About 23 years ago my wife and I planned to go into the boundary waters for a vacation. We were going in from entry point 23 and we were doing a big loop up thru horse lake thru horse river to crooked lake and back down thru gun lake to fourtown lake back to the entry point. My wife got pregnant and we decided to cancel the trip. I always wanted to go again but never did it.
Now I am 60 years old and I am interested in going to the boundary waters again. My wife is not interested so a good friend and I are starting to think about going. I found this wonderful web site and have read many trip reports and information about the water levels dropping and the fires that were burning this year.
I do not want to put together a marathon trip. I do not want a trip that I have to get from one point to another day to day so that I can make it back to the pick up point on time. I want to get into the boundary waters get away from the crowds and do some fishing. Possibly paddle for a day or two to get to a spot for a base camp then spend a few days fishing from that camp. Possibly portage to other lakes to fish for the day then come back to the base camp.
Entry point 23 seems good but it sounds like the permits for this point are gone in the first few minutes when they open up the registration. Entry point 24 looks to have more permits but it is in an area where motors are allowed so you would need to go a long way to get away from the crowds and the motors. The more I look at the maps and read the different information the more confused I get.

So I am asking what would be a good entry point to do the trip that I am looking to do and what lakes are the best for fishing and being away from the crowds. Any information would be great. I am just starting my planning. I am open for any suggestions.

Thanks
Roger L

Roger, glad you want to go again. I'll see if I can find a link but there's a great thread on "half day" entry points or lakes. Basically what's a half day or so of traveling from an EP that has......X Y or Z. (fishing, waterfalls, cliffs, etc)

And say you're going for five days or something. You could do your half day in or so. Camp for night 1 and 2. If you see another lake on the map or whatever, hop over and spend the other few nights there. Basecamping can mean staying in one spot the whole time each night or you can kind of basecamp, move again to another basecamp, and head out.

Some of the ones that come to mind right away is 22/23 like you mentioned but yes it's popular. What time of year are you thinking?

Otherwise....Homer Lake, Baker Lake, Hog Creek to Perent Lk, Lizz to Horseshoe area, Sawbill, etc are all great options for what you're wanting.

Last couple years have been unusually crowded, in my view. I'm sure others will tell you the same. I assume you are looking at a 2022 trip.

My two cents:

Head towards the eastern end of Lac La Croix.

If it were me I would look to get a tow into Lac La Croix, ideally all the way to Bottle Portage if the Canadian side opens. I prefer Anderson's (Crane Lake, MN) for the tow. LLC is a great fishing lake, holds Lake Trout as well, and when the Canadian side isn't open its fairly quiet (not many motor boats on the Canadian side), especially on the eastern end in the Lady Boot Bay area down to Boulder Bay. Iron Lake has good fishing and you can day trip from Iron into Crooked Lake, also good fishing. There other lakes in the Lady Boot Bay area as well, including Pocket and Ge-be-on-e-quet.

Another option to get into LLC is to head in at EP 16 up to Lake Agnes and then onto Boulder Bay, southeastern end of LLC. This gets you into Boulder Bay (lots of good island camp sites) and all the way north to Fish Steak Narrows is great fishing. Day trip into Iron via Bottle Portage and check out Curtin Falls, and possibly Crooked.

Last time I was up that way was in May last year (EP 16) and in August last year (tow to western end of LLC) and it wasn't crowded, compared to other areas I was in last year and earlier this year. Fishing was excellent in May...and worse in August, thought we caught fish every day.

If Canada and Quetico are open/accessible next spring I would highly recommend getting a tow from Anderson's to Bottle or McAree. McAree, Rebecca Falls, Crooked, Argo, the Roland Chain, etc are all excellent for fishing and there are much fewer people.

Thank you for all of the good information. The trip will be sometime after June 2022. I am thinking late August or early September.
EP 16 looks interesting. I will keep looking at the maps and read more trip reports from EP16.

Thanks Again
Roger L

16 is a good one. But if you're not wanting to move camp after your first night....depending on how early you start and how fast you move you may only make it to Agnes. Can still easily day trip from there to LLC and Iron if you choose. But yes, if you want to spend extra $$ you can get a tow at least to the western side of LLC depending on the border situation you can get all the way to the east side of the big lake on a boat. (on the Canadian side)

You'll also see plenty of people in that area (Agnes, SE part of LLC) compared to some others.

The numbers I was mentioning would be 22/23, 38, 39, 40, 66, 47.
Depending on where you'd go, it could be less people and less distance to cover before your desired lake(s)

Don't rule out 22/23 completely. I have entered #22/restricted the first week of September and had pleasant weather and it wasn't crowded. in fact, I had Moosecamp Lake to myself for a couple of days. My route was a clockwise loop to Moosecamp and back thru Moosecamp creek. I believe it was in 2018. Of course, that was pre-Covid and traffic has increased since.
Rocky portages at the start and end of the trip. w/ ankle twisters, so tread carefully if you venture there.
I rarely fish and didn't on that trip so can't comment on that subject. Worth mentioning the parking lot was nearly full the day I entered so I expected the lakes to be heavily occupied. They weren't. Where did everyone go? Horse Lake, most likely.

If I go into EP 16 do I need to worry about the water level in Moose River and Nina Moose River? I have read trip reports saying that people took 7 hours to navigate Horse River. From the maps Horse River looks to be larger than Moose river.

Thanks
Roger L

rogerl123: "If I go into EP 16 do I need to worry about the water level in Moose River and Nina Moose River? I have read trip reports saying that people took 7 hours to navigate Horse River. From the maps Horse River looks to be larger than Moose river.


Thanks
Roger L "

No, you should be fine. The horse river is full of boulders when low. Worst case for the Nina Moose might be an extra beaver dam or two.

The East end of Lac La Croix is one of my favorite places in the BW.

Welcome to the board!

Another entry point to consider is #47 Lizz / Swamp Lake. Start your paddle on Poplar Lake off the Gunflint Trail and head south. Portages are short and easy. Two or three portages and you're there with plenty of campsites and lots of neighboring lakes to explore and fish.

Good luck in your planning. It's going to be a long 9-10 months of planning and anticipation for you. :)

rogerl123: "If I go into EP 16 do I need to worry about the water level in Moose River and Nina Moose River? I have read trip reports saying that people took 7 hours to navigate Horse River. From the maps Horse River looks to be larger than Moose river.


Thanks
Roger L "

What brux said. While EP 16 to Boulder Bay is roughly the same distance from EP 23 to Lower Basswood Falls via the Horse River, personably I feel like the latter takes longer and is a higher level of difficulty. The Horse River can be bit of a challenge in low water and a extra portage or two. And once you get on the Horse River you’re committed to getting to the Lower Basswood Falls area.

Thank you again for all of the very good information. I have until early January to decide which entry point to go into. I am sure I will have more questions before then. At this point EP 16 is my first choice. A close second is EP 27

Roger L

How long do you have for your trip? The route you described can be done in 4 reasonable (but long) travel days.

Given your circumstances I would take a week to make your original route. This will allow a couple layover days to stop and smell the roses.

Or you can basecamp on horse lake and be done with it. Awesome fishing and a super fun daytrip to lower basswood falls.