Hi all - I'm planning a trip in late Aug from Gunflint Lake to Sag Falls (4 days). It's my first time on this route and looking for some advice and general info:

1. On the BWCA map, there appears to be a water route to bypass Pine portage. Is that correct/advisable?
2. Same scenario and question for Swamp portage - can it or should it be bypassed?
3. This is the first time I've run into this scenario where it's not clear whether a portage is optional - is it safe to say a general rule is if the BWCA map shows a portage you should take it??
3. I'm primarily on a fishing trip (smallmouth) - any areas I should linger that are 'better bets' for smallies?

Thanks y'all!

Yes, as a general rule, the portage is there for a reason. There are plenty of stories of those who thought they could "run" a rapids and avoid a portage. They end up with the canoe folded in half, their packs floating away in the wind, and they are stuck waiting for a good Samaritan to report their predicament to the authorities and/or an outfitter who has the manpower to send someone with a replacement canoe.

Most portages follow a water route from one lake to the next. Those portages are where they are to avoid most of the elevation change at other places. Those water routes go through rock gardens, marshes, canyons, over waterfalls, etc. Even if it looks like you should be able to "run" through it, there is most often a flaw in that assessment. I can count on one hand the number of times I have been able to avoid a portage.

Another option is to look at the maps section of this website. There you will find descriptions of each portage. (Click on the yellow line for a link.) Usually, if there is a chance to avoid a portage, someone will mention that you can paddle through and at what water level that occurred. Otherwise, plan on walking.

25 years ago (give or take a year) a buddy and I kayaked the Granite river one day. We ran everything except Little Rock Falls. We made a few runs down Sag falls. I’ve ran several of the chutes with a canoe on that system but you will definitely want to use those two longer portages (Pine and Swamp). It’s a neat area, have a great trip.

MCHammer1: "Hi all - I'm planning a trip in late Aug from Gunflint Lake to Sag Falls (4 days). It's my first time on this route and looking for some advice and general info:

1. On the BWCA map, there appears to be a water route to bypass Pine portage. Is that correct/advisable?
2. Same scenario and question for Swamp portage - can it or should it be bypassed?
3. This is the first time I've run into this scenario where it's not clear whether a portage is optional - is it safe to say a general rule is if the BWCA map shows a portage you should take it??
3. I'm primarily on a fishing trip (smallmouth) - any areas I should linger that are 'better bets' for smallies?

Thanks y'all!"

I've done the Granite River in one way or another at least a dozen times. Please take the portages.

I've run the rapids of the Pine River into Clove Lake (putting a nice gash in the hull of an aluminum coat and a nasty gash on my leg because of it); the rapids north out of Clove Lake as well as Horsetail Falls. I ran them with empty boats that I owned, so I didn't have to wreck somebody elses stuff. Unless you know what you're doing, don't chance it. Horsetail Falls is a Class IV rapids, IIRC, so it's not for the amateur hour.

Biggest bass I ever caught in my life was on the north wall of Devil's Elbow Lake adjacent to the campsite. Very narrow there, current can be strong. But it was nuts with bass.

Mike

In my teens and early twenties I ran Horsetail all the time. I’ve canoed that rapids at least 30 times. I looked at it a couple of years ago and chickened out. ??