Looking for a 3-4 hour kayak ride somewhere in the BWCA near Ely or Grand Marias. A public access point. No portaging please.

Up the Sawbill Trail:

Sawbill Lake. The lake can be roughly divided into 3 basins with narrows separating each. About 4 miles mostly south to north. Some Islands to explore at the north end.

Brule Lake: Huge Lake. There is wind to consider here. Lots of different scenery. Islands to explore. There is a large rock fall area in the northwestern corner.

Up the Gunflint Trail:

These start about 30 miles (half way) up the Gunflint Trail for Poplar and Clearwater Lakes and finish at the end of the trail for Saganaga Lake

Poplar Lake(not in the BW): There are many cabins on this lake. Lots of islands. Rockwood Lodge is a great outfitter on the lake.

Clearwater Lake: Narrow east/west lake. Several miles long. Some wind issues with the wind from the wrong direction. Interesting vistas. Access to some hiking trails. This lake has motorboat access.

Gunflint Lake(not in the BW): Very long lake on the US/Canada border.

Seagull Lake: Large lake with several burn areas passing through. Many islands to explore around. Seagull Lake Palisades/Cliffs. There are cabins before you get into the BW and you can experience motorboats on sections of this lake.

Saganaga Lake: Very huge lake on the US/Canada border. Many routes to explore. Huge open expanses and lots of islands to discover. This is also motorboat access. I think I would take a look at paddling into Red Rock Bay for a nice day trip.

Personally, I would start with Sawbill Lake. Very nice landing. There is an outfitter at the put in. Nice campground there also. If you can tolerate a very short portage, Kelso Lake makes a nice extension for an interesting river paddle.

Remember that day trips into the Boundary Waters also require a self-issued permit that can be found in a box at the entry point sign.

Hope this helps. Have a great trip.

Those are great suggestions. Couple of things to add on a few off the Gunflint trail.

Clearwater: just want to reiterate the wind considerations. I have been basically windbound on the far eastern end of the lake and had to wait it out before paddling the length back. There’s not many places to get shelter from the wind on this lake.

Gunflint — in high water years you can paddle gunflint to little gunflint to little north and all the way into north without portaging. There is a rapids area heading into north but depending on your skills and the flow you might be OK without portaging.

Saganaga is my favorite lake in the world. You could do a different 4 hour paddle everyday for multiple days without getting bored.

Near Ely you could choose Moose Lake, Snowbank Lake, Fall Lake or Lake One. The first 3 of these are motor routes and are partially outside BWCA. Lake One is non-motorized and has enough long fingers and islands that you could easily spend your 3 hours exploring it.