Has anyone taken them in recent history? I have a Moose Lake permit, and thinking of returning via Snowbank. I see you can hop between Moose and Snowbank via Flash lake but there sure isn't much info on the portages. It's outside of the BWCA so does someone maintain these portages. Just want to make sure that it's a viable route. Thanks.

Brian

Haven't been there for a couple years, but I recall it as a short and wide gravel path. From Flash to Ensign has been floatable, but with low water levels I am unsure.
A very busy route so I am sure it is well worn.

bhouse46: "Haven't been there for a couple years, but I recall it as a short and wide gravel path. From Flash to Ensign has been floatable, but with low water levels I am unsure.
A very busy route so I am sure it is well worn."

Thanks for responding. I'm sure you are thinking of Splash lake, not Flash lake. Flash Lake is connected by portages to Snowbank (140 rods) and Moose (250 rods). All the maps show these portages, but info is hard to come by. One review of the Moose-Flash portage on this site, but nothing on the Snowbank end. Nothing elsewhere on the web that I can find. I can see trails on satellite photo so they must be pretty wide but it would be nice to know they weren't brushed in or whatever. I'm just looking to get back to my car (on Moose) from Snowbank without a shuttle or a too long road walk.

One way to find out I guess.

I might be wrong, but don't the scouts use these portages a fair amount? Maybe call Northern Tier and ask. I did go through there but it was a long time ago - pre-blowdown.

I was just over the portage from Snowbank to Flash on Sunday and it is well groomed and an easy walk.

I have not been over the portage from Flash to Moose recently, but if no one else chimes in with current information, I'll go over and walk it tomorrow and let you know how it looks.

HappyHuskies: "I was just over the portage from Snowbank to Flash on Sunday and it is well groomed and an easy walk.


I have not been over the portage from Flash to Moose recently, but if no one else chimes in with current information, I'll go over and walk it tomorrow and let you know how it looks. "

Thanks! Perfect. I'm not too worried about the Flash to Moose portion. Looks like practically a road from the sat photos. But if you want an excuse to go for a walk....

Thinking Jaywalker must be right about the boy scouts using that route. I wonder if they maintain them too.

Always looking for an excuse to spend a little time in the woods :).

Honestly I expect to find the trail in great shape. I spend more time on these trails in the winter than in the summer and they're usually in great shape. I do not know with certainty that the Boy Scouts maintain these trails, but I expect they do. I know they make extensive use of them in the winter. I see them out with there dog teams and on snow shoes all over the trail network around their base and also on the winter trail up to Horseshoe Island.

My understanding is that the Scouts also run a dogsled trip that runs up Moose, New Found, Ensign, then drops down to Snowbank and comes back to the base over the portage trail between Snowbank and Moose. In the past I believe White Wilderness led these trips for them, but I don't know what happened last year.

Anyway, I'll get over to the trail in question this morning and check it out. I may take the trail around Flash and spend a little time on the Snowbank Trail while I'm at it. Looks to be a nice morning, though it's going to be plenty warm this afternoon.

I just got back from going across the portages from Snowbank to Moose via Flash Lake and have to say I was surprised. First the good news ... the portages are in very, very good condition. Well maintained and wide. As I mentioned earlier, the portage from Snowbank to Flash is great. Nothing of note to report on the section.

The next section surprised me. While it is also in great condition, after you leave Flash Lake you come to a split in the trail. The right fork follows the portage trail marked on my Fisher F-10 map. According to the map this would put you back at the Moose Lake entry point. Unfortunately if you follow this trail you will be greeted with a "Private Property - No Trespassing" sign. I assume this is at the boundary of the Scout Base. If you take the left fork it will take you to the Secret-Blackstone trailhead. This could still work and it is is good condition, but is a bit longer than the marked portage and you'd still have to hike down the road to the Moose Lake landing.

It's been quite a while since I've been over the portage from Flash Lake to Moose, but I have to say I was surprised by the change.

Anyway, hope this helps. If you want additional information I think you'd need to contact the Scout Base.

Let us know how your trip goes ...it sounds like fun!

Wow, HappyHuskies has set an unmatchably high standard for providing trail intel! Very impressive HH!

HappyHuskies: "I just got back from going across the portages from Snowbank to Moose via Flash Lake and have to say I was surprised. First the good news ... the portages are in very, very good condition. Well maintained and wide. As I mentioned earlier, the portage from Snowbank to Flash is great. Nothing of note to report on the section.

The next section surprised me. While it is also in great condition, after you leave Flash Lake you come to a split in the trail. The right fork follows the portage trail marked on my Fisher F-10 map. According to the map this would put you back at the Moose Lake entry point. Unfortunately if you follow this trail you will be greeted with a "Private Property - No Trespassing" sign. I assume this is at the boundary of the Scout Base. If you take the left fork it will take you to the Secret-Blackstone trailhead. This could still work and it is is good condition, but is a bit longer than the marked portage and you'd still have to hike down the road to the Moose Lake landing.


It's been quite a while since I've been over the portage from Flash Lake to Moose, but I have to say I was surprised by the change.

Anyway, hope this helps. If you want additional information I think you'd need to contact the Scout Base.


Let us know how your trip goes ...it sounds like fun! "

Thanks for the intel!

Just portaged Snowbank to Flash to Moose yesterday for the end of our trip at LaTourell's (whom are awesome, btw). Completely concur with Huskies commentary above and will add a tad more:

Snowbank to Flash is one of the widest portages we've encountered and very little elevation change. Very nice.

Flash to Moose is the same wideness/flatness as the previous mentioned but with the same aforementioned quizzical fork in the road. Our McKenzie maps show the scouts trails as well as the portages so we saw what we assumed was this fork. Per our reading of the map, it was also suggested we take the right fork to follow the portage. Alas, we ended up in the Boy Scout camp too greeted by the same No Trespassing signs. In our defense, we stood at that fork for a few minutes and corroborated our map with the little blue diamond markings on both paths (that I now assume the Scouts maintain?) by the fact that the right fork had a "C" in their diamond and the left fork had a square. "Ah ha, C for Canoe! Go right!" was our thinking. *facepalm*

When reaching LaTourell's, they said we were far from the only ones to make the same fork in the road mistake. A small "Portage this way" sign would go a long ways at that fork.

Just got back. Thanks Huskies for the heads up about the fork. We walked straight thru without a problem. Must be the boy scouts taking care of those portages. Pretty deluxe walk boards in one spot, and crushed rock in another. It was a nice way to get back to the truck though I realize a lot of people would be put off by the length. We dropped our packs at the Snowbank landing so we could single trip the portages. I noticed a campsite near the Flash-Moose portage....person could start their trip by spotting a vehicle at Snowbank or moose and camping on Flash.

Glad to hear it worked out for you ... great idea to drop the packs before the portage. It really is an incredibly well groomed portage. Best I've ever seen.

Hope it was a good trip overall. I was on the Kek trail yesterday and the weather in the woods was grand. Now if we could just get some badly needed rain!

Those portages likely are the same trails we snowshoed and xc skiied on during their winter program 2 years ago. We spent a lot of time on & around Flash lake.