Checking in to see if any of our members have fished or camped on any of the lakes in this 2,553 acre area? It's wild seepage lakes (Bittersweet, Prong, Oberlin, and Smith) are small, scenic, undeveloped and connected by portages. No motors and only five primitive campsites.
If you have fished or camped how was your experience? My wife and I are hoping to check it out in early June.
Thanks

I thought I was very familiar with the area but can't say I have ever heard of Bittersweet Wild lakes. I looked it up and there is lots of information, but it also said it was permanently closed. There is a host of lakes in that area that offer primitive camping. My favorite being Day Lake (2sites) north on 51.

My wife and I day-paddled those lakes a few summers ago. Checked out a couple open campsites just to see how they were. Nice lakes and the campsites that we stopped at seemed good. Only one or two campsites on a lake so pretty peaceful back in there. Can't speak for the fishing.

Campsites may be reserved through the Wisconsin State Parks reservation system. Bittersweet Lakes is located in the Northern Highland - American Legion State Forest southern unit.

merlyn: "I thought I was very familiar with the area but can't say I have ever heard of Bittersweet Wild lakes. I looked it up and there is lots of information, but it also said it was permanently closed. There is a host of lakes in that area that offer primitive camping. My favorite being Day Lake (2sites) north on 51.
"

Bittersweet lakes is open this summer. I was just looking at availability for June and July and it's there. For American Legion Northern Highland State Forest reservations select "boat in" sites and Bittersweet lakes are listed with the Southern Campgrounds.

I've not been to Bittersweet Lakes but a friend has in '21 or '22 and liked it very much. As previously stated, not many camps per lake, decent portages, remote but obviously not too. Other Northern Highlands paddle-in sites (no portages) include Allequash and Nebish Lakes. Both will have motor boats via a boat ramp during daylight hours. Nebish has two sites; one is basically walk-in from the boat ramp and the other is close to the ramp by but a very nice camp. Fire ring and privy like a BW camp (I'd rate it a 4 of 5). Allequash is a bigger lake with more camps and with motors allowed on one of the lake's two lobes. Also very nice campsites. Neither of these lakes feels as remote with fishing boat during the day.

Day Lake has already been mentioned. There are also paddle-in sites along the water trail connecting High Lake to Fishtrap Lake to the Boulder River-Boulder Lake-back to Boulder River and through the Island-Spider-Manitowish Lakes Chain and down to Alder Lake and Wild Rice Lake in the Lac du Flambeau Reservation (where there's a little non-reservation land including a boat ramp). This is a great trail but includes several more developed lakes with motor boats and cottages, so I go in spring or fall on weekdays and see very few people.

Winter camped in Bittersweet Wild Lakes Area in 2015. Seems like it would be a great place to explore for a weekend outing in the summer!

I just called the DNR office in woodruff and Amber was not able to find any info stating the Bittersweet area was closed. She said she was on one of the lakes last summer and the access road was not maintained and was not plowed in winter maybe that was why one site said it was closed. I will be checking it out with the thaw.
The Turtle Flambeau flowage by Manitowish Waters has many island campsites in their "quite area" more or less restricted to canoe or kayak.

Thank you for the input and replies. All good info.

Merlyn, we are looking for a few "no motor", good fishing lakes in the Woodruff, Manitowish Waters, Minocqua area. Any that you could recommend?

We have fished the Willow Flowage with good success but with the motors flying around it would be nice to find some quieter, smaller lakes to fish with the canoe.
Pretty much any species but my wife loves catching walleye and perch. I have heard that there are some small trout lakes in the Manitowish Waters area but haven't talked to anyone who knows the names of those lakes.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Papalambeau

I have a cabin near Minocqua and have paddled these lakes on several occasions. By BW standards, these are small lakes. Even the biggest, Bittersweet, is only about 200 acres. You could easily canoe all 3-4 lakes in one day and have a lot of time left.

Fishing is decent on these lakes for bass (mainly LM) and panfish. Bittersweet used to have a good population of northern pike, but there are only remnants of these left. There are also special fishing regs on these lakes so a fish fry may be hard to have.

I have not camped on these lakes, but they are similar to BW sites. Area can be very buggy in June and early July.

Road to Bittersweet is rugged. It can be done without 4-wheel drive, but you need decent clearance due to rocks sticking up in places. It's also a narrow road.

This place attracts people so you will not be alone on these lakes. Good luck and report back on how it goes.

PS: In a little less than one hour from these lakes, you can be at the Sylvania Wilderness which, in my opinion, has more to offer.

It's a cool little area! I spent a couple of nights there in the fall of 2022 and had the place to myself. Pretty little lakes. Fishing was fine - not a lot, nothing very big, but caught lm bass and a few small northerns. I think one landing was nasty- yucky mud on the portage from Prong to Bittersweet. The campgrounds were nice enough, but I didn't go to all of them. Let me clarify, I preferred the campsites you had to paddle to. The sites accessible by vehicles were overused by a different crowd. I think the photo below is from the Prong site. It is easy enough to paddle all of it in a day. I was alone and spent my time reading, fishing, and just enjoying a fall trip.

Nice pics. Thanks for the info.
Blessings

Yes…Bittersweet Lakes is my go to. Usually camp there twice a year, summer and either a spring or fall trip.

The bass fishing is phenomenal on all lakes. Usually get exhausted catching fish on every cast so I end up removing hooks from my lures. Catch and release only on bass so no fish dinners unless you get some bluegills. The bluegills can be hard to locate but when you do they are just as aggressive and big.

Oberlin is by far my favorite lake followed by Prong. Only complaint is the lack of fish diversity and the deafening howl of traffic on Hwy 70. I swear on a multi-day trip I’ve caught the same fish multiple times. The lakes only have bass and bluegills. WI DNR claims pike in Bittersweet Lake but myself and other regulars I’ve talked to never caught one.

Day Lake is my fall trip as I do squirrel hunting in the surrounding forest. You never did squirrel pot pie on a campfire? That lake is so sterile. Only thing in there seems to be turtles. Lucky to catch maybe a little bass if you catch anything at all. One of the few lakes I contemplate why I even bother to bring a fishing pole.

Thank you for the info JimEb. Catch and release on Oberlin it is!

Thanks for the info JimEb. I reserved the camping spot on Oberlin for a trip this year. Looking forward to it. Grew up an hour north, camp in other nearby parks in the NHAL forest, and only new just a bit about the Bittersweet Lakes. It came to my attention a few weeks ago and then I saw this thread. Made the decision to give it a try.

And I'll gladly take the exhaustion from catching too many fish! Had that happen with the bluegills and perch in Sylvania several years ago. Was a lot of fun!! I had to tell my buddy to stop casting for a bit as he was tossing his catch back to me to put on the stringer and it was non-stop. It kept me from fishing! Catch and release will help avoid that problem. But it sure was a good time.

One other observation. If you are going east on hwy 70 out of arbor vitae heading toward St. Germaine, the turnoff into the Bittersweet area is about one mile past the little Arbor Vitae Lake boat access road on your right. The turnoff is tricky to see if going too fast. It is on your left.

As a suggestion, once you make the left turn, you will find the road forks about 100 yards in. If you take the road to the left, it is rugged and goes all the way (about one mile) to the Bittersweet boat landing (which is also a rough landing). Instead, go straight for about 100 yards and you will find the parking area to Prong Lake. Put your canoe in at Prong. Prong is a small lake of some 40 acres. It is an easy paddle to the portage to Bittersweet, and not that long of a portage. This will enable you to avoid the rocky, rough road all the way to Bittersweet. Prong has good bass fishing as well.

Moonpath: "One other observation. If you are going east on hwy 70 out of arbor vitae heading toward St. Germaine, the turnoff into the Bittersweet area is about one mile past the little Arbor Vitae Lake boat access road on your right. The turnoff is tricky to see if going too fast. It is on your left.

Truth!! I go here all the time and still occasionally miss the turn off. I always park in the area just off HWY 70 and carry in to Prong…its about a 1/4 mile portage. Even driving down that road to the Prong trailhead can be sketchy. I used to do it in my van but then ended up breaking a spring in my front suspension. Even if your vehicle can handle that road and you park at Bittersweet, you must be mindful that the weather during your stay might make that road extra sporty on your way out.

Hoping to get here in mid-may to trial run my proposed load out for my June BWCA trip. I don’t like to book ahead of time in spring or fall as weather can be gamble but looks like this hidden gem is no longer secret based on the reservations.

First time I camped at Oberlin I got the crap scared out of me. In the dead of night I was awaken by the sound of an ATV working its way through the woods. Such an unnerving experience that someone may he encroaching on your campsite at night and they sounded danger close. It prompted me to exit the tent and assume a defensive position while Deliverance scenarios played out in my head. The sound faded off and I eventually went back to bed…unbuggered.

Next morning I explored the area. Out of camp theres a trail that leads to a nearby logging road. However didn’t appear like any vehicle traffic has been there for a while. Scouting down these roads I saw big pits dug in them at intervals. Assume the DNR did that to make the road impassable. An ATV wouldn’t be able to transverse these deep pits. Found no evidence of my previous night’s ‘guest’ so it was probably farther away than it sounded. Which may explain why I didn't see headlights dancing through the trees.

If you look at the satellite images you can see these roads. They can make for an easy day hike but nothing particularly interesting to see.

Never been bothered by critters here. Fishing on Oberlin I had a deer come out of the woods to the waters edge right in front of me. Smith Lake had a Snowshoe Hare munching grass right next to me while sitting around the campfire. One night the wolves were howling all night. In the late evening they were to the east and early morning I was hearing them in the west….made me wonder how close they may have passed by that night.

Just returned from a weekend on the Bittersweet Lakes. Been going to BW for 20+ yrs and have been to Sylvania a couple times. Was very pleased with the Bittersweet trip!

Very easy to get to! About 5 miles from the hwy 51 & 70 intersection on the north side of woodruff (where Kwik Trip and Northfork Supper Club is). Drove the 1 mile road into Bittersweet Lake (rough but a truck or SUV will be fine). Took a little less than an hour to get from the boat landing to the northern most site on Oberlin Lake. (Even tho we had reservations, it was occupied by a dad and two young kids - under 10, and (they were on the wrong site) so we went back to Smith Lake to take their site.) Both are really nice sites.

Heard vehicles at times as you aren't far from the highway but it wasn't bothersome at all. Sites have a picnic table, nice fire pit, and biff. Site 654 on Smith has pine needle covering and has a great view of the lake. A very nice site! Saturday was a beautiful weather day so we had some other paddlers on the lake for several hours but still was very quiet and peaceful. By mid-afternoon, we had the lake to ourselves.

Fishing - caught a bass on my first cast. In fact 5 on first 7 casts. Caught about a dozen fish in 30 minutes before I came off the lake. All C&R for bass but great fun catching them. Can keep panfish.

If time is an issue but you still want a wilderness canoe getaway - this is it. Won't replace a BW trip but this is a great little get away!

This is really cool, going to be checking out some of these Wisconsin spots this summer. Any more suggestions to similar spots for canoe camping in Wisconsin is welcomed and appreciated!

I was just on the Wisconsin DNR page for Bittersweet and it says camping and campfires are "Prohibited Activities" in ALL SNAS.
https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/statenaturalareas/BittersweetLakes
What gives?

Yes, that is what is found on the website. I believe (my interpretation) is that those apply in SNAs EXCEPT for at designated camp sites.

I just camped for two nights and had a campfire in the campfire ring that is on the campsite on Smith Lake. The person who checked us in at the Clear Lake Campground (state park) even asked if we needed to purchase firewood. Even the sign at the campsite even states to only use dead and downed wood for campfires.

Very misleading info on the website. I'll contact them and point out the inconsistency.

It used to be easy to reserve campsites on the Wisconsin DNR website. I can't figure out how to do it now, not so hi-tech haha. There is another website called Northwoods Wisconsin that I was able to figure out how to reserve a campsite at Bittersweet Lakes. It gives instructions, you have to first enter Northern Highlands then South campsites. Go from there. I googled Bittersweet Lakes and this site was a few down from the DNR site.
If I can figure it out, I am sure you can.
I am gonna check this out this summer, looks pretty mellow.

The WI website is not the easiest to use. After some refreshing I was able to get to the campsites you want and took a couple screenshots that I hope can help.











I live around Tomahawk and spend many days on the Willow flowage each year. It is overrun with boaters most weekends but it is a completely different lake on the weekdays. Yesterday I was fishing out of my boat all day and probably saw 4 other boats. I avoid the main bay by the dam/bars for the most part. Iron Gate and Sportsmans landings are both great for accessing the southern end of the lake with paddlecraft.

Excellent report. Happy to hear you had a good trip. These lakes do offer a nice wilderness camping experience closer to home.

Thanks for the reservation info

scat: "This is really cool, going to be checking out some of these Wisconsin spots this summer. Any more suggestions to similar spots for canoe camping in Wisconsin is welcomed and appreciated! "

There are several.

1. The Manitowish river canoe trail has several remote campsites that you can only get to by paddling and has you go through several lakes. These lakes, however, do allow motor boats.

2. The Sylvania Wilderness on the MI/WI border is one of my favorites. It has a regular car campground and numerous remote campsites on several lakes plus very good fishing.

3. The Rainbow Lake area Wilderness in Bayfield county looks good but have not camped there yet. Plan to visit it this summer.

4. Craig Lake State Park in Michigan near Michigami is very nice. Have camped here several times. Remote campsites. Used to be first come first serve likely requires a reservation today.

5. The Turtle/Flambeau river canoe trail that ends up at the Turtle/Flambeau Flowage is another with remote sites. Again, power boats on main lake are allowed.