Anyone know how to get to this lake? It’s just west of LIS South. Short of a helicopter, I can’t figure out a way.

No helicopter needed. This is out of the BW. There is a public landing just off the Echo Trail so you can drive right to it

Are you talking about the public campground off the Echo Trail? If so, you just drive to it.

Jeanette Lake campground

Jackfish: "Are you talking about the public campground off the Echo Trail? If so, you just drive to it.

Jeanette Lake campground "

This sounds like it might be a nice location for a camping get together with friends of mine that we've been having for the last 10 years or so in various places in WI, the UP and northern MN. I see there are ten drive-in, two hike-in and maybe a half dozen paddle-in only sites on the lake. Sounds like fishing could be okay, too, and also opportunities not far for day-use paddling in the BWCA for those interested.

I see Lake Jeanette campground is on the Recreation.gov reservation site.

Jackfish or anyone on here, do you have any idea about how busy this campground is? Would appreciate any information offered.

bombinbrian: "Anyone know how to get to this lake? It’s just west of LIS South. Short of a helicopter, I can’t figure out a way."

I'm going to assume this was just a poor attempt at sarcasm? If not, you may not want to venture too deep into the BW without someone who can read maps a bit better.

We camped at Jeannette Lake campground for a night last summer. It's a small campground (12 sites?) with some very nice lakeside sites. Not a lot of distance between campsites but there was enough brush/trees that we couldn't see the camp on either side. There are some walk-in sites that might be more private, but we didn't check them out.

The lake is fair sized, 600+ acres, and there's a boat ramp. As others have said, it's not in the BWCA so boats/motors are allowed. It was busy enough that I'd suggest a reserved site. I don't think it was full, even in August, but most sites were taken by sundown.

It was a mix of "night before entry" groups like us on their way into the BWCA and a few "there for the week" groups. It wasn't real quiet around supper to 8 or 9, but quieted down completely after sundown.

Very nice looking lake; don't know how the fishing is.

No, it wasn’t sarcasm. The map I was looking at didn’t have the roads marked, so I couldn’t see it was a campground

I camped there a night before a LIS entry pre-pandemic. Quite nice. For several nights I'd try for a hike in or boat in site. I'd try to reserve if possible.

Jeanette is our "Night before entry" place. We get dinner, permits, and canoes in ely and then stay at the campground because it's usually within half hour of our desired entry point. The west side has a calmer, more secluded feel. There are 2 campsites offered for reservation on rec.gov but the other 10 are first come first serve unless booked through an outfitter from my understanding. We did site 11 which is a short hike down a beaten path and off of the main entry with a decent amount of distance from the other sites. It was VERY buggy in the evening as that cove is filled with lillies and extremely shallow. It was a beautiful spot otherwise with two decent tent pads.
The only thing I did not care for was when we stayed on the main loop in 2017 the couple next to us ran their generator all night. Really the only negative part of our experience there.

The Astrid Lake Trail is also accessible from this campground and provides some nice hiking known for numerous huge glacial erratics along the way if interested. There are 4 campsites along the way as well that can be accessed from the trail or via water. You can also portage into a couple of the lakes from a forest road or come in from the Hunting Shack River to the North which is what we did. We camped on Astrid and had the lake to ourselves for 3 days. Two nice campsites on Astrid.

Astrid Trail

Hunting Shack River

Lake Jeanette


Astrid Lake


Astrid campsite


A view along the hiking trail


The Hunting Shack River on our way back to the car - a very easy and pleasant paddle