Hi all,

It's trip planning time again, and I'm reaching out to see if any of you have suggestions for a fantastic base camping spot. For the past few years our group of 8-9 has gone out for roughly a week on a loop route, traveling every 1-2 days. This year, we're looking to do a big push on day one to spend 3-4 nights on one lake, with opportunities for extensive day tripping to fish, allowing us to take more time to explore (without the worry of having to rush to find the next site). Spots with access to elevated campsites, rivers, rapids and great swimming/cliff jumping are a major plus!

We don't have dates yet, but will travel between early June and early September.

We're partial to an entry point on the Grand Marais/Gunflint side because our outfitters there treat us so well, but willing to branch out.

If you know of anything that fits the bill, please drop me a line!

Looking forward to hearing from yous, and thanks in advance for your advice.

Cheers,
Uisce

Saganagons, SAK, Kawnipi

Gneiss, Gabby, Little Sag, Frost, Thomas, Thunder.

I base camp on one of my trips each summer and these are a few of the lakes we have loved.

Lots of options....too many to list. How hard is push hard on Day 1?

Thinking 37 to Malberg, 23 to Basswood River, 16 to LLC/Iron etc.

Put in on Seagull and push to Ogish in the first day. Lots of good basecamp options and good day trips.

+1, I've done this.

You can also push on to Knife from there.

BigBearArlich: "Gneiss, Gabby, Little Sag, Frost, Thomas, Thunder.


I base camp on one of my trips each summer and these are a few of the lakes we have loved."

+1 on Little Sag and Frost. Both great options. I would also suggest Cummings Lake.

geotramper: "Put in on Seagull and push to Ogish in the first day. Lots of good basecamp options and good day trips. "

Saganaga is good for that too. Watch the wind though.

Ely side - but Ogish is a great lake to go to that checks off all on your list. I have a trip report from our base-camp trip there. "The Rock", listed on maps, is a nice place to jump (but wear PFD's!). Rapids coming out of Alice, long day trip but possible to pictos on Fishdance.

I would second Malberg as a great option. Six to seven hours from the Kawishiwi Lake entry and a crossroads of the BWCA with multiple daytrip options and access to some pretty remote areas. There are some great campsites there including sand beach sites, elevated sites and a narrows site with great fishing from shore. There are a couple very good outfitters that would be convenient to this area including Sawbill and Sawtooth.

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions, excited to look into them.

Last summer we put in at Seagull and got to Ogish on day one. Fantastic lake that we could only spend two nights on, one of them unfortunately very stormy. The lake was also jam packed - we headed in on a Monday and got the last available site on the lake - wonder if the traffic has to do with it being fairly accessible from both sides.

We're hoping to go somewhere new this year, and more remote if possible. We're up for a lengthy push - up to 8 hours - but hope that push will bring us to a lake with more than one site open!

lindylair: "I would second Malberg as a great option. Six to seven hours from the Kawishiwi Lake entry and a crossroads of the BWCA with multiple daytrip options and access to some pretty remote areas. There are some great campsites there including sand beach sites, elevated sites and a narrows site with great fishing from shore. There are a couple very good outfitters that would be convenient to this area including Sawbill and Sawtooth. "

Malberg gets my vote as well. There are so many options for day trips from a basecamp there. I can easily make it to Malberg in 8 hours. I double portage and am not particularly fast.

There is a really nice free campground at the Kawishiwi Entry Point. I like to stop for my permit on the drive up and then stay the night at the campground before I start paddling in the am.

Out of the locations I have been, Ogish was the first thing that came to mind, but as others have pointed out it can get crowded.

If it were me I would look at Little Sag. I've only been there once and have very found memories. It's a big enough lake for a day of exploring with plenty of other day trips available. We stayed for one night at campsite 535. It is back in a bay that get very little traffic (only one dead end portage out of the bay to Elm Lake). The campsite sits fairly high up off the water and has a great view looking out into the main lake.

And you can take a different route on the way out to get to the same starting spot.