I'm curious about how busy of an area the Trout and Crab Lake areas are? I see lots of camp sites and only a few entry points to access that area. Also, Trout has double digit permits available per day while crab has 2 or 3 available each day. While looking at the online reservation site (recreation.gov) I noticed there are a plethora of permits still available for both Trout and Crab EP's. Does this area get used much? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this area.

I would appreciate any information I can get.
Thank You!
Darin

I can't talk to the fishing side of things, though I know there are a few spots in there. Mainly, it's a section of the BWCAW known for its long portages. There's a little topo in the LIS stretch, but a lot of it is fairly flat, fairly recently logged (right before the BW act of 78 in some instances), and there's plenty of historical rubbish just off of the routes giving a unique perspective into that period of history. I haven't been to Trout yet (well, via the Trout EP, hiked Norway once) though it is one of the motorized entries and the paddle stretch on Vermillion is a bit of a doozie. Paddlers heading in that way are either staying on Trout or heading to Pine. Heading into Crab/Cummings, folks are coming from Burntside via one of the public landings. The vast majority, I would wager over 95%, are staying on one of the two so-named lakes. It is an odd case of a non-entry lake being named on the permit. As for the other entry points, Slim, Moose River South, Big, and LIS - all are unique permits. The first three cater to base camping near the end of the entry - long portages discourage further travel. LIS is one of my favorites, but it is really tricky. The two new campsites provide some relief, but it's still long miles with few stopping points. All of the other "space" in between from the routes between Chad and Cummings/Crab to Barefoot/Maxine/Coxey Pond to the Phatom/Battle/Hassel area are all really quiet. They are difficult to travel, have mostly lack luster campsites, and are often stained, murky lakes. It's a decent section of the BW to find solitude, but it comes at a steep physical price.

My second overnight trip into the Boundary Waters was through Entry #4. It’s a long portage into Crab Lake but otherwise the hike is not particularly rough. Crab is a lovely lake and many consider it a destination. Without a great deal of additional effort you can travel on to Cummings Lake. I stayed at the island campsite. I stayed 4 nights there on an 8-day trip in mid May and felt like I had the place to myself. While I’m sure that wasn’t true, the lake is large enough to absorb a lot of travelers.
There is a small waterfall at the west end of the lake that empties into Otter Lake. I spent two mornings there catching numerous smallmouths of respectable size. Nearby I caught a northern that was too large for me to deal with in the canoe so I released it alongside. I’m not skilled at fishing so I would say there’s plenty of opportunity for almost anyone to catch their dinner.
Between Crab and Cummings there are connections to a dozen other lakes for day trips or loops to lengthen your stay.
I enjoyed that trip so much I returned the following year for a 15-day trip.

Thanks TreeBear and Mike for the input. My group is heading up to LLC (Friday Bay area) this year, but I'm always planning a year in advance for the next trip. I've been in the Boundary Waters a dozen times, but never to the Crab/Cummings/Trout lake areas. It just really surprised me to see so many permits available for an area with so many camp sites. It intrigues me because I feel like you could get a choice site on any of those three lakes during even the peak months of the summer. It very well may end up being a 2026 or even 2027 destination. Plus it's an area not yet traveled to for my group.

Thanks again.

From the Trout side, not many people go past Pine Lake.

straighthairedcurly: "From the Trout side, not many people go past Pine Lake."

Are there usually multiple sites open on Trout and/or Pine during the peak season?

I have a cabin on Vermilion and either paddle or motor into Trout once a year. When I paddle I go to either Pine or Chad. I’ve gone as far as Buck, off of Chad. Believe it or not, I actually had another party come in to Buck in mid September, wanting my site as I was coming off it. That was during Covid, though, so I think everywhere in the BWCA was getting busy. My trip last year was by motor (sorry, yeah, I’m one of those guys—though I went solo, so maybe that makes it copacetic with the paddlers ??), and in mid June (on a Tuesday), I was able to score a prime beach campsite on the north end of the lake. There were many good sites available. But Trout gets busy in the summer towards the weekends and the good sites fill up with motor campers. When I paddle, I usually go in the fall, and I’ve never had trouble finding a good spot on Pine or Chad. You might not own the lake, but it’ll be quiet. Rarely does the Trout Lake entry point not have overnight permits available (both motor and paddle). Maybe on a holiday weekend, and also very early in the season while the trout are still shallow it’ll sell out (usually just the motor permits).

A very interesting note about my motor trip last year is that the guy running the motorboat portage said he’s retiring and that the forest service hadn’t found anyone to replace him. So, it could be a very interesting year in 2025 for Trout Lake if people can’t get their motor boats in there. Could make for some great access for paddlers to what is actually a really nice BWCA lake (absent all us noisy motor heads).

I did a solo into Crab late last summer and really enjoyed the area. My observation matches what others have said in that most people either stop at Crab, Cummings, or one of the couple lakes in between. It is a quite long portage from Burntside, which I think turns some people away.

I ventured through the string of smaller lakes to the west of Crab and stayed on Phantom Lake. It is very evident by the state of the portages and campsites that not many go this far back.

Overall I very much enjoyed this area and will likely return in the future. Check out my Trip Report

I cannot speak to the Trout Lake entry from personal experience...but overall I tend to shy away from big water with motors when I can.

I just spoke on the phone with La Croix Ranger Station in Cook regarding the status of entry point 1 for 2025. She said the guy running the motor portage is staying on for this season, but likely with reduced hours.

She also said that their office will be issuing a press release soon regarding the Ranger Office in Cook. They are under staffed and there is a hiring freeze, so they will be closed on the weekends. They will be doing remote (online) issuance of day motor permits, but all other permits for weekends will need to be obtained at other locations.

Regarding what others have said about coming into the area from Burntside, I also would agree with those descriptions. Long, but otherwise easy portage in, with Crab and Cummings having a lot of good sites. It does get busy over there during peak season; seems like lots of Boy Scout type of groups. But, as noted, head into the chain of lakes to the south and it gets quiet. But for a reason. The lakes are small and the sites are not very well kept up. That could be appealing though, if you want the feel of being off the beaten path.

Another point about entering/exiting from either side (Vermilion or Burntside), both of those lakes have several US Forest Service camp sites on them which are water access only, and are first come, first serve and totally free. They are basically just like BWCA sites, and some even have picnic tables. It can be a good way to stage your entry or exit with just a shorter paddle to/from the forest service site for the first or last night.

We did a great trip in that corner in 2021 when most of the park was closed for fire. Our permit was canceled a couple days before we were to go in and so we took one of those Trout permits and had a great time. I think it's a pretty nice part of the park, and it was definitely pretty isolated when we weren't on Trout/Crab. We did about 70 miles in there, going Trout to LIS (half way to Otter and back out - don't try this unless the water is high or you love lining your canoe), down to Chad/Buck/Cummings, over to Glenmore, around the little loop of lakes at the SE corner to Boulder, then out through Crab/Burntside. The portages are long, there's no avoiding that if you want to see more than a couple lakes.

The motors on Trout didn't bother us at all, unlike in some other places we've been (Basswood above Hoist Bay, for example). Little Trout has beaches, we had a great sandy picnic on our way through. I liked the Pine Creek segment to Chad, and the arrival on Chad has a really impressive beaver dam that holds back 10+ feet of water above the main Chad lake. The SE corner lakes were interesting: Meat is evaporating away, Boulder is shallow throughout and has the darkest water I've seen anywhere in the park.

TreeBear describes it very well. If you want to see some territory and not see people, you can definitely do it there as long as you're willing to put in the work.

We went through Crab Lake late last summer. A tow across Burntside Lake is a must in my opinion. Could have made it in but on our return the wind was horrendous. I know many say the portage isn’t that bad but just wait till you get a little older!!

Crab Lake itself was pretty crowded but not so bad after that. We stayed a few nights on Little Crab Lake. The creek to Lunetta was open and there was a decent campsite there. We did not get to see all of Cummings Lake but saw some really nice sites there. Tried to get up to Maxine but the creek didn’t cooperate.

I did my first trip last summer to Crab/Cummings. Got the tow across Burntside on way out to get earlier start on the day, and paddled back on the last day.

Spent several days on Cummings on a west facing peninsula campsite that was literally heaven. Could not believe the LACK of bugs (I think d/t wind direction / exposure). Saw maybe 2 other canoes the whole time. Watched a giant storm approach from the west for like 2 hours of lightning fireworks before jumping in the tents to avoid getting drenched.

I'd head back there in a heartbeat.

Thanks for the advice. After hearing some of the comments, I've narrowed my 2026 trip (yes, that's correct - 2026. Always planning 2 years ahead) down to this area and the kiwishiwi area. Appreciate all the replies and info!

Darin

Buck and Western has some great Walleye fishing. Chad has some nice Largemouth bass…