Can anyone suggest an entry point that has a very difficult initial start? Long portage or long paddle.
Thanks and Happy Permit Day!

What's your idea of a long paddle? EP 58 South Lake might fit the bill. You can paddle roughly 10 miles down the entire length of Gunflint Lake, float through little Gunflint and little North into North Lake, then paddle across the fat part of North Lake to get to the height of land portage and then finally enter the BWCA at South Lake. Both Gunflint and North can feel like big water depending on the weather.

Angleworm?

Angleworm is the toughest I have done. Stuart is no joke, especially coming back out.

And, if you are a real glutton for punishment, come out from Angleworm through Trease and the Hegman Lakes.

schweady: "And, if you are a real glutton for punishment, come out from Angleworm through Trease and the Hegman Lakes.
"

I went in and out this way once and yes it was tough. We then tacked on a little portage from Angleworm into Home just for good measure. That was decades ago and I would not be up for that anymore. Trease to Angleworm was probably my most challenging portage ever.

Entry to Crab from Burntside is another tough start with a 1-mile+ portage right off the bat.

EP Missing Link and head to tuscarora and continue west. long portage.

EP 52 Brant enty but go through round lake and two ponds before hitting brant and continue west. terribly rocky portages, i never understood why people chose to do multiple short portages, getting in and out of canoe, loading and unloading... when they could just take 2 longer portages and enjoy the woods.

EP 45 Morgan has mile portage from parking area to lake, then shorter portages after and eventually leads you to a busier area horseshoe, gaskin....

EP 54 Seagull but then take the Paulsen/Jap portage and since i've never done it i guess don't know where you end up, but plenty of folks on here have done it, lived to tell, and posted awesome photos.

EP 52 Brant again...but when you get to Flying, or is it Faye, anyway you head north through a series of small lakes/ponds and eventually get to Seahorse and French. beautiful area, burned in the 2007 fire but has some good regrowth. i think this area is for someone looking for more adventure than a leisure trip

Saganaga to the Falls Chain, assuming the border can be crossed and you thumb your nose at the idea of a tow. Bring enough freeboard …. ;-)

Oops - just saw you have a Malecite. Bring the prayer beads instead. ;-)

I would echo Angleworm...and though I've not done it, I too have heard that the Trease>Angleworm one is harder, though shorter.

MidwestFirecraft: "Angleworm is the toughest I have done. Stuart is no joke, especially coming back out. "

+1 on Angleworm.

It's a fairly rugged way into Sunday Lake and ultimately Iron lake. That initial portage is not for the weak of heart.

Take Burntside to the Crab ep.

sns: "I would echo Angleworm...and though I've not done it, I too have heard that the Trease>Angleworm one is harder, though shorter."

While in basecamp on Angleworm, we looked over the map for alternatives to going back out over that long entry. "Hey, THIS way is shorter!" Do not be fooled by a map. We came out through Hegman and I alerted our group photographer of the nice pictographs ahead. He never looked up.

IF you want the worst- trying portaging up the Grand Portage to Fort Charlotte- ( A FULL 9 MILES) than going UPSTREAM on the Pigeon River. ( English Rapids area-- give me nightmares going downstream) Do the Fowl portage ( not for the faint of heart) and be on South Fowl Lake. There is no entry permit for this area for a reason- the closest to be legal would be Little John. And then continue into Moose or even Pine which are fully in the BW. Never done this- but have buddies that have done the Border Route backwards. You asked for tough initial entry-- this about as tough as it gets.

I'd echo the ones mentioned already. But one that hasn't would be Little Indian Sioux South. Very small waters for a while and not much for campsites for a ways. There's a reason very few permits are even allowed here.

schweady: "And, if you are a real glutton for punishment, come out from Angleworm through Trease and the Hegman Lakes.
"

This.Is.Truth.

Poplar Lake to Meeds Lake is no prize. Long, very rocky, lots of up and downs, very rocky landing on the Meeds side. Did it solo. Met two USFS Rangers at the Meeds side, and watch one of them slip and fall into the water. Luckily, no injuries. He did not appreciate my "must be wet footing" comment.

The Grace Lake to Ella portage is not that long, but the Grace end is a sizable pile of ankle breakers.

I also second the Tuscarora portage as being quite a tough one. Never want to do it again, having done it a few times.

Tomster

We did the Stuart River a few years ago and the long portage at the beginning put a pretty good dent in our energy level for the day. We were hoping to get to Iron on that trip but ended up staying on Stuart which ended up just fine. We had an excellent campsite, saw nobody and the fishing was pretty good too.

DeanL: "We did the Stuart River a few years ago and the long portage at the beginning put a pretty good dent in our energy level for the day. We were hoping to get to Iron on that trip but ended up staying on Stuart which ended up just fine. We had an excellent campsite, saw nobody and the fishing was pretty good too."

It's interesting how I picked Stuart River in 2019 because Beymer mentioned it's difficulty and availability. Within 1 day Stuart is booked out through July!

If you really want tough, make sure you do the Trease/Angleworm portage after it's been raining for four or five days straight.

Sawbill to the Wine area is a pretty tough entry day. The portage from Kelso is 400 rods and that helps filter the amount of traffic.

Seagull and head into Paulson.

Already mentioned, but Stuart River comes to mind. Portage is wide and fairly flat, but so long. It takes some serious time if you're doubling.

4keys: "Take Burntside to the Crab ep."

+1 and don't take a tow!

(I mean we did, but we didn't want to be that hardcore, haha)

Big lake to big moose lake is challenging but interesting. The angleworm portage is just long. Angleworm to tease is soul crushing, waste deep mud is not fun

Well, you could always park your car in Grand Marais, and walk to Sag. That first 15 miles up hill is a bitch though. On the plus side, that portage hasn't been muddy since the 70's.

Not sure on your purpose for the difficult start - if it is to get away from the crowds to a remote area this might not be the ultimate but anyways...Put in at Ram Lake and head towards Vista Lake. There are 6 portages to get to Vista including one from the vehicle that vary from mild to moderately challenging...except portage #5. The portage from Little Trout to Misquah has a reputation as one of the toughest in the BWCA, deservedly so. 250 rods of pretty much everything a nasty portage can throw at you with particular emphasis on elevation change and rocks. One more portage from there brings you to Vista lake which IMO is one of the prettier lakes in the BWCA. 3 campsites, one I camped at I would sooner sleep in the canoe. but the other two are good and the southern one is a gem. It's a gorgeous lake with very good fishing for walleyes and smallies. It's by no means a secret these days but it is a decent sized lake and you should only see one other party if both good sites are taken. From there it is up to Horseshoe which is a unique and cool lake unlike any other, known for moose sightings. Lots of possible directions to go from there.

You won't find the total seclusion that some other long tough portages or paddles would give you but it shouldn't be bad and you sound like you like a challenge, the renowned Misquah portage will give you all of that.

pilot: "Can anyone suggest an entry point that has a very difficult initial start? Long portage or long paddle.
Thanks and Happy Permit Day!"

Is this like the Marines? Engineering school? Are you trying to flush out someone that you really didn't want to go?

No one's mentioned Four Mile Portage yet? Sure, it doesn't really buy you anything, but the longest portage in the BW has to count for something.

I figure the toughest initial portage would be portaging a hiking trail in or something. Norway? Blandin? Kek east? Plenty of possibilities if someone only wants challenge.

And, though not the spirit of the question, here's a portage happy route too: Loop starting and ending at Burntside. Enter at Slim, go west over the first long portage from Hook to Big Rice, up to Duck, over the next long portage to Big Moose, over another long portage to Cummings, then another long portage to Buck before working through the slog south to Hassel, after that, the exit out of the Crab portage should be a nice way to finish.

Hardest I’ve done is #45.

Over a mile from the parking lot. Little up and down. Few wet spots.

However, we we surprised when we saw 10 cars parked there and fresh prints on the trail.

We took it as a “shortcut” to Vista, which was full anyways.

Thank god for the permit restrictions….

We've done Stuart twice. It is becoming much more popular as noted above!

That said, the trip is well worth it and a run on to Iron should be on the itenerary as well.

Best of luck.

ockycamper: "

pilot: "Can anyone suggest an entry point that has a very difficult initial start? Long portage or long paddle.
Thanks and Happy Permit Day!"

Is this like the Marines? Engineering school? Are you trying to flush out someone that you really didn't want to go?"

Short question. Why??

I have to laugh. We all go on and on, and the OP hasn't checked back once.

The North Fowl Entry Point requires about 9 miles of paddling and three portages to get to Moose Lake and into the BWCA.

Little John, John Lake, Royal Lake, North Fowl Lake, Moose Lake.

analyzer: "I have to laugh. We all go on and on, and the OP hasn't checked back once."

How does one tell when the OP has not viewed the thread again?

I'm headed to Stuart in September at the start of a 10 day and out Moose/Portage R. That initial portage is gonna suck, especially if we have to do more than double!

Start at Big Lake EP #7 @ head for Cummings. The Duck - Big Moose portage will be a beast regardless (more so if it's been wet) and the 680 rod to Cummings should burn off additional 'gas' in your tank to finish off the day.






Duck lake.

bottomtothetap: "

analyzer: "I have to laugh. We all go on and on, and the OP hasn't checked back once."

How does one tell when the OP has not viewed the thread again? "

I don't know. I just saw that Pilot hadn't commented again after the first post.