I have a mixed group of 8 teens and adults doing a 4 day trip out of Moose EP#25 in July. The adults haven't been to BWCA in years. With the teens, I'm a bit worried about wind and big water. We plan to do a bunch of fishing and swimming for the kids. I really want this to be a fun and memorable first trip for the teens. I was originally thinking of base camping on Ensign and doing day trips. But from what I've read on here, it seems like Ensign is a very busy and noisy lake, so I'm second guessing that. If we went to Birch Lake -> Knife River -> east to Isle of Pines or Thunder Point area (as an out and back to EP #25), is that a good area to basecamp? What are the chances of having campsites available mid-week in that area? Any favorite campsites in that area? From the tow dropoff point at Birch, on average, how long would it take to paddle to Thunder Point? Any suggestions are appreciated!

I would recommend Ensign. It would be an easy trip and not require alot of effort on your part allowing you to enjoy 4 full days in the BWCA. I've been there a few times and although it does get some traffic I didn't think the lake seemed overly noisy or busy. I enjoyed it each time I was there. Good day trips include Ashigan for smallmouth (one more portage after Ashigan and you can see Cattyman Falls since you are in the area) or Vera for walleye. However, Ensign offers very good fishing in my opinion with no real need to leave unless you just want to see new areas.

Knife Lake would be significantly more portaging and traveling eating up precious time on your trip.

I took my son last year on his first trip and we started on Ensign and ended on Disappointment. He got hooked and couldn't wait to get back this year!

I'll throw in an option to look at Wind. One decent portage and you're there....so a little harder to get to than Ensign, way less campsites but still plenty of lake and shoreline and bays to explore and fish. It would likely feel more remote than Ensign but still be close enough you're not spending whole days getting there and back like you would Knife.

The running water right by the entry from Ensign into Splash is an excellent bass spot. The campsite right there is pretty open as well.

The suggestions are much appreciated. Thank you

I'd recommend a short loop through Ensign, spending a night or two on Vera then over to Knife by Isle of the pines and back down the border. From Vera you can hop over to Missionary for lake trout and the border route back from knife is spectacular.

I hesitate going to Isle of Pines because it seems like the portages between Ensign and Vera then Vera and Knife Lake are long and hard. I'm not sure my group would be up for that.