Wood, Hegman, and Lake One seem to be some options of entry points on the Ely side of the lakes that have permits left for some of the days we are looking if that's helpful. If there are others I should be considering though, let me know!

FYI, there are plans in the works here by the site owner to eliminate posts by Guest Paddlers sometime soon. You might want to register...it's a great site!

The Slim entry has always been on my list. Easy portage in and a pretty lake with 3 good campsites. Or move on to Hook or Keneu Lake for more paddling. The site on Hook is reported to be very nice and you would have lots of solitude.

Angleworm has an extremely long portage to deal with right from the car. Lake One is very scenic but one of the busiest areas in the BWCA. Don't know much about the other options.

I'd echo the previous advice by Abbey and others.

Since you are staying a good distance west of Ely and have limited time, it makes no sense to go to the east side of the BW.

The general advice is to start early and find a campsite by mid-afternoon, if not earlier, since you must camp at a designated campsite and they are first-come, first-served.

If it's feasible, picking up your canoe and permit the day before would simplify getting an early start.

Since you have limited time - 3 days, 2 nights - I'd keep it simple and just do an out-and-back or short loop. Don't complicate it with a tow or shuttle when you are already dealing with the vagaries of weather. If you have to travel 3 days to reach an exit point and meet a shuttle, bad weather could make that very difficult. Lightning will keep you off the water, and a tow boat, too. Even without those complications, you'll need to keep an eye on the weather and be flexible.

The outfitter will get the canoe on your car with foam blocks whether you have racks or not, so don't worry about that.

At the moment, it looks lindylair's suggestion of Slim Lake, would be good. It would be relaxed, no big water, no long portage in.

Wood Lake looks like a good fit too with a 3/4 - mile portage in and some smaller lakes accessible by short portages, and a short loop possible.

BTW, you're probably already aware of this, but 320 rods = 1 mile. Most of us do what's called double portaging, which means we take half of the stuff on the first trip, walk back, and take the second load on the third trip. I don't know what you'll do, but something to keep in mind when thinking about travel time.

Hegman could make a nice short trip with more limited options to Bass Lake. Many people day trip to the pictos on Hegman, bit I think not many go to Bass Lake. And Bass is about the only other place to go there unless you are interested in a very nasty portage north to Angleworm, in which case you should just go in the Angleworm entry.

I'd try to make a decision on your entry point and date soon, while permits are available.

Thank you all for the route suggestions! It's easy for me to spiral into thinking about all the possible options and wanting to chose 'the best' but I think I understand that there are many, many 'bests' in the BWCA. I only live 4 hours away, there will be many more summer's for trips to many different lakes :)

My friend was able to get an additional half day of PTO approved, so we can certainly at the very least get our canoes and permits on a Thursday and be out on the water early Friday. I'm wondering your thoughts on entering Thursday afternoon and picking an entry with multiple campsites not too far from the entry so that we have a full day on Friday and Saturday? I think we could be at an outfitter by 5:00 at the latest. We are both campers and backpackers, so I'm confident in our abilities to get camp up quickly. If we went this route, which entry points would you recommend?

I'm still trying to decide on dates (I know I need to settle on something quickly so I can get a permit!). It seems like end of July (weekend of the 26th) would probably have the better weather and lower bugs. My only concern with that is that is that I would have 3 camping trips in a row on weekends if I chose that. With this late winter we seem to be having, is it pretty likely that June 21 will be pretty bad bug wise? What about 4th of July, how do you generally expect that weekend to be bug and temp wise? If we did that weekend we would then have an additional day as well and could start early on the 4th. I know a lot of these questions are really up in the air and dependent on things that are hard to predict and/or are more personal preference.

The only thing I can tell you about bugs is: Bugs love me, I hate bugs, I only go in Sept.

It's good she got an extra half day. Going in late on Thurs. (June 20) would basically be a crapshoot as far as getting a site, but I figured best chance would be Wood Lake entry. Unfortunately there are no Wood Lake permits available for Thursday!

Slim is still available, but the entry requires a long paddle (or a tow) to the north end of Burntside before you can portage in; that could be problematic. If you can get a tow that late in the day, take it. There are 6 campsites available in that area. If you choose to do that take the first open one.

I frequently enter in afternoon - just works with 10 hour drive - and often enter Moose ep 25. Always find sites open. Would prefer be in two hours than state next day. And mid weeks easier. Lots of weekenders that fo congest the popular entry point lakes. But then I'm fine in practically any site.

boonie, I am confused. I thought there was a road that leads right to the Slim entry portage and it appears so on the map. Paddle or tow should not be necessary. It;s known a s a very easy entry point. Do you know something I don't know?

No, lindylair, you know something I don't :) I didn't see that, not the right map layer I think. Glad you caught it quickly.

As a general rule, bugs are worst in June, a bit better each month until gone in August or September, but it varies widely year to year, place to place, and bug type to bug type. I went the third week of June last year and had terrible mosquitos for the first 6 days on some smaller lakes and rivers, then paddled up to a slightly bigger lake and they just vanished. They can vary from portage to portage anywhere.

Storms can happen at any time of the summer; can't really say weather will be better later - it's too random. I'd say just bring headnets, bug spray, and rain gear and pick the dates that work best for you and your friend. Don't stress about finding the best place or dates - it's all good up there, and I'll bet there's a good chance you'll be back up there for a week next year.

If it was me I would get the Slim permit asap. Going in mid week should have sites open for you. I'd stay away on the 4th of July though. Talk about crowded sites!

Thank you for the advice! We will try to utilize that extra half day then and get on the water!

TomT I’m surprised to hear you say that, most of what I’ve read says the fourth is actually a bit lighter traffic wise with people doing more of their annual parades and festivities. Do others find the fourth to be much more crowded?

In terms of bugs, is there likely to be much of a difference between the Fourth of July weekend and July 26th? We could get an extra day due to the holiday (getting on the lake Thursday morning), but if bugs are likely to be significantly worse earlier in July, that would be good to know. Any recommendations in that area for lakes that are less buggy, swampy, Low lying?

Look at availability July 4th.......as of today. Subject to changing rapidly as summer holidays near.
You can rely on a Skeeter Serenade at sunsets. Most annoying. I eat early and head for the tent instead of dealing with 'em.
Black Flies should subside considerably by heat of July. Fast devils.
Permethrin-treated clothing. No shorts, LS shirts & pants during dusk swarming serenades.
Keep in mind anything said about bugs during summer can change from location to location as well as year to year. Bad on this lake. Not so bad on that lake. The only sure thing is skeeters will seek a blood-fix.

Erinelizabeth882: "
TomT I’m surprised to hear you say that, most of what I’ve read says the fourth is actually a bit lighter traffic wise with people doing more of their annual parades and festivities. Do others find the fourth to be much more crowded?
"

I think a lot of people will look at the 4th on a Thursday as a great way to get 2 days off work combined with a weekend to do a trip. I always go over Labor Day and Ely is packed with people on that Sat and Sunday.

It's not so bad in Quetico but I've had trouble getting a site on lakes close to an entry in the BW. If you go in July 3rd you should be ok.

Try to stay a few more days. It always takes me a good 3-4 days to totally 'disconnect'. Pick an entry point, and start from there....then use the search function on this site and read as much as you can, about really any topic you can think of

3.5 days gives you a bit more flexibility.

Here's a trip I like - we originally planned this as a 5 day trip but we wound up finishing after a couple hours on day 4. You might be able to cut some corners and do it more quickly, but the easiest corner to cut also makes you miss my favorite lake in the BWCA.

EP: Brule lake. Use Sawbill outfitters - They'll shuttle you to the EP, and the exit is Sawbill, so your car will be waiting for you when you exit. Sawbill outfitters are outstanding, friendly, helpful, and they also have a campground there so you can stay overnight if you wish on day 1, and get the earliest of starts. Alternately, if you can get there early enough on day 1, they can take you to Brule where you can hit the water and get a couple hours behind you. The drawback to starting on Brule on day 1 is that Brule is a bigish lake, and the afternoon wind might cause issues crossing from the EP to the portages on the north side of the lake. Might be easier to just do it in the morning.

Take one of the two portage routes up from Brule to Winchell (my favorite) - I like the Cone Lake chain up to Cliff then Wanihigan, then find a campsite on Winchell. Day 2, head to the east end of Winchell, then portage up to Gaskin and head back west to Henson, Omega, and Kiskadina. Once you are at Kiskadina, you've kind of backtracked and if you want to take a more leisurely trip or just need to shave a day off, instead of going to Winchell, take the Cone chain up to Davis on Day 1, then take the long portage up to Kiskadina. There are a handful of campsites on Kiskadina, but depending on how busy it is, you might have to look elsewhere. From Kiskadina, hit Muskeg then Long Island lake, Gordon Lake, then Cherokee Lake and Creek, and then you're out on Sawbill after a couple short portages.

So this tour can be done in anywhere from 3 to 5 days. We tend to travel a lot and don't spend any time fishing... we hit the water fairly early and paddle most of the day. Your mileage may vary.

A really nice 3 day trip is to go from EP 37 (Kawishiwi) up to the north end of Polly on Day 1 (hard paddling but the payoff is worth it and if you get your canoe the day before, it'll let you hit the water fairly early) then basecamp there 2 nights, day trip to Malberg then on to Fishdance to see Pictographs on day 2, then backtrack out to Kawishiwi on day 3. Sawtooth outfitters in Tofte is a good place to get your canoe for this trip. I'm not sure if they do permits there, but the ranger station in Tofte is not too far from there. Polly is a somewhat busy lake, but it has lots of campsites. Just keep your eyes open on the way up the lake for open sites so you can backtrack if the north end is all occupied.

This thread is making me wanna get out to the west side of the BWCA! We will save that for next time and pick an EP on the Ely side of things. Thanks for all the ideas there though, we will keep them saved for next year. We have been able to finagle 3 nights (early Friday to mid Monday), but it will be over Labor Day. We figured the chances of beautiful, sunny weather and nice temps are similar between Fourth of July and Labor Day but we can beat the worst of the bugs over Labor Day!

We have narrowed things down to: Lake One EP (to Little Gabbro or Snake River or numbers chain loop), Farm EP to Lake One, Crab and Cummings EP or Fall Lake EP. thoughts or recommendations on what would make for fun paddling and not too difficult portages, beautiful scenery and getting away from crowds (we don’t need to be isolated per say)?