If it were up to me, I'd be walleye fishing literally every second of the trip, much like I have for all my previous BWCA trips. This time, I'm afraid, it'll be a little bit different. My girlfriend has shown some interest in visiting the BWCA next September for an adventure and some fall colors and I'm trying to decide where I should take her. Just looking for ideas on areas that would have a variety of options for us outside of the obvious of paddling, portaging, and fishing. Hikes? Views? Pictographs? Old historical type stuff?

The initial plan was to put in on Moose, paddle and lift the canoes for a short portage or two, and base camp on Ensign for a few nights. But I'd figure I'd get some recommendations from the experts before I commit to something I dont know much about!

Probably won't do much for a loop, we'd both prefer to base camp. I want to keep her comfortable so we'll probably overpack and not want to portage a bunch. Otherwise pretty open. Thank you!

Instead of Moose we prefer Fall lake EP24. The entry point (boat ramp) and two portages to get into Pipestone Bay are about as easy as they get. Tremendous views from high campsites on Pipestone, an easy second day to Upper Basswood Falls, or another easy, short portage into Back Bay and then there are some historical remnants of the old logging railroad in Hoist Bay. September is a great time for this route as we saw hardly any motor boats.

Do you still plan on some time for chasing walleye with her?

If yes, enter at Clearwater and take 1 portage to camp on Caribou. Good walleye and smallie fishing. Easy day trip from there to see Johnson Falls. Also easy to get to the Border Route trail for hiking where it crosses the Clearwater to Mountain portage. There are some beautiful views along that area of the trail.

Clearwater permits go fast so you’d want to be on right at 9:00 on permit day.

If no on chasing walleye this trip, maybe Duncan. One easy portage to Duncan from West Bearskin and you can see Rose Falls and the Stairway Portage that goes to Rose. This is another spot where you can do some hiking on the Botder Route Trail.

Gunflint Trail EPs would be good for her first trip because you can add Northshore sights before/after the trip. My wife appreciates a night or two in a hotel in Grand Marais or Ely after a bwca trip. Which isn’t something I do on solo trips or trips with one of the kids.

Couple of ideas:

1. Get a cabin up the Gunflint Trail and do some day tripping. Rockwood or Tuscrora are both mid-Trail with easy access to several entry points that would make for nice day trips.

2. Camp at a FS campground and do some day tripping. Sawbill Campground is great. Outfitter is right there and they have showers available. See the entries below for day trip ideas.

3. Couple of entry ideas up the North Shore:
Entry 47 - Lizz Lake - Base camp on Horseshoe. Great chance to see moose. Day trip to Winchell to climb the trails to the top of the cliffs.
Entry 38 - Sawbill Lake - Lots of opportunity for places to basecamp - Beth Lake has a great spot for some cliff jumping. Trip up the Kelso River to see endangered carnivorous pitcher plants. Also see the Viking Dolman along the Kelso River.
Entry 39 - Baker Lake. Basecamp on Kelly. Visit the abandoned mine between Kelly and Jack Lakes. Day trip to South Temperance Lake. Day trip to Burnt Lake. Paddle back to Sawbill if you get a shuttle to Baker from Sawbill Outfitters.
Entry 54 - Seagull Lake - Basecamp on Alpine or Red Rock. Easy loop back to Entry on Saganaga Lake if you want. Visit the Seagull Lake Palisades. Nice falls between Alpine and Jasper Lake along the portage. Day trip up onto big Saganaga Lake for some great views into Canada.

Hope you have a great trip!

East Bearskin or Clearwater and then hike to Johnson Falls. Good walleye fishing in the area too!

Hopefully you are still a couple by next Sept. Reserved cabins twice at resorts next to BW for a relatively low impact trip as an intro but had to go solo once, which was cool actually, and had to cancel the other one, I think it was Rockwood. Had a crazy gf, couldn’t stay together to pull it off, twice… Good luck!
The cabin thing might be a good option, do day trips, a bit of portaging just for fun, sleep in a bed. Seemed like good idea to me anyway haha
Was looking forward to checking out Rockwood. I think I reserved a cabin for Sept about this time so might have some openings. Then by May I knew I was done with that chick and cancelled the reservation dang. Seem like nice people, nice location, check it out.

The Armstrong Station Area would be good in September and easy to find a convenient campground or lodging during Partridge Hunting season. You could drive to the Little Jackfish River for Walleye and hunt Partridge. Nice camping grounds on Mackenzie Lake or Wawieg Lake which hold nice inland Lake Trout not huge but nice red/orange meat. Some nice stock lake with Brook Trout/Splake Trout and interesting Canyons/Pictograhs in the area of moose etc.Check with local Outfitters like Alan Cheeseman Wilderness North. Lots to see along the way too Kakabeka Falls, Ouimet Canyon, The Sleeping Giant. Lots of Mid Continental Sills hexagonal fault zone lift 3,4,5 feet or more. Like Chimney Stack Lake, Caverns Lake and the Bat Cave in Downtown Dorion.

This introductory trip could be a complete bust or a fantastic introduction to the Boundary Waters that will lead to a lifetime of BW trips together. Let's hope it is the latter.
When I take newbies to the BW I like the Mudro entry point and going up to either Fourtown or Horse lake. A day trip up to Lower Basswood Falls, the pictorgraphs and Table Rock is doable as long as the Horse River has some decent water flow.

Good luck with your trip. Let us know how it works out.

You don't say much about your girlfriend's experience with canoeing or outdoor camping. Remember as you plan that the weather is your wild card. You could run into four days straight of cold rain and wind which is not fun even for experienced campers. As I once wrote, "Nobody likes taking a crap in the rain.'

If she is a complete camping newbie I would also suggest you first stay at a cabin where you can take day trips or even a short overnight. Any of the lodges along the Gunflint would be good and give you lots of options. If you want to go to the Ely area, Vosburghs on Moose Lake has cabins with spectacular views and day access to the BWCA. LaTourell's and Canoe Country Outfitters also have cabins on Moose. With all Moose Lake lodges, you will need day motor permits to enter the actual BWCA, which allow you to travel to Newfound, Sucker, and even Basswood) but are almost impossible to get). Staying at a resort would also give you a lot of options from area trails to exloring attractions like the Wolf Center.

As for some of the trip routes suggested, I am not a fan of Ensign. It can be crowded and often those doing the crowding can be obnoxious. On top of the crowding Ensign isn't that scenic. Fishing can be spotty. One advantage is you can get a tow all the way to the first portage. So getting there would be easy. Getting out requires coordinating pickup dates/times with your outfitter, although you could also paddle out.

If you are going out of the immediate Ely area, I would suggest you think more about a Fall, Newton, Pipestone trip. It has the falls for a scenic attraction and once you are clear of Newton there are many campsite options, some with scenic overlooks. Fishing is also better as is the scenery.

East Bearskin has a USFS campgound with primitive cabins: East Bearskin Campground

The walleye fishing is described here:

East Bearskin lake survey


The adjacent Bearskin Lodge has a dining room and other amenities:

Bearskin Lodge Amenities

scat: "Hopefully you are still a couple by next Sept"

lol couldnt help but laugh at this comment. I'm in my 30s, not 13. Appreciate your level of concern though lol.

All great responses and carefully considered each of them. I love the mudro recommendation, I am actually headed there later this week. We blow right through Horse on our way to Crooked, but have always heard its decent fishing. Good to know about Ensign. My girlfriend has done fly in remote backpacking trips to the frank church in Idaho. Multiple camping trips via canoe along some river in WI, but has never experienced my favorite place, the BWCA. We do several cabin trips up north every summer together so I was looking for some legit camping for something different.

I got a permit secured, but unfortunately she's landed a new job that will limit her PTO for the first several months this summer and fall. Sadly this will have to become a summer of 2027 trip now. That's if we're still together, of course ;)

I know how that goes. I went from 6 weeks of vacation before 2021 to a ratio of hours worked to vacation gained, after.
Thanks for your response, and have great times together where ever you are.
Humm. That sounded like a Hallmark bot!!!

I took my girlfriend on a first trip starting at Gunflint Lake. Entered at Magnetic lake. Went down the river and ended at Sag. Called for a ride back to Gunflint lodge. Had a nice dinner on the patio the night before and stayed in a bunkhouse. There’s a few portages around the rapids which are mostly short. Decent fishing throughout and nice campsites. You can stretch the trip to 4 days so you can base camp at a site for 2 nights. She had no experience before the trip and did fine and enjoyed it. We are both in our 60s!

tbro16: "

scat: "Hopefully you are still a couple by next Sept"

lol couldnt help but laugh at this comment. I'm in my 30s, not 13. Appreciate your level of concern though lol.


"

Your reply was so funny I spit alittle soda up reading it...LOL

My first trip in 2000 I went with 6 College football Bros...they were the biggest babies I've ever gone with :) My Girlfreind heard about the trip and wanted to go. So we booked our own trip the same year. After the big fail of the first trip (I was a tag along another guy with expereince organized it) I got pretty worried...that trip we ended up covering a ton of miles, my girlfriend was portage pro...we've been going ever since (well now she is slowing down due to mild health issues) and got married in 2002.