Hope everyone is having a great summer, staying safe and hopefully getting out in the BWCA! I'm excited to get back out there in August with my family for my 2nd trip this year.

Next year, I'm planning on doing a 7 day trip with a group of buddies. None of them have been to the BWCA but after seeing my photos and reading my trip reports they all want to experience it for themselves. My question to you is a vague one - what lake/lakes would you recommend for 6 rookies and 2 "vets". All we will want to do is relax and fish. Prefer just to basecamp and move around from there and if we had to portage, I know they will all want an easier route. Time of year I'm thinking is either first week of June or last week of August.

We are all in our early 30's and the 6 have good back packing knowledge but haven't done much paddling.

Thank you for your feedback and suggestions.

Happy Paddling!

Depending on put-in date, maybe Lake One-Two-Three might work well. Simple put-in, easy to get in and out, and there are plenty of opportunities to venture out to other lakes in the vicinity. A lot of people base camp on Lake One. Granted it can become a bit of a zoo on summer weekends.

LISN is also a good option. A bit more work, but once to Shell, Little Shell, Lynx, etc, you'll have a nice area to fish.

Others probably have better ideas than me.

Mike

How easy of a route is easy? (to get to basecamp) Couple easy portages, no portages.....where did you go already and how would you rate that as far as easy/hard?

cyclones30: "How easy of a route is easy? (to get to basecamp) Couple easy portages, no portages.....where did you go already and how would you rate that as far as easy/hard?"

In May I did EP 23 - Mudro up to Fairy over to Moosecamp, down the Moosecamp River to Fourtown and then exited through EP23. I would rate that as a moderate paddle overall.

One part that might be difficult for an easier route is I would like as much seclusion and privacy as possible.

Entry 36 - Hog Creek - Paddle Hog Creek to Perent Lake. Only one choice for day trips, but I hear the fishing is good, but watch out for windy days.

Entry 37 - Kawishiwi Lake - Travel a half day to Lake Polly - Good Fishing, Nice scenery. Day trip north to Koma/Malberg or east through the Phoebe River to Hazel Lake.

Entry 38 - Sawbill Lake - Option 1 - Stay right there on Sawbill (No portages). Plenty good fishing and nice day trip options. Option 2 - Head east to the Fire Lakes. Burnt Lake (two portages) is nice spot with good fishing options. Daytrip to Kelly Lake for exercise. Option 3 - Alton Lake - Alton Lake (One portage) has nice campsites and good fishing, but beware the wind. It has a long fetch north to south and can become dangerous quickly. Day trip north to Kelso and west to Beth

Entry 39 - Baker Lake - You are headed to Jack Lake(three short easy portages). The peninsula site is the better of the two. Good chance to see moose. Visit the abandoned gold mine. Day trip to South Temperance.

Entry 40 - Homer Lake - Stay on Vern Lake(two short portages). Day trip to Pipe and Juno Lakes.

Entry 41 - Brule Lake - Beware the wind here. Option 1 - Stay on Brule. Day trips east, north, west. Option 2 - Temperance Lakes(one or two short easy portages). Love South Temperance! Day trip back to Brule if the wind allows or to Cherokee Lake.

Entry 47 - Lizz Lake (Poplar Lake start). Head to Horseshoe Lake(3 short easy portages). Very good chance to see moose. Lots of day trip options.

Entry 54 - Seagull Lake - Beware the wind (but lots of islands to to use as wind breaks). Option 1 - Stay on Seagull. Good fishing. This lake allows motorized watercraft so you might see and hear motors on the water. Option 2 - Head to Ogishkemuncie Lake (4 relatively short easy portages) - Premier fishing lake. Lots of day trip options.

Hope I have given you some ideas. Have fun researching!

Michwall2: "Entry 36 - Hog Creek - Paddle Hog Creek to Perent Lake. Only one choice for day trips, but I hear the fishing is good, but watch out for windy days.


Entry 37 - Kawishiwi Lake - Travel a half day to Lake Polly - Good Fishing, Nice scenery. Day trip north to Koma/Malberg or east through the Phoebe River to Hazel Lake.


Entry 38 - Sawbill Lake - Option 1 - Stay right there on Sawbill (No portages). Plenty good fishing and nice day trip options. Option 2 - Head east to the Fire Lakes. Burnt Lake (two portages) is nice spot with good fishing options. Daytrip to Kelly Lake for exercise. Option 3 - Alton Lake - Alton Lake (One portage) has nice campsites and good fishing, but beware the wind. It has a long fetch north to south and can become dangerous quickly. Day trip north to Kelso and west to Beth


Entry 39 - Baker Lake - You are headed to Jack Lake(three short easy portages). The peninsula site is the better of the two. Good chance to see moose. Visit the abandoned gold mine. Day trip to South Temperance.


Entry 40 - Homer Lake - Stay on Vern Lake(two short portages). Day trip to Pipe and Juno Lakes.


Entry 41 - Brule Lake - Beware the wind here. Option 1 - Stay on Brule. Day trips east, north, west. Option 2 - Temperance Lakes(one or two short easy portages). Love South Temperance! Day trip back to Brule if the wind allows or to Cherokee Lake.


Entry 47 - Lizz Lake (Poplar Lake start). Head to Horseshoe Lake(3 short easy portages). Very good chance to see moose. Lots of day trip options.


Entry 54 - Seagull Lake - Beware the wind (but lots of islands to to use as wind breaks). Option 1 - Stay on Seagull. Good fishing. This lake allows motorized watercraft so you might see and hear motors on the water. Option 2 - Head to Ogishkemuncie Lake (4 relatively short easy portages) - Premier fishing lake. Lots of day trip options.


Hope I have given you some ideas. Have fun researching!"

Thank you! This is what I am looking for. Some great options to look into.

Most of ones mentioned already are great, but you aren't getting seclusion with most of those. (but as you said, hard to do for an easy trip in)

If you truly want seclusion...you'll have to look for more out of the way spots but near entries. Dead end lakes, smaller lakes not on main travel routes, etc.

A few ideas that fit...either a Larch Creek or Magnetic Lk entry and head down the granite river (north). Camp on Larch, Clove, Marabeouf, etc. The easy way to end the trip would be continue down the river and end at the end of the Gunflint trail on Sag. Then you'd need another vehicle already parked there or have outfitter give you ride at the start or end of trip.

Homer Lk entry already mentioned would fit too.

Michwall covered a lot of great options. I've done many of these and he is spot on. I'll add a couple more. I would also suggest maybe dividing up your trip into two base camps. 3 Nights in each.

*Moose Lake EP25: Get a tow up to Ensign. You can stay on Ensign or go a bit further into Ima and do a lot of day trips. Haven't been there for awhile but we caught a good number of fish in this area (especially on Ensign). Here you could do a second base Camp on Birch with minimal portaging or Disappointment or Snowbank if you are willing to do a few longer portages.

* Brant or Missing Link EP51 or EP52: Both going into the same area. Would be some work to get there but Little Saganaga is one of my favorite lakes I have been on and has 7 portages out of the lake for day trip options, or just explore the dozens of islands. Tuscarora is also a beautiful lake off of this route and basecamp option that has Lake Trout - which should still be relatively shallow if you go first week of June.

And another option - EP55 Saganaga
Catch a tow from Seagull or Voyaguers outfitters to American point. From there it is a fairly easy trek to Ester, Hanson, or a bit further to South Arm of Knife Lake. The you could do a second base camp on Ogish (as mentioned in Michwall's point). Somewhat long day of paddling to get out from there but IMHO worth it!

Cricket67: "And another option - EP55 Saganaga
Catch a tow from Seagull or Voyaguers outfitters to American point. From there it is a fairly easy trek to Ester, Hanson, or a bit further to South Arm of Knife Lake. The you could do a second base camp on Ogish (as mentioned in Michwall's point). Somewhat long day of paddling to get out from there but IMHO worth it!"

I would second this recommendation especially if one heads into Ester or further. Next year will likely (fingers crossed!) see less crowds and paddling the hour or so from American point to the lift-over and then Monument portage would be relatively easy before hitting the Ester portage. Sag itself could provide a lot of basecamp/fishing options as well. Seagull into Ogish is a fairly easy in terms of portages and offers good fishing depending on how long you choose to be in.

I just went from Moose River North up to Lac LaCroix. I was surprised at how easy it was to get there. The portages were all very manageable. You have the pictographs, boulder river, the bottle portage over to Iron ... enough interesting things to allow basecamping. I think this one is easier than the route you described as moderate.

More important than the entry location is getting a firm commitment in the form of a $200.00 non refundable payment to you. You will be doing good to get all 6 to actually go and less likelihood of backing out the week before you go is great without this payment. "Cash talks, BS walks". This should be collected by February 1.

I suggest reading the Base Camping Forum located on the menu page of this site.