Hello,
Looking for suggestions for interesting but easy routes for 8 day trip from Moose Lake (25) mid June. Preferably min portage first day or two. Anything in the area that is a must to see? We have several 11-12 years olds and older adults so trying to keep it simple but interesting, Thank you!

The route to Knife has 4-5 (depending how you count them) portages but they are all easy. There are tons of day trip options from Knife including Isle of Pine, Thunder Point, and Eddy Falls. The fishing is excellent as well. The other option is Ensign which has 2 portages, both very easy. The only real destination IMO is Cattyman Falls which is surely awesome, but Ensign always feels busy to me. If you like fishing, Ensign is a worthy lake of picking apart, as are Trident and Ashigan.

My vote is for Knife, but I'm an unabashed Knife fan, especially in the spring with the fishing that comes with that time of year. Your exit route would be the same way you came in, though you could also exit through Vera>Ensign>Splash, which has 2 hard portages between Knife and Ensign, but it is a different route.

I should mention, too, that I highly recommend getting a tow to either Birch or Splash lake, to save yourselves hours of paddling on the way there and back. It's worth the price and then some and lets you spend most of your time enjoying the interior.

Agreed,8 days is plenty of time. Even if you take 2 days to get there and 2 to get out that's still 4 on Knife. Get a tow and spend a day on Birch getting the hang of stuff. Head for Knife the next day if all is well. Come out a few days later the same way

Green, a couple questions. Why Moose in particular? Do you already have a permit there? Nothing wrong with it but there's lots of other options too.

Do you want to travel every day or go in a couple days and basecamp? Loop trip or is out and back okay? What's most important, scenery, solitude, fishing, ease of route, etc? Do you or any of your group have any experience in the BWCA or camping in general?

Answers to these questions will help...not that there's anything wrong with answers you have already gotten:)

Hello,
Yes, we have Moose permits. Adults have lots of experience, kids not so much. Most are small frame, and carrying food for that many days may be an issue, therefore concern about hard portages. Goal is to survive, have fun, get 50 miles paddling patch and see views kids can enjoy/ remember.

Thank you!

You could skip the tow and go against 95% of the people headed out of Moose and turn left part way up the lake and take the single portage into Wind lake. Fair number of sites...one portage just long enough to make you earn it but then you're "there". Some well reviewed campsites. Setup base camp there. See how things go for a day or two. If the forecast is good (if you have a weather radio?) you could head for Basswood to your west which is one more portage away. On just a day trip so you're not loaded down or pack up camp and move. But parts of Basswood do allow motors so check on that.

I still like my original idea of getting a tow to the Birch portage. You only have an hour or two of paddling that first day to find camp on Birch. Everyone gets chores figured out and tents setup and that. Fish, paddle around, whatever. Then the next day is a layover to just fish and explore the heck out of stuff. Then if all is well be ready to move early on day 3 up the easy portages to knife. Spend days whatever in the middle of the trip there. Then you can head back to the tow pickup in a day or you can go back to Birch for one night if you want so your last day is short again.

May I ask how long it would take to make it from Moose to Newfound then Birch? (moving with young group about 5 hrs a day?) Then how long from Birch to Isle of Pines? The to Bonnie area to South Arm Knife? Any camp sites or areas to see/avoid? South Arm knife or up to Knife Lake? Thank you!

Green : "Hello,
Yes, we have Moose permits. Adults have lots of experience, kids not so much. Most are small frame, and carrying food for that many days may be an issue, therefore concern about hard portages. Goal is to survive, have fun, get 50 miles paddling patch and see views kids can enjoy/ remember. "

You only need one permit. Unless you've got more than 9 people or more than 4 boats....and then you need to travel separately and stay at separate campsites.

MM: "May I ask how long it would take to make it from Moose to Newfound then Birch? (moving with young group about 5 hrs a day?) Then how long from Birch to Isle of Pines? The to Bonnie area to South Arm Knife? Any camp sites or areas to see/avoid? South Arm knife or up to Knife Lake? Thank you!"

If you're planning on paddling that whole opening stretch to portage into Birch....2-3 hours depending on the weather and how fast you and your canoes are. You'll have motor boats going back and forth past you on Moose and Newfound. (and you can hire one of them at one of the Moose outfitters to give you and your stuff a ride cutting that time out)

Birch to Isle of Pines is more how efficient you are at portaging. If you don't have loose gear and can get everything across in one trip, you could do that in 3 hours. If you have a yard sale at every landing and take 3 trips across each portage it could take you most of the day to get there.

In all, from Moose entry to Isle of Pines...if you hire a tow boat to get you to the portage into Birch and are good at portaging....you could be at Isle of Pines in 4 hours give or take. If you don't hire a boat and aren't the most efficient at portaging...it could be an all day effort if you attempted it in a day.

Last summer, I did a trip with some friends for a few days. Our first day we went Moose-->Newfound-->Sucker-->Ensign. Technically, it is two portages, but they are both very short (40 and 10 rods, respectively) and if you're willing to pull the canoe upstream through the stream connecting Sucker-->Ensign, you don't even need to portage.

Second day, we went Ensign-->Ashigan-->Gibson-->Cattyman-->Jordan. The portages into and out of Ashigan aren't the easiest portages in the world (50 and 100 rods, respectively), but they're not brutal by any means. Cattyman portage is a great place to stop for lunch and check out the falls too. We spent the night on Jordan lake at the 3rd campsite that has an enormous sand beach. Tons of space and a great location. The narrows between Jordan and Ima are really neat too. Alternatively, you could head south out of Cattyman towards Disappointment and check out that area.

Hope this is helpful. I know everyone has already mentioned bigger lakes, but if you're looking for some smaller ones, heading East from Moose may be a good choice. Have a great trip!

Time of year is important as is day of week and time of day. Maybe you said and I missed it.

I like paddling Moose - have done it in July and August, but September and October more often. The motor on tow boats have never bothered me, but I have tried to avoid Saturdays and Sundays which seem to be busier. You can be in Birch in under 3 hours (perhaps 2 orso if you're better than you let on) without a portage - all paddle - and towards other end in 3 1/2 to 4 - not a bad location to get to Knife early the next say with the portages, and have more campsite choices.

We all have different experiences, likes and dislikes, and views. Just sharing those of a 69 year old who started canoeing BWCA with a 12 year old son 20 years ago. Wherever you go, as long as group is not overtired, you'll have a great time. (There is one all bog all the time portage in Quetico you might avoid.)

We took 3 adults and 6 scouts 12-13 July of 2019. We paddled from Canadian Border Outfitters on the west end of Moose, up to see Prairie portage, across Birch and camped in Carp for night one. Then headed through the 4-5 portages into South Arm Knife, all the way to the site next to Eddy Falls by afternoon of day 2. This site was beautiful! Took a day trip fishing and up Eddy falls (absolutely a must see). Stayed night 3 in the same sight. Day 4 had a tough time battling the wind, but made it to the South Arm Knife site closest to the 4-5 portages. Last day paddled all the way back to base. Just made the 50 miles. Adults carried the canoes but kids carried packs just fine. We had kids carry canoes on the last portage 5 rods out of Birch.
Can’t wait to go back either 2022 or 2023 with the same group of boys at 15-17