My dad and I are headed out in mid July. It’s
My first trip; my dad has gone a couple times. Funny sidetrack, that’s where he met my mom. Anyways..

Planning on going in at EP47. Think of winding our way down Lizz, through Caribou, and hopping to snag this far away campsite on Horseshoe. We might change camp once during the week, but a loop isn’t necessarily the goal.

That said, any great day trip ideas for that area. I’ve read Horseshoe will be a great wildlife lake. We’re not huge fishermen but it also sounds like we could catch dinner. I’ve done a fair of amount of reading on this board and I’m looking forward to any advice y’all could share. What’s your do’s & don’ts for this area? Thanks!

A fun fairly short daytrip we took while in the area was the Jake, Morgan, Carl, and Lux Lakes loop. To get there from Horseshoe you need to go to Vista lake and paddle down its eastern arm.

Head over to Winchell Lake and climb the path to the top of the cliffs. Find the waterfall on the south shore of the lake.

Ogema is a pretty lake. We passed a campsite that has a rock that is not too tall that may have good jumping into the lake possibilities.

Just paddle around Horseshoe Lake. There is a good possibility that you may encounter a moose or two!

We took a group of scouts into this are last Summer - I put up a trip report that may help you. We stayed on Horseshoe one night and then moved onto Gaskin where we stayed two nights. The best day we had was taking a daytrip from Gaskin to the waterfall on the south side of Winchell. It's a fairly long paddle but very much worth it. On the way back there was a Moose on the Gaskin side of the Winchell/Gaskin portage.

It was a 4 night trip. We were going to come back through Meeds but the wind was brutal so we ended up going through Jump and Allen Lakes into Horseshoe before spending our last night on Caribou. Allen to me looked really interesting and "fishy".

If you are going for a full week, I would encourage you to think about doing at least a couple of different campsites. Maybe stay 3 days on Horseshoe, doing day trips south and east and then 2-3 days on Gaskin doing day trips from there to cover more territory. Alternately, maybe 3 days on Horseshoe and a couple on Vista.

In general, the main portages in this area are well used and pretty easy. We found the shorter portages from Gaskin through Jump and Allen to be a little more challenging. Campsites were a little hard to come by last August. Hard to say what it will be like this summer.

The best fishing we had was on Horseshoe where we caught the only Walleye of the trip, but we did catch a handful of smallies between Winchell and Gaskin.

Horseshoe is in my top 5 of favorite lakes in the BW. All the campsites are good to very good. Only three portages none too tough and Caribou to Horseshoe is over almost before it begins. The only downside is because it is easy to access it can get busy and all but #639 and #676 are fairly close together.

Poplar Lake can get testy in the wind so get an early start. Rockwood Outfitters is great if you need gear etc.

EP 47 is one of our favorites for an easy trip. Portages are relatively easy and short. Also small water to paddle. Plus it can be a moose highway. Caribou is often busy but if you go one lake further to Horseshoe Lake, you may find a spot easier and that's where seeing a moose is highly likely.


The first trip we took there a few years back, we saw 7 moose in two days. It was really cool. Horseshoe can be busy as well but we found a campsite there in mid July without a problem.

I also love Gaskin lake, which is one lake farther and can also be busy but we've had great luck getting fabulous campsites there too.


Mama Moose and twin calves

There's a fishing hole in the bottom left arm of Horseshoe where the arm widens up a bit. Find the walleye hanging out in there. As others have said its a very nice area, and it is true Horseshoe has some great campsites. The only knock id say was all the portage landings were pretty damn rocky got a few doinks.

Thanks everyone! Great information and some things I hadn’t thought of yet. Secured the permit today so I’m starting to get pretty excited.

Plan to arrive at Horseshoe around 11:00 am to catch a campsite as people leave. Horseshoe is a popular destination and often fills quickly. You have certainly done your research...great wildlife viewing. Winchell is a beautiful lake...just avoid on a windy day if you have less experienced paddlers. The portages around this area are generally well traveled and in good condition so day trip opportunities are plentiful.

Any suggestions on which campsites have the best shore fishing in the area? We are bringing our 2 little ones and while canoe fishing is easy with adults the kids may be a pain. We plan to do a mix of both but it would be nice to find a site with decent fishing. Most likely going to stay on Horseshoe