This year I'm finally going to try the famous Clearwater entry point. May 19th.

I've searched the daylights out of the forum etc... but would love any additional insight and wisdom you all are so good at imparting as well as see if anyone else will be in the area then.

Rough plan is dependent on the winds, but a day on caribou, a couple days on Pine then up and over the mountain to West Pike for a couple more, hitting East Pike for a day too and clearwater on the way back.

Hoping to hit some of those small lakes above pine for that fish so many are reluctant to speak of in public as well as try to find some lakers along the way.

I'll be at canoacopia this weekend and the dinner too, looking forward to meeting some of you all finally!

I've got several trip reports about that specific area that you should check out if you haven't already. If you're going to check out Johnson Falls, be sure to walk down river and see the colossal cedar tree as well. Most of those portages you mentioned ( especially the ones to the tiny lakes above Pine) will both figuratively & literally take your breath away.




Enjoy your trip!

Will be back in that area first week in June. Have traveled in and around there last 3 years. Must see is Johnson Falls - continue on trail after falls to see head waters. Portage (west) from Clearwater to Caribou - follow trail left then right. 4th site on Caribou is a favorite. Portage from Little Caribou to Pine also has some massive trees. Can recommend 2nd site on Pine from west - has a small island or extension of land depending on water levels in front of site. It is a site that gets you out of the wind which may not be preferred on buggy days, but hopefully your early trip will be bug free. As I’m sure you have read Lakers can be found on Clearwater, Pine, and West Pike along your route. The Clearwater Lodge website also has good information on this area. Good luck with the fish we dare not mention in public - if found it will be well earned!!

2 years ago I did the boarder loop, starting on Clearwater and heading straight to Mountain then east along the boarder to Fowl and back to the west through the pikes. We did this in 6 days, but we had a really late entry and camped on Clearwater the first night, an early exit, and had 2 layover days. I think this route would be very doable in 3-4 days. The whole route was very scenic, but my favorite part was from the Royal River to West Pike, the hills and the cliffs are great.

Our two layover days, 3 nights, we on West Pike. Beautiful lake. The Gogebic daytrip was nice too but we didn't catch any brook trout. This is a lake that's stocked every 2 years. We saw a lot of fingerlings in the shallows but no bites. Maybe a fly rod would have better luck, but we had poor luck fishing the whole trip because of the mayfly hatch.

About 5 years ago, a group of 4 of us stayed on Clearwater for a 3 day weekend and went to see the Johnson Falls off of Pine. The falls are great, definitely a must see at some point. Clearwater to Caribou and back on the east end was a pain, glad we just day-tripped that one.

Lots of hiking trails in the area and lots of lookout points if you are willing to get to them. It is a beautiful area. East-West travel is relatively painless, but North-South sucks due to the way the lakes and hills formed due to glacial drift. I'd much rather go around than over.