Can I get to Burntside Lake from Slim Lake?
I am confused about a portage there or a road to walk.
If you know will you please explain to me if Slim to Burntside is possible

you'd be portaging from Slim to the Slim parking lot, taking the forest road to the main road, cross it, and as I recall, there's a boat landing right there on Burntside.

brings up a couple of questions
1) Is that allowed based on my permit for Slim Lake?
2) How long of a portage/walk down the road?

Walk down the road is shorter than walk to parking lot, maybe 400 yards to Burntside.

You're certainly allowed to go from Slim to Burntside, Whether or not you can go back to Slim is probably something to ask the Forest Service. But seriously why would anyone care?

Great information, Thank You!!

I agree why would anyone care?

IdealTarHeel: "...why would anyone care?"

Yeah. Permits and rules are for the other guy...

bobbernumber3: "

IdealTarHeel: "...why would anyone care?"

Yeah. Permits and rules are for the other guy... "

Whoops I guess somebody's undies are bundled tight enough to care!

It's a minor technicality not affecting permit quotas or anything else. He has a permit. If you adhere strictly to the "once entering the wilderness an exit of said wilderness requires a new permit", an initial double portage to Slim from the parking lot would be a violation as all but the last few yards of the Slim portage are outside of the BWCAW.

I'm confused, is the OP planning on leaving the bwca at Slim Lake and re-entering at Crab or Cummings without another permit? That is the only combination I see here that would be violating the rules.

You can easily go from Slim to Burntside. But you're leaving the BWCA when you cross the road (basically) so you're in the land of houses and boats and such on Burntside.

If you entered back into the BWCA at Slim again or any other access point (Crab) you would need another permit for that location and date.

But to answer your initial question, yes you can go from Slim to Burntside. But you're leaving the BWCA to do so.

That's like asking if you can go from South Farm (in the BWCA) to Farm/Garden/White Island....of course you can. You've left the BW and entered the boat and cabin/house lands. You can't go back into the BWCA without another permit

cyclones30: "You can easily go from Slim to Burntside. But you're leaving the BWCA when you cross the road (basically) so you're in the land of houses and boats and such on Burntside.


"

Actually you leave the BWCA a few yards east of Slim.

OK I must confess I am now more confused than I was yesterday.

I will be 100% frank and up front, I am not trying to hide anything.

I am not digging my Slim Lake permit because it is VERY limiting.
(PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG)
I believe that there are only four (4) lakes I can access with my Slim Lake EP permit
and very few campsites. Last year we went up to Crab Lake and fished there and really enjoyed it! I was hoping we could go from Slim to Burntside then on to Crab.
Yes, we would probably spend a night at Crab.

Now all that being said, if anyone out there can explain things to me I would really appreciate your help.

I am NOT looking to break any rules. I love it there and I want to do what is right!!!

Slim to Crab would be a violation of the rules and the rationale of permitting unless of course you portaged over the ski trails from Slim to Coxey to Cummings.... Probably a shorter carry than that to Big Rice.

I'll await Banks' response on this technicality...

Thank you

That is the kind of information I was hoping to receive

I will to stay within the rules of the BWCA (and still get my own way!!!)

LOL

Have you looked at just getting a Crab Lake permit instead? Then you can cancel your Slim permit, you only forfeit the $6 reservation fee if you cancel more than 48 hours in advance of the entry date.

I have not been able to find a Crab Lake permit that fits into my schedule.

You could portage from Slim to Coxey ( Good Bass lake) and then to Silaca. Silaca would take you to Cummings or Korb and on to Crab. The ski trails would be easy to follow and there are maps at each junction.

Just go to Slim. What's the worst that can happen? If entering on a weekday, I doubt you will have trouble finding a campsite. There is an additional campsite on Slim that isn't on maps, but is on the official Forest Service entry point map. Maybe maps have been updated. I had a great time on our Slim trip, granted we had our 16 month boy and my spouse was well pregnant, so that was the reason we decided to pick an easy one.

THEGrandRapids,
I am really focused on catching fish.
I have NOT seen any reports of fishing worth a darn on Slim.
I am going in June, 022.
I wish I had more confidence fishing Slim and the connecting lakes.

What are your thoughts on fishing?

For all practical purposes going from slim to crab is more complicated than its worth if you want to do it right. Get a different permit.

When I first moved to Ely in the late 80's a local told me that trout had been planted in Slim in the late 60's. I spent two nights dragging a deep diving lure down the center of the lake searching for an ancient monster. I found no evidence of trout. On the second night I did raise a 23# northern from the depths- a fairly terrifying landing in my solo (Wenonah Advantage).

It is a beautiful lake.

Just to confuse you more, you could go west from Slim and into Big and into Stuart - a crap load of portaging - but illustrates the concept of permitted corridor crossings. If you look at the map of all of BWCA, sort of three pieces not connected. You are allowed to cross those corridors but no stopping to shop, eat at a restaurant, or even camp.

I was looking for a route from Slim to South Hegman, but looks not nice.

But you can't exit and renter the same section on same permit.

Banksiana: "

cyclones30: "You can easily go from Slim to Burntside. But you're leaving the BWCA when you cross the road (basically) so you're in the land of houses and boats and such on Burntside.



"

Actually you leave the BWCA a few yards east of Slim."

Yes, I was just trying to keep it simple. In the matter of this it's sort of irrelevant where the exact line is. The lake is in the BWCA and the road is out.

I've been into Slim EP 3x and enjoyed it. You are limited on travel options unless you really like portaging but Slim, Hook and Keneu are really nice lakes. Slim has decent walleye fishing and Hook has a ton of Northern (if you're into that kind of thing). The campsite on Hook is really nice too.

I saw some photos of (WHAT I THOUGHT WAS SLIM) I may be wrong,
in the photos it looked like Slim Lake had powered boats on it.

Is that correct, you can have power boats on Slim Lake?

No motors allows on Slim.

Thank you very much

That is GREAT news!!

Banksiana: "When I first moved to Ely in the late 80's a local told me that trout had been planted in Slim in the late 60's. I spent two nights dragging a deep diving lure down the center of the lake searching for an ancient monster. I found no evidence of trout. On the second night I did raise a 23# northern from the depths- a fairly terrifying landing in my solo (Wenonah Advantage).


It is a beautiful lake. "

So this may be a "wilderness legend", but a couple Octobers ago I was out on Slim and was talking to "an old-timer from around these parts". He told me that back in the 40's and 50's he used to drive out to Slim from Ely to fish and used to do quite well on the Northern and Walleye. But he claimed that at some point "they" poisoned the lake to clear out the predator fish so that they could plant trout in the lake. He claims that for a few years the trout were there, but then they also disappeared and the Northerns and Walleye never reestablished themselves.

As TV news is now famous for saying-- "we cannot independently verify that story", but it does seem plausible.

I do know that fishing really is poor on that lake--but it is a beautiful lake. Regarding leaving the BWCA--the far end of the lake actually is out of the BWCA (just past the last campsite to the south. It has signs right out in the lake (Like the ones at Lizz when you cross in. I

I have camped at that site to the south and have bushwhacked to the skiing and hiking trails that go around to the troll's bridge, Baldy Mountain etc--so technically you are zooming in and out of the BWCA a bit while you hike those trails. Not sure If I should have had extra permits to do that, but it didn't seem to be a problem to all the other folks who where hiking the trails. (even had one group stumble upon my campsite).

IdealTarHeel: "I have not been able to find a Crab Lake permit that fits into my schedule.

"

I would keep checking recreation.gov for a Crab permit that fits your schedule (or maybe another EP that suits you). People cancel permits all the time, but they can also get snapped up quickly, so I'd check every day. (For example, I just was able to get a Little Indian Sioux North permit for a better date for me than the original permit I had - and that better permit was definitely not available when I got my permit way back in March.) So keep checking.

YAHOO, YAHOO, YAHOO

I just got a permit for Snowbank for 6/5/022
I am so stoked!!!!!