I am in the beginning phase of planning for 2026. I hope to get a permit for entry 14 (Little Indian Sioux River North). I hope to get to Finger lake but have a question. Is Hustler River from Finger down to Hustler Lake passable by canoe? Pending how many days I can get off work, I'd like to go UPL to Loon ... to Finger. If I have time, I'd like to complete the loop via Gebeonequet ... Oyster ... Snell to UPL. If I don't, I was hoping to shoot down the Hustler river if it is passable. Any thoughts?

In short, no.

In long...how much blood, sweat and tears are you willing to spend?

Merry Merry!

It has been done, but wouldn’t try it unless water levels are high.

Not passable. It takes a minimum of 4 days for the whole loop, but I would give it 5 or 6 so you're not putting in super long days. I loved the beartracks and the portage to thumb is straight out of a Tolkien novel. If you go later in the season the lily pads make the trip down to Gebe pretty tough. June was easier to navigate with the higher water everywhere but the bugs are worse. We were able to take the shorter portage into lower pauness and also the portage between finger and pocket. Hustler was super quiet, so if you're limited on your days even a trip into there is nice.

I did this loop solo in late September back in 2012. I can’t speak on the river but Finger Lake was the highlight for me. I stayed at the smaller north side of the island site. Real nice sitting rocks out front. This was my view.

As a solo traveler, I double portage. If you’re single portaging, you can easily get to Oyster from Finger and probably push on to Hustler. If you stay on Oyster and are single portaging, you could exit 14 in one day.

I can't speak to the Hustler River question, but in early October 2020 we did this route in reverse from your plans. One of my favorite routes for scenery. We took 7 days with a layover of one day on Finger Lake. Between Day 2 and 6 we seen two canoes and zero occupied camp sites. We are on the older side of trippers, double portage, pack heavy, and like to fish. We felt rushed doing this in 7 days/6 nights. Lots to explore and see, I wished we had a couple more days to complete this route.