I have read a lot of great information on these forums and figured I would reach out for a little help.

I am taking my wife on her first trip into the park. She has no paddle experience, but is in good shape. I am looking for a route that has smaller lakes for the wind factor and mild/medium portages for a first timer. I know the days will be shorter that time of year so it would be nice to find something with a few bail out options on the route as we will be double portaging.

We will be doing a little fishing, but mostly just enjoying the views and solitude. I wouldn't mind seeing some falls or day trips/hikes to any vistas, but it is not a must. We will be heading up the weekend of September 14th and are hoping for some good suggestions.

Thanks in advance for any help in my efforts to plan a great trip!

You'll have many options and suggestions. One option on the Gunflint side:

Enter at Seagull, have an outfitter tow you to American Point to save some time and avoid big water. From American Point travel SW down through Swamp and Ottertrack to Knife on day one. Knife is a great fishery.

Day two - Knife to Ogish
Day three - Ogish to Alpine
Day four - Alpine to Seagull

This route will take you through burn areas and non-burn areas so you can see both. I don't think any of the days here have travel of more than 3-4 hours, and no super long or extremely tough portages. You can visit a nice waterfall at Eddy Falls. If you want to travel every day, this is an easily doable route. Plenty of campsites on this route, and on your dates availability should not be an issue.

Seagull is a bigger lake and subject to wind, as an option you could also on day four go from Alpine up through Red Rock, (one of my favorite lakes) and have an outfitter pick you up at the Red Rock Bay portage, avoiding Seagull. Or you could just take the scenic route on Seagull and stay close to shore if there's big wind and water.

Looking forward to a trip report and pictures whichever route you choose, have a great trip.

Benji, you are not getting a lot of help here so I will chime in with a couple ideas.

Lizz Lake entry (via Poplar) and down through Caribou. Camp somewhere between Horseshoe, Gaskin or Vista. Good daytrip options. Decent fishing. Horseshoe Lake is a cool and unique lake known as the "Moose Highway" for frequent sightings. The long skinny lakes to the west could provide daytrip options or a campsite for a night. Head back out through Poplar when you are ready, easily within a days travel from anywhere along the route. . Small to medium lakes, minimal time in with lots of options. The southern campsite on Vista is a 5 and it is a very good fishing lake, Gaskin has some really nice sites as well.

Baker Lake entry up to South Temperance Lake. A short to medium day would be to stop on Jack the first night but it is doable with a long day to get all the way to South Temperance. Again, small to medium size lakes, good fishing, frequent moose sightings, and long stretches of scenic river like paddling on Kelly and Jack. South Temperance is thought by many to be one of the more scenic lakes in the BWCA. There is an option to make it a loop by heading up to Cherokee and down to Sawbill, or just head back the way you came. It really does look different on the way out. Bonus, short trail at the north end of the Kelly to Jack portage heads to an old abandoned gold mine which is kind of interesting.

Kawishiwi Lake entry up to Polly, about a 4 hour trip. Busy but beautiful lake. Could make it all the way to Malberg, about 6.5 to 7 hours double portaging. Malberg is a very interesting lake and a gateway to several other routes and numerous daytrip opportunities. Again, small to medium sized lakes, decent fishing, but you will go through a burned over area north of Kawishiwi to the south shore of Polly - kind of interesting to see. Might be a couple beaver dam pullovers as well - all part of the fun.

Mid September can be beautiful but daylight is shorter and weather can be quite variable. I would encourage you on your wife's first trip to plan a route with options to get out quickly if things take a turn for the worse, or at least the ability to hunker down in camp and still get out easily, but hopefully it will be sunny and 70 everyday. These routes all fit that bill while offering some classic BWCA lakes, good wildlife opportunities and decent fishing potential.

Sawbill is another option. Campgrounds and outfitter right at the entry point, different routes in different directions can give you some options, including doing a base camp at the entry and taking day trips in various directions.

Thanks so much to all for the information shared! After changing my permit... I have decided to use Lindylair’s suggestion of Lizz Lake. This will be a new area for me as well, and I am really looking forward to it. I hope for great weather and a shot at the south site on vista ( ??)! Thanks again for everyone who shared on this message board.

MrBenji: "Thanks so much to all for the information shared! After changing my permit... I have decided to use Lindylair’s suggestion of Lizz Lake. This will be a new area for me as well, and I am really looking forward to it. I hope for great weather and a shot at the south site on vista ( ??)! Thanks again for everyone who shared on this message board."

You will like that area. The portages are easy comparatively speaking and it is a good place to see moose.