Have a trip planned for mid August going out of Ep 54 Sea Gull, haven't firmed up a complete route yet but one possibility is up thru Red Rock to Saganaga and back to Sea Gull. The question is the 3 portages from Sag thru Grandpa to Sea Gull is this a better route then using the Sea Gull river and hiking to the EP54 landing from a Sag. boat landing. (roughly 2 miles?)
From what I've read the Sag/Grandpa ports are tough and muddy and the Sag/Sea Gull river portage doesn't really exist and your in the Voyager camp ground.
Opinions?

You can just paddle the Sea Gull River from Saganaga back to Seagull with one portage. Get out at the Sag EP public landing and just walk the road to the other more southerly boat landing. Info on portage from Sag to Seagull

straighthairedcurly: "You can just paddle the Sea Gull River from Saganaga back to Seagull with one portage. Get out at the Sag EP public landing and just walk the road to the other more southerly boat landing. Info on portage from Sag to Seagull "

This is an excellent suggestion.

About 7 years ago we tried going south through the rapids on the Seagull River as we came from Voyageur Canoe Outfitters. The way the water was flowing that day this was really difficult as there was no portage (we thought we saw one but it turned out to be a path to a Trail's End campsite) and there was not even a good place to walk the canoe through the rapids. We nearly went over once, nearly got wedged between some boulders in the rapids and when we finally determined a way we'd attempt to walk the rapids, one of us slipped and went under on some treacherous rocks in fast moving water. This whole thing delayed us about an hour, nearly caused injury and kind of set a sour tone among the crew right at the start of the trip.

A study of the map later showed that we could have just walked the road from public landing to public landing, dry footing it and skipping the 35-rod portage that otherwise also must be done around the small falls on the Seagull River. As trip leader I felt very foolish for not having known/realized this and instead doing it the hard way. DUH!

I do have a question: Since it was our first day and we had not yet entered the BWCA at the point on our permit (#54, Seagull) I was not concerned about paddling this section of the river or taking the road between public landings, had we done so, to get to Seagull Lake. However, had we come from further north inside the BWCA border on Saganaga and continued south on the river to Seagull, would that have constituted an exit/re-entry violation of our permit or is that allowed as a normal course of travel in this instance?

Thanks for clearing things up . The boat landings are not marked on my Fisher maps but they are on the McKenzie maps making it easier to understand, it even shows an unimproved road between landings.
It looks to me if your using the boat landing/picnic area, as shown on the McKenzie map, as your entry point you never reenter the BWCA from Saganaga.

straighthairedcurly: "You can just paddle the Sea Gull River from Saganaga back to Seagull with one portage. Get out at the Sag EP public landing and just walk the road to the other more southerly boat landing. Info on portage from Sag to Seagull "

Agree with this approach. I have gone both ways through the Sea Gull River/Gull Lake route and bottomtothetap's description is accurate. There really is no portage around the rapids, so you end up hiking up a steep hill and cutting through the campground. Use the two boat landings between Gull and Sea Gull to portage down the road to the other side. Not sure what the Mackenzie looks like, but the landings are clearly marked on the Voyageurs. Zoom in to see landings. Grandpa Lake is worth visiting but the portages are tough and may not be worth it just as a pass through in my opinion. As bottomtothetap questioned, this would technically be an exit/re-entry violation if you were coming from inside the boundaries on either Sag or Sea Gull and passing through the Sea Gull River to reach the other lake.

I've done this portage many times, but the first time it was a bit confusing. The link straithairedcurly posting does a good job describing the portage.

As others have mentioned, if your entry is Seagull, you shouldn't start your trip this way, as you would now be entering the BWCA at a different point than is specified on your permit. If you are just using it on your way back, then you are fine.

If you want to do a loop, another option would be to through Alpine to get to Red Rock. The portages on this loop are not bad. The Seagull to Alpine is a little on the long side but is well worn and easy walking. The Alpine to Red Rock and Red Rock to Sag are both short and easy. Basically just doing more paddling and less portages.