Hi all,

I have a few questions about my 7 day trip I have planned in the BWCA. I'm new to this forum and to the BWCA (have been to Ely once). My wife and I who will be the two on this trip are good paddlers (in decent shape) and experienced canoe campers. I just reserved a permit to enter #44-Ram Lake from August 1 - August 7 since I've heard the Vista-Horseshoe-Caribou-Gaskin network is a good option for beautiful motorless sites and fishing.

My questions for anyone who may be familiar with this area:

1. Would it be wise to change my permit to enter at Poplar Lake and paddle south into Lizz/Caribou Lakes (e.g. #47)? It looks like, from #44, there are some decent portages between Ram Lake and Vista Lake and some descriptions say they're challenging (8 to 10/10 difficulty). My wife and I are in shape enough to carry a canoe upwards of a mile with rests (since the longest one is 3/4 mile) but we'd prefer to not have a killer day on day 1 and don't want to run the risk of finding a spot at dusk as there are only a handful of sites in Ram/Little Trout Lakes. Is Poplar --> Lizz --> Caribou a scenic route that might be less challenging with better chances to find an open site earlier rather than later?

2. For this time of year which I believe would be quite popular, are campsites usually available in the network mentioned above? We're hoping to set up base at Horseshoe or Gaskin unless someone has suggestions for a good base camp site. Can you usually expect to find at least 1 open site in these lakes?

3. Is the fishing here decent enough? Not looking for secrets, but just hoping early August would be a decent time to target cold water areas with leech/slip bobber for walleye.

4. Any interesting trails, waterfalls, swimming holes, etc. that would be worth checking out?



Thanks for your time, and I'm looking forward to suggestions!

I've not been there personally, so I'm not going to recommend routes or lakes. You are correct in that you'd be there during a popular time of year, and that area you're focusing on gets a fair bit of traffic.

Are you set on that spot? What are you looking for in a trip? Such as....rank these in order....seclusion, fishing, sights/sounds (waterfall, pictographs, other points of interest) etc.

Tumblehome just released a short episode on routes for that area if you want a local opinion on portages, fishing, campsites,etc.

If getting away from people is your goal and not super difficult portages, there are plenty of other options. Are you set on going off the Gunflint?

Thanks for the reply! I decided to cancel 44 and go with 47 as it offers half the portage distance and 3x the site options. Just picked this to have a plan reserved in case I don't find anything better/available so I'd love some recommendations for other areas too.

We would love some seclusion but aren't strict. I don't mind seeing a few groups of people a day but am hoping to minimize noise. Fishing is probably just as important as decent seclusion. And of course beautiful sites are more than welcome although we're really just looking for a solid canoe/fishing experience without always hearing voices across the lake. I'm sure hundreds of routes match this description so we're certainly not dead set on Gunflint. It was more of a drunken dart toss when picking a region to look for routes on google maps.

Thanks, I will look into Tumblehome's info!

aqua, you have chosen a great entry and area. You are going at a busy time and to a busy area but still, it's the BWCA, busy doesn't mean there isn't some solitude to be had. I think a key for you is on travel days to get an early start and be prepared to take a good campsite at noon to 1:00. I know, it;s tough to contemplate relaxing, exploring and fishing the rest of the day:)

Horseshoe is a very unique lake known for moose sightings and decent fishing. Worth a night or two for sure. Vista is a great lake for fishing and scenery and if you can get the southern site it's definitely worth a night or two as well. If that is taken there is a site on the western shore, mid lake that is nice once you get up there but the landing is poor and there is a scramble to get up to the site. Still you have views and access to a great walleye and smallmouth lake. Gaskin has some very nice sites and reportedly can be good walleye fishing as well - a little bit bigger so a west wind could be challenging if you are heading that way.

There are loops to be had along this route as well as some nice daytrips. You might even want to put Meeds Lake on your radar for great fishing with a couple nice sites.

To give you an idea of distance, several years ago we were camped on the western island site on Meeds(a good place with great fishing) and did a daytrip through Caribou, Horseshoe, Allen, Pillsbery, Swallow and back to Meeds with a mid morning departure, leisurely pace, stopping for lunch and photo opps and got back to camp around dinner hour. This route could be extended by going through Gaskin instead of Allen and make it a 2 day loop with a site on Henson(really cool lake) or Meeds and returning to Horseshoe(assuming this is your "base"

Have a plan but be flexible, if a whim to try something different comes up that fits in your timeframe go for it. Meeds, Horseshoe or Caribou are all an easy paddle out on your last day, within a few hours.

Good call changing your entry point from 44 to 47, there are some absolutely brutal portages between 44 and Vista, some of the worst in the
BWCA. You won't miss them:)

Thanks so much for the info, Lindy! I will definitely add those lakes to the list (Meeds, Henson, etc). We're all about being flexible. Having plans stresses me out haha. This area seems particularly neat because of how many route options there seem to be.

It looks like you got some good guidance on the area already. Maybe post in the fishing forum for additional responses to that question. As for a point of interest, you might want to check out the Winchell Lake cliffs. If you clicked on the link and saw TB’s pictures you may have noticed a fire scar in one of them. Some of the land between Gaskin and Winchell burned 14 years ago.

Very cool. Definitely adding those cliffs to our list. I'm curious to see for myself the succession that has already occurred post-fire.

I disagree with the concept of avoiding a "killer day" on day one. This is the day that you are fresh, motivated, don't have to pack up a campsite, and can have a nice reward of a good meal when you get to the campsite because fresh food is fine for the first day.

We always put in the roughest days for the first day. This allows us to get in deeper into the boundary waters to less populated areas. You will usually have had a decent night's sleep the night before too and any breakfast you want on the way up. There should be no problem with having enough energy.

I will say that we do tend to get more used to paddling and portaging later in the trip though. This is easily mitigated with exercise though if you just get out to paddle and hike a bit before the trip .

Another option would be to stay on omega lake 2 good site in this lake ,I think, and one not so good the site on the point south side of lake is one of my favs. We were lucky enough to have that lake to ourselves for 2 day's. Day trip options to winchell and Haskins. If horshoe is full this might be a good option. Sorry Can't speak to fishing since I dont. Hope this helps.

aquaphile: "Thanks for the reply! I decided to cancel 44 and go with 47 as it offers half the portage distance and 3x the site options. Just picked this to have a plan reserved in case I don't find anything better/available so I'd love some recommendations for other areas too.


We would love some seclusion but aren't strict. I don't mind seeing a few groups of people a day but am hoping to minimize noise. Fishing is probably just as important as decent seclusion. And of course beautiful sites are more than welcome although we're really just looking for a solid canoe/fishing experience without always hearing voices across the lake. I'm sure hundreds of routes match this description so we're certainly not dead set on Gunflint. It was more of a drunken dart toss when picking a region to look for routes on google maps.


Thanks, I will look into Tumblehome's info!"

Good move not going north from EP 44. There is a portage heading towards Vista, I forget the lakes, that is absolutely the hardest I have seen in my six trips and that was just hiking it back and forth with a daypack. I could not imagine portaging a canoe across this portage.

A1t2o: "I disagree with the concept of avoiding a "killer day" on day one. This is the day that you are fresh, motivated, don't have to pack up a campsite, and can have a nice reward of a good meal when you get to the campsite because fresh food is fine for the first day.


We always put in the roughest days for the first day. This allows us to get in deeper into the boundary waters to less populated areas. You will usually have had a decent night's sleep the night before too and any breakfast you want on the way up. There should be no problem with having enough energy.


I will say that we do tend to get more used to paddling and portaging later in the trip though. This is easily mitigated with exercise though if you just get out to paddle and hike a bit before the trip ."

I see what you mean. If I was to pick a challenging day, I'd probably make it day 1. I think we decided on the easier route simply because of the number of sites available since we're going during such a busy time (and to not scare my wife away from the BW by attempting 500+ rods of, from what I hear, some of the harder portages in the area haha). That and the only canoe in our arsenal is NOT one built for efficient portaging (85+ lb Old Town). I'll probably save the challenging trip for my solo this fall when I can borrow a kevlar.

Thanks for the input!

Thedude: "Another option would be to stay on omega lake 2 good site in this lake ,I think, and one not so good the site on the point south side of lake is one of my favs. We were lucky enough to have that lake to ourselves for 2 day's. Day trip options to winchell and Haskins. If horshoe is full this might be a good option. Sorry Can't speak to fishing since I dont. Hope this helps."

Thanks, Thedude! I will look into Omega. Winchell and Gaskin are definitely on the list :)

scramble4a5: "There is a portage heading towards Vista, I forget the lakes, that is absolutely the hardest I have seen in my six trips and that was just hiking it back and forth with a daypack. I could not imagine portaging a canoe across this portage."

You are probably referring to the 2/3 miler between Little Trout and Misquah. ...Long, somewhat overgrown, and with a couple of steep hills. ...And I didn’t even carry a day pack.

aquaphile: "

Thedude: "Another option would be to stay on omega lake 2 good site in this lake ,I think, and one not so good the site on the point south side of lake is one of my favs. We were lucky enough to have that lake to ourselves for 2 day's. Day trip options to winchell and Haskins. If horshoe is full this might be a good option. Sorry Can't speak to fishing since I dont. Hope this helps."

Thanks, Thedude! I will look into Omega. Winchell and Gaskin are definitely on the list :)"

Have a backup if you plan on staying at Omega. I was able to score the highly coveted site 592. But I saw a lot of people looking later in the day with no luck. This was in Late August. I would say the same for Caribou and Horseshoe. Your first day You'll want to get further than Horseshoe I would imagine. Super easy portages and only a few hours of paddling.