Hello,

I am planning on taking a small group of us up the last week in July. So far, we plan on getting an afternoon tow to Back Bay (or nearby) and will be coming out Mudro on Day 5. I would like to go up and over to Crooked and down thru Gun/Fairy/Boot, etc. but not sure how realistic it is given that we would like some time to fish and explore a bit everyday. Otherwise, we might try and come down the Horse River, but I heard water levels are pretty low. What is everone's thoughts? What would be the best route?

Thanks!

Your route is very doable in a 5 day period. Looks like roughly 35 miles. Most of the middle of it being paddle only so making great time. You will have plenty of time to fish also. Now all of this is weather dependent, but even with a wind day you could easily make it. On one trip we got from Friday bay On Crooked Lake (Campsite 1870) to Mudro EP in a day(late May) Through Gun Fairy, Fourtown etc> . That is the largest amount of portages you have on your trip. Great fishing throughout that area. I would say if you can get to Friday bay on Day 3, then Boot or Four Town on Day 4 , Day 5 is a quick out.

Other than starting in Back Bay, your trip is pretty similar to the standard Mudro loop to Crooked and back. Some people do it in 2-3 hard days and some take a week to do it with layover days and the like.

I got 31 miles of paddling, and a little over 4 miles of portages single portaging. If you double portage that would put your portage distance at 12.5 miles and total distance at 43.5. It depends on the exact route you take but this is close.Very doable in 5 days, with some time to fish if you are decent paddlers. If you have a wind bound day, or are slow, it might be a bit more of a challenge. Many people could do it in 2-2 1/2 days but that wouldn't be much fun. Honestly, if you travel early and set up camp by early to mid afternoon you should be able to do some fishing every day, and with BW traffic you should camp early. There are 2-1 mile portages on that route but both are nice portages. Horse river has to be low with the lack of rain which can make it difficult. Have a great trip!

If you take the Horse you'll be going up the Horse not down.

I'd avoid the Horse this year all together. Low water and higher visitor numbers....sounds like a mess to me. You're already on Basswood Lake, head up to the Upper Falls and see a really cool spot while also saving you a couple hours of travel time. (and on your way home take the Friday Bay/Gun/Fourtown route home)

We are doing essentially the same loop the last week of July. Hitting Mudro entry on Sunday the 26th and headed to jackfish bay via Sandpit. Then we are heading down the Basswood River passing all three waterfalls. Plan is to camp the first night somewhere around Upper Basswood falls and then spend all the next day paddling the river and checking out the falls. 2nd camp will be somewhere near Table Rock/Wednesday bay.

Then we are off to the top of friday bay for a two day stay and daytripping over to Curtain falls and other nearby attractions.

After that we are headed south out of friday bay and will grab a campsite somewhere near Gun lake, spend the night there and head for Mudro Exit on the last day hopefully arriving back at the truck around 4:00PM.

Bushman: "We are doing essentially the same loop the last week of July. Hitting Mudro entry on Sunday the 26th and headed to jackfish bay via Sandpit. Then we are heading down the Basswood River passing all three waterfalls. Plan is to camp the first night somewhere around Upper Basswood falls and then spend all the next day paddling the river and checking out the falls. 2nd camp will be somewhere near Table Rock/Wednesday bay.


Then we are off to the top of friday bay for a two day stay and daytripping over to Curtain falls and other nearby attractions.


After that we are headed south out of friday bay and will grab a campsite somewhere near Gun lake, spend the night there and head for Mudro Exit on the last day hopefully arriving back at the truck around 4:00PM."

We did almost that exact trip for my wife's first trip. https://bwca.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=trip.report_view&sel_trp_id=4042

Night one above Upper Falls, night 2 on Wednesday Bay, nights 3 and 4 on island of Friday Bay, night 5 on Gun, night 6 on Fourtown and then out. Super area, good fishing, lots to see and do.

Thank you for everyone's insight.

Does anyone have any pics of camp they would like to share? Paddle-planner only has a couple sites with pictures. What are the best camp sites along the route??

coloray13: "Thank you for everyone's insight.


Does anyone have any pics of camp they would like to share? Paddle-planner only has a couple sites with pictures. What are the best camp sites along the route??"

The "whale island" on the north end of Jackfish Bay....you'll know it when you see it on the map, has a couple decent ones. The island site on north end of Friday Bay is good but so are some others right there. A few good ones near Lower Basswood Falls. Gun to Fourtown has a lot of nice ones.

View from Friday Bay island site.

Site at the "trigger" on Gun.

Just got out this morning. Horse river is extremely low and has several pull through and pull overs. I wouldn't recommend going up the horse, down was bad enough. The 3 portages from Fourtown to Mudro suck because of the water levels.