Is there a good winter route from Basswood to Crooked? I'm assuming Basswood river and horse river are generally not passable.

Never heard of a route. Not directly at least.

I've gone from Friday Bay to Papoose-Chippewa-Wagosh (camped). Next day was Gun- Fairy- Boot (camped). Next day was Fourtown-Horse- Tin Can Mike(camped). Next day Sandpit- Range River- Jackfish Bay (camped). This was a winter semester Outward Bound course I was co-leading. This was the later portion of our trip (day 12 thru 16). We had 2 dog teams and skiers. At this point our students were dialed in and conditions--though cold--were prime. No slush and enough snow to make portage's doable and not a slog. Our students were moving toward an independent final, so my co-instructor and I were more or less shadowing our students after Wagosh. This was Jan.- Feb. 2007. I know most people are probably not going to have access to dog teams, but in many ways traveling just by skis and pulks can actually be simpler and faster (though there always many variables...). Though this is the reverse of your route question (from Crooked to Basswood) this route could be done the either way. Hope this is helpful!

I read a trip report a few years back on the now defunct wintertrekking site. A guy skied the border route of bwca and Voyagers solo in February. It was something like 220 miles in 21 days. If my memory serves me right his post said he wasn’t sure if the route was doable because of the Basswood River section. When he got there he was able find a way through doing scouting, using portages and skirting the shoreline. I also think Dave Freeman traveled this section on a trip several years ago but I can’t find anything on the internet about it anymore.