All, as promised here is a quick story about my trip.

Guess I should try a trip reprt some time but here is a summary of my paddle into the Timber Frear Loop north of Tofte, just south of the BW.

It was pretty much what I figured it would be since I used to work for the USFS out of Isabella and was familiar with their boat in campsites. I stayed on Elbow Lake (2nd on in from Whitefish Lake) for 2 nites. I had a 3.5 star site with BW looking ledge rock sloping toward the lake. I saw 3 other canoes the first nite (Tuesday) and didn't see another person for 1.5 days until I took out. All sites on Elbow Lake looked pretty nice. The lone site on Timber Lake also looked nice. I wasn't impressed with the sites of Frear Lake.

I actually had two picnic tables on the site I stayed at. It was quiet and really nice.
Over all it was a great tirp. All 6 sites I looked at were clean, I think I was the only person camping on the lake. (Didn't see anyone else, just through trippers)

Would I do it again?
Probabally, but I don't like going back to places I have been to in the past.
It may be on my old age list since it is easy to get to and was quiet.

Would I encourage others to paddle this loop?
Probabally if you were from MN or Wisconsin and had alot of time off, otherwise I would not recommend it compared to the BWCA.

Get there during the week, I have heard that it can get busy on the weekends.
My campsite looked like it had not been used at all this year until I got there.

First two pics are of my campsite.

Thanks for the update. Glad you had a good, quiet trip. Did you try out the fishing?

Interesting option for a quick, midweek getaway. I remember when there were picnic tables in the BW.

Nice site there. I can see that area being very busy in the summer.

Marsonite, didn't do any fishing. I only brought my collopsable pole and half a dozen lures but never casted. I saw your campsite on Frear Lake, probabally the lamest site in the loop except for the sand beach.
FYI: I came across a couple (guessing there are more) nice dispersed sites which had been made, they would have been way better than yours.
I'm not an authority on the Timber Frear Loop but I'm guessing its OK to dispersed camp there.

Jaywalker, here is a pic of the portage signs that are still in place in the loop.

LindenTree: "Marsonite, didn't do any fishing. I only brought my collopsable pole and half a dozen lures but never casted. I saw your campsite on Frear Lake, probabally the lamest site in the loop except for the sand beach.
FYI: I came across a couple (guessing there are more) nice dispersed sites which had been made, they would have been way better than yours.
I'm not an authority on the Timber Frear Loop but I'm guessing its OK to dispersed camp there.


Jaywalker, here is a pic of the portage signs that are still in place in the loop.
"

I don’t think there were any unofficial sites when I was there. We seriously considered camping on a portage so if there had been anything at all we would have stayed there.

Could Elsa look more bored? LOL!

Linden glad you had a good time. Many people drive by these nice spots on there way to bwca. Like I said you might want to check out Hog lake sometime. Another good spot is Crooked to Meme, Thunderbird and Shoepack.

I used to fish on Thunderbird. It had pretty good pops of walleyes. Never saw a soul back there either....the 3/4 mile portage weeded them out. I did portage into Shoepack. Supposedly there were northerns in there, though I never caught any....never tried real hard.

Bushpilot: "Linden glad you had a good time. Many people drive by these nice spots on there way to bwca. Like I said you might want to check out Hog lake sometime. Another good spot is Crooked to Meme, Thunderbird and Shoepack."

There is a Hog Lake N NE of Timber Lake, you are not talking about that one are you?

I bushwacked into a Hog Lake off Cty Rd 7 one time if I remember correctly.

Hog Lake. About 5 miles to the north-north east of Elbow Lake. Many big old pines and one big island. You can drive into a logged area on the nw side of the lake off of Cook county rd 3. You would have to bushwhack your way in . Less than a 1000 ft. But it could be wet this year getting in with all the rain. No designated campsites but you could find a place for a small tent. I have never fished it and don't know if it has fish. I flew in there about 3 years ago. I used to snowmobile into there from the south side, that was 30 years ago and has grown over so bad it would be hard to get in from the south side anymore.

I saw that lake on the map and thought it looks very interesting.
A big center island in a circular lake, kinda like Wizard Island in Crater Lake NP.

FYI:
There is a two track ATV trail all the way into the Portage between Timber and Frear Lakes. At first I thought it was wierd until I remembered that I wasn't in the BW.
I found the trail marked later on some other maps, guessing this trail is also used my the USFS for camp maintanence and bringing in the picnic tables/fire rings.