On 10/10 my daughter Allie and I are heading into Mudro. This is a college graduation gift for her-and the last time we tripped together was when she graduated from high school and we spent a week in Quetico.

We were in the Fourtown/Horse area when she was 7 or 8 in October, and Allie recalls three things from that trip: she dropped her camera into the lake (Horse), there were old logging remnants near one of our sites (Horse) and she caught a very large fish (the last I recall clearly-little fart landed a 36" northern on Horse!).

So, this is a long way to say I would appreciate any suggestions for a 6 day, 5 night trip with a Mudro entry, and base camping is not what we are looking for. Allie has been on numerous BW/Quetico trips and is not adverse to long days-in fact, she prefers to move every day. We are looking for fish to a degree, but she is more fascinated with any evidence of historical artifacts. All suggestions are most welcome, and we thank you for your time and thoughts.

I would suggest going to Crooked via the horse river. You could even go to Iron if you wanted to move every day. Then exit via Gun, Fairy, Boot. Fishing is usually good all along that route. The last two portages coming out are a bit difficult but not too bad. Just be prepared to see portages increase in difficulty.

AluminumBarge: "I would suggest going to Crooked via the horse river. You could even go to Iron if you wanted to move every day. Then exit via Gun, Fairy, Boot. Fishing is usually good all along that route. The last two portages coming out are a bit difficult but not too bad. Just be prepared to see portages increase in difficulty.
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+1. Classic loop.

AluminumBarge: "I would suggest going to Crooked via the horse river. You could even go to Iron if you wanted to move every day. Then exit via Gun, Fairy, Boot. Fishing is usually good all along that route. The last two portages coming out are a bit difficult but not too bad. Just be prepared to see portages increase in difficulty.
"

Agreed. Did this with my son and nephew. They were reminiscing about it a couple weeks ago when my nephew was in town. Lots of cool sites to see. The portages are not too hard, just take your time.

That is a nice loop. Only concern would be water levels on the Horse River this late in the year. Then again, I do believe that area has received some regular rain over the past few weeks. Appreciate the suggestion, all!

If you do that loop, the eastern campsite on Moosecamp Lake had several artifacts from the logging that went on there. If water levels would allow for it, there were also some along the Moosecamp River down to Fourtown.

Also, congratulations to Allie.

Check out Mnmostly youtube channel if you haven’t already.. He went thru this area last year and discussed alot of artifacts along Horse Lake.

I just went down the Horse River last week and its LOW... A couple extra portages and several pull throughs.

You could go up through gun, gull, thunder and go down the bear trap river to Iron. Then its across crooked and you could go up the Horse river.

Lightfoot: "If you do that loop, the eastern campsite on Moosecamp Lake had several artifacts from the logging that went on there. If water levels would allow for it, there were also some along the Moosecamp River down to Fourtown.


Also, congratulations to Allie.
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Brent! Appreciate the suggestion, and I hope all is well with Jody, you and your family.

Lawnchair107: "Check out Mnmostly youtube channel if you haven’t already.. He went thru this area last year and discussed alot of artifacts along Horse Lake."

Appreciate this; I have not seen the video, but I will check it out.

bombinbrian: "I just went down the Horse River last week and its LOW... A couple extra portages and several pull throughs.


You could go up through gun, gull, thunder and go down the bear trap river to Iron. Then its across crooked and you could go up the Horse river. "

Thanks for this info. We are not interested in fiddling with low levels in the Horse, so we will probably head north into the Gun area. I have never been N/NW of Fourtown, so that is an area I would like to explore.

If you make it to crooked there is an old car on an island. Also the set of pictographs near Wed Bay along w/ Table Rock.

Frenchy, If you want to avoid low water on the Horse river, consider going: Mudro/Fourtown/Boot/Fairy/Gun/Wagosh/Chippewa/Papoose/Friday Bay/Thursday Bay/Wednesday Bay and then Basswood down through Jackfish Bay/Sandpit/Mudro.

unshavenman: "Frenchy, If you want to avoid low water on the Horse river, consider going: Mudro/Fourtown/Boot/Fairy/Gun/Wagosh/Chippewa/Papoose/Friday Bay/Thursday Bay/Wednesday Bay and then Basswood down through Jackfish Bay/Sandpit/Mudro. "

I was going to say the same thing, but in the opposite direction. The biggest reason I would go the opposite direction is that Jackfish is a huge bay and the prevailing winds typically blow west to east. If you're coming back on the wrong day you might get trapped by the wind. You really can't go wrong either way. Lots of nice waterfalls to see along that route.

Gun might be my favorite lake! The water is so clean and clear as well.

Fairy Lake has a nice site on the eastern side of the lake.

Definitely head up to Beartrack for the 5* solo campsite on the lake.

I did that loop in October. No issues with the Horse River, but every year is different. Just be ready for every kind of weather. I had glorious sunny 60 degree weather almost every day and Snow one night

Thanks, all! Truly appreciate the input and ideas. We will also play it by ear, if you will, as the wind can always be an issue-especially if we head up in Jackfish or any of the other larger bodies of water. Two weeks out!