My wife and I are using an outfitter, going up early Sept. While we are experienced campers, we do not know BWCA well. We are looking for any good ideas of quality base camps off of Moose Lake. We are not interested in long distance paddles as much as finding some relaxing quiet time, etc.
Thx

Welcome to BWCA.com!

Check out this map of Moose Lake . All the red dots represent campsites. Clicking on those dots will open a small window with a link to reviews by previous campers, along with photos. (Not all campsites will have reviews or photos.)

This will give you some information as to potential campsites for your trip. Just keep in mind that, like all reviews on the internet, they are subject to personal likes and dislikes. A 4-star campsite to one person might only be a 2-star to someone else.

Check out the Maps & Entry Points link at the top of this page for maps of the entire BWCA. Good luck with your planning.

Be aware that Moose Lake does have motorboats on it. So if you either portage into Wind or Ensign, or paddle up to Birch, you will have a bit more peace and quiet. If motors don't bother you, then camping on Moose makes for an easy paddle and basecamp with lovely day trips available to those other lakes.

Thanks! I think we would prefer not to stay on Moose Lake.
See if we can set up somewhere on a smaller lake.

Check if the one campsite on Splash is open. It is at the far end of the lake so not much traffic from other canoes, but you will hear motors for most of the daylight hours. The campsite itself is pretty roomy and there is an area down a trail to the right as you go in from the lake with lots of room for tents.

LongtimenoBWCA: "Thanks! I think we would prefer not to stay on Moose Lake.
See if we can set up somewhere on a smaller lake.
"

Small lake, quiet, without much paddling off Moose is a bit of a tall order.

There are many small lakes, but they are a bit of a paddle and portaging to get to. You could look at Found Lake. It is only a bit over an hour to get too, but it only has a single site and may be require back tracking if taken. Splash is a smaller lake, but you will 100% be hearing motors all day long. Ensign is a medium sized lake that may fit your bill. It is a good 3+ hour trip to get to. You could head west into Indiana at around 3-4 hours if you, that requires a bit more portaging. The one kicker about Moose is if you have a north or northwest wind you have a good potential of some choppy seas or downright dangerous if it is blowing hard.

I would recommend you get a tow up to Splash or Birch if you are looking for smaller lakes without the paddle, they can get you up to the smaller lake country minus several hours of paddling. Good Luck!

Look at the map of Moose Lake in Maps & Entry Points at the top of this page, and decide from there.

Wind Lake off Moose is made to order for what you are looking for. It is just a short paddle across from the public landing. I would NOT go to Ensign or Birch. Both are crowded as it is an easy tow from Moose and the portages are short and easy. For that reason they tend to attract tourists who can be noisy. The tourists tend to stay away from Wind and opt for Ensign and Birch because of the longer portage to get into Wind. There are a variety of nice campsites on Wind and the fishing isn't bad. The other advantage to Wind is that if you are ambitious there are some nice possible day trips to Basswood (Wind Bay) or Indiana. The latter is a smaller lake with smallmouth fishing. Sometimes depending on the weather you can hear the Moose Lake boats, but usually only in the southern part of the lake. You can also get cell service in Wind. I suppose you could also camp on the chain (Newfound & Sucker) but as others have pointed out there will be towboats going through there and they can start early in the morning and go throughout the day.

Thanks!