I know. I know. My 10 year old son has recently got the adventurous spirit after reading Gary Paulson books all summer and what not. We have been canoeing around home quite a bit. He found my maps and has been asking more about it a trip. I didn’t plan on taking my kids in until they are 12. So with not wanting to quash the spirit. I’ve been constantly searching for a permit for any time in August to go. I’m really not attached to anything, the areas I normally go are slim and none of finding a permit.

The three permits I’ve seen with some consistency has been hog creek, angleworm and lac only.

I assume lac is motorized. Not the end of the world to me. Fishing isn’t a super big deal as he’s not as crazy about it as I am. My understanding from a fishing standpoint out of hog creek parent or however it’s spelled is mainly small walleyes. Angleworm I think has pretty decent fishing same with LAC.

Any other ideas of suggestions or a pick of the three?

I only have experience with Perent lake/Hog Creek. I caught some walleyes and one fairly decent (25" or so) pike in September. It was very busy, although the campsites on the west side of the lake seemed to get significantly less traffic than those closer to the entry. Keep an eye on the level of Hog Creek - it's a really tough paddle in low water, especially later in the summer.

I woke up this morning and got a permit notification for Sawbill so picked it up. 8/18 Entry 8/22 exit.

The little bit of research I’ve done seems like smoke and burnt are two of the better lakes in the area for fishing? Kelso loop doesn’t look too bad from a portaging experience.

Any other tips or points that can help me with me planning a trip with my 10 year old?

Sawbill is an excellent lake for a first time kid trip. Best advice I have for you is to really let it be their trip. Get them involved in planning, food, and how much to travel. Do they like to fish? Then fish. Would they rather hunt frogs, or explore, or swim? Do that.
You have 4 nights, so honestly I'd plan at least 2 campsites. My son got bored just sitting in one place and fishing, so we moved every day or two. And 10 is certainly not too young for a first trip!
The Kelso loop is an easy day trip, even with a 10 yr old as your bow paddler. Or, if you snag a site on Alton or Beth, day tripping into Ella is easy.

cwallace: "I woke up this morning and got a permit notification for Sawbill so picked it up. 8/18 Entry 8/22 exit.


The little bit of research I’ve done seems like smoke and burnt are two of the better lakes in the area for fishing? Kelso loop doesn’t look too bad from a portaging experience.


Any other tips or points that can help me with me planning a trip with my 10 year old?"

I will echo the sentiment that the Sawbill Lake area is a great first time trip for a youngster.

Some things to look for.

1. Visit the Viking Dolman on the Kelso River toward Lujenida Lake. Did Vikings actually visit or is it just a fluke of the glaciers?

2. Find endangered pitcher plants. A carnivorous plant that can be found in the floating bogs on your way to the Dolman.

3. There is a trail to the place where the Kelso Lake Fire Tower stood. Ask at the outfitter for details.

4. I don't know how high risk an adventurer you are or how much of an adrenaline junky your little one is, but there are cliffs just to the south of the Beth end of the Alton to Beth Lake portage. They are not terribly tall and relatively safe spot for cliff jumping. (Cliff jumping assumes an inherent risk. You should always check the water depth of the area below where you intend to jump.)

5. If you are spending the night before and/or the night after in the Sawbill Campground, check with the outfitter for ranger led educational sessions. Usually there are some great learning opportunities. (These used to happen, but haven't seen them mentioned on the Sawbill.com website lately.)

6. Just walk the portage trail from Lujenida Lake to Zenith Lake(1.5 miles). It is a chance to see several boreal landscapes. Maybe wade in a beaver pond (yup - wet feet) and perhaps get a chance to visit with some other voyageurs as they start/end their trip.

7. Give him his own camera. Encourage him to create his own record of the trip. Bugs, birds, bear, moose, mushrooms, fish, sunsets, etc.

8. Take games for a rainy day. Teach him a new game for both of you. Books to read. Sawbill Outfitter as a small lending library (or used to). Just return the books when you return.

9. Before you go, have him look up what to do in a lightning storm when camping. Let him be the expert on a subject. Then follow his instructions when he lets you know what's best.

10. Have him read trip reports on this website for the Sawbill Entry. He may find other things he wants to see!

Hope you have a great trip!

Excellent. Sawbill is a great entry point with lots of options on which direction to go. Read up on sawbill ep trip reports

I agree on making it his trip and involving him as much as possible. On my one on one trips with one of my kids I let them make most of the decisions on food, where we go, campsite selection, etc. The only time I over rule their decisions is when safety is involved. Like the time my older daughter wanted to go fishing right after dinner and I said we needed to stay in camp because a storm was coming. It might be the only time she has said you were right daddy. LOL. She was 5 and now she’s 19. My girls prefer base camping and fishing and doing day trips vs moving camps so that’s what we do. Every year I ask if they’d like to travel to different lakes/campsites and they say no.

My 2nd daughter graduates from HS next year and we are doing her father/daughter trip 2 days after graduation so it’s an extra special one. She did her first trip with me when she was 5 and has always picked an entry point that she hasn’t done before so she can see a new place. Next year she wants to repeat her favorite trip from when she was 7 and we will be going to Smoke Lake from Sawbill.


My 5 year old son gets to do his 1st father son trip with me in August and we are both so excited. There is nothing better than the one on one bonding time with one of my kids in the bwca.

You are going to have a great trip. Each of my girls did their first trip with me when they were 5.

Your son is so ready and I can’t wait to see how it goes.

I love all of this!

Beth is a gorgeous lake. So is Grace though it’s a longer portage, but that will thin some of the crowds if Beth is full and/or things are going well.

It’s an easier and slightly shorter though a bit overgrown portage into Wonder off of the far southeast corner of Alton (misplaced portage on many maps). Only one campsite there, the more southern one, but it’s supposedly a good one. The lake had beautiful clear water and I looked forward to some pike fishing, maybe a fun daytrip adventure down Plouff creek into Sunhigh last year. Alas, the campsite was taken. Someday I’ll get back.

The Kelso River is positively stunning. After paddling a big lake or two, the change in scenery will blow you and your son away.

Another great daytrip adventure off of Sawbill is Handle Lake. One tough beaver dam to bushwhack around, then a fun creek paddle. Supposedly some small northern in there too.

Have a blast! I can’t wait to take my son next year. This response alone is talking me into taking him to Sawbill!

There’s some really excellent advice above. I’ll toss out just a couple little things to consider.

1. If you head toward the Lady Chain, Beth is certainly a beautiful lake but don’t overlook Ella. It doesn’t get much traffic because most people heading for Grace take the more direct route. I stayed on I think the southern site for a day or two and enjoyed it despite the goofy fire grate. It’s pretty wide open, and I recall there being and lots and lots of blueberries right in camp. Should be ripe in August. I don’t think fishing is very good here though.

2. If you go from Alton to Beth, you might want to stop on the portage at the highest point. If I recall correctly, it’s the height of land between the two major watersheds. At the top, water running down toward Alton flows to Lake Superior and out the St. Lawrence Seaway, and water flowing toward Beth flows to the Rainy River and up to Hudson Bay/Arctic watershed. Might be of interest to a 10 year old.

3. If you go toward Smoke/Flame/Burnt, I think Burnt is the one people usually mention as the better walleye lake but trip reports will help. I am not sure, but I think the big Hexagenia mayfly hatch should be over by August. It you may want to check as it could impact fishing. If you stay on one of the fire lakes, it might be fun to day trip up Jack to Weird lake. There is an abandoned gold mine at the bottom of Jack by the portage that might be interesting to see though I don’t recall if you can get into it (or out of it!). Might make for a good campfire story. This area seems to be one of those areas where people report seeing moose more often.

Good luck and have fun! And by the way, if you have another question like this there is no need to mark it as “off topic”. Your question is as “on topic” as it gets, and a big reason for this site to exist.

Like others have said, great EP for a first time trip. Michwall has a lot of great suggestions, some of which I can personally vouch for.

A friend and I took our kids (then 8 and 10) on their first BWCA trips to this entry point. The plan was to camp on Alton 2 nights and then move to Sawbill for 2 nights. Alton was full so we ended up on Kelso site #873 for the first couple of nights. From there we did a day trip up the Kelso river. We checked out the Dolman and then did the long portage up to Zenith as a hike, having lunch on the shores of Zenith Lake. We took our time but were still back in camp by mid afternoon for swimming and relaxing before dinner. Kids had a great time at this site saying hi to all the travelers going by.

After the second night on Kelso we packed up and were lucky enough to find the island campsite #916 on the north end of Sawbill open. Here we set up for another couple of nights. From here we did a day trip up to Cherokee which I think was the right amount of challenge for our young travelers. Had a wonderful lunch on an open island site on Cherokee. This took up a good chunk of the day.

Worked out well for a 4 night trip. Only minor downside was the fishing was pretty poor, but the kids had a great time!

Somewhere I think I have a trip report for this excursion.

Call me sentimental, but your post put tears in my eyes. What a wonderful gift you are giving your son! I am so impressed with the manner in which you are cultivating his spirit and encouraging him in his interest in the Northwoods. That you are reaching out to further enhance your experience together, and that others are lending their knowledge and expertise to your endeavor, just makes this such a wonderful story.

Mike

MikeinMpls: "Call me sentimental, but your post put tears in my eyes. What a wonderful gift you are giving your son! I am so impressed with the manner in which you are cultivating his spirit and encouraging him in his interest in the Northwoods. That you are reaching out to further enhance your experience together, and that others are lending their knowledge and expertise to your endeavor, just makes this such a wonderful story.
Mike"

Thank you everyone for the advice pointers. Booking the permit was bittersweet as I was nostalgic to take my take kids on their first trip to where my grandfather took all of his grandkids for their first trip and many after that as well. Last year after 27 years going with Grandpa took his last paddle.

So in the middle of the night, a Lake 1 permit opened up for 8/1 and I was able to book it. Funny how the world works, it’ll certainly be bittersweet being in the back of the canoe and the trolling motor now. With Grandpa’s old paddle in hand. My son will have my 26 year old bending branches paddle in his. To say I’m excited and can’t sleep is an understatement. I would love to get through Lake 3, but my son will be the navigator and we will paddle until he says when.