I'm in the very preliminary stages of planning a trip. At this point most things are open to your recommendations. The trip is with mom, dad and three elementary school aged kids. Two canoes. This will be the kids introduction to the BWCA so if we have a great trip the kids will hopefully want to return again in the future.

Time of year will be when the water is warm for swimming. Two or three nights (hopefully three). Fishing is not a big deal for this trip. I'm looking for recommendations for entry point, route, lakes, and maybe campsites, etc.

I understand that the BWCA is getting very popular and that some campsites which are easily accessible are sometimes trashed or overused. These kids are not going to be great at portaging, but we can portage a fair amount if it helps us get to a decent campsite. Coming from Minneapolis.

Thanks in advance for any ideas you can share.

I extensively trip with my kids, ranging from 7 years down to 8 weeks old.
How old is the second oldest kid? I'd recommend renting a Northstar Northwind 20 and use one canoe.

Thanks THEGrandRapids, the kids are 9, 11 and 13. We may have access to a Wenonah MN 3 but I'm not sure about that. We could rent a Northstar Northwind 20 from an outfitter. I wasn't sure if everyone and the camping gear would fit in one canoe, even a 3 seater.

Couple of ideas:

Sawbill Lake Entry #38

Beth Lake - Great Campsites - Smaller Lake to explore. Lots of small bass to catch. Nice rock for cliff jumping on the east end of the lake. Not much for day trips here.


Burnt Lake - Again several nice campsites. Good fishing Lake. A little larger than Beth and some day tripping opportunities.


Baker Lake Entry #39 - Head up to Kelly or Jack Lake. Nice fishing lakes. Chance to see moose. Abandoned mine to explore. Not much for day trip options.

Another option: Stay in the Sawbill Lake Campground and day trip to all three of these lakes.

I typically take one trip a year with my boys, now 10 and 12, and two things they enjoy that I don't normally look for are beaches and rivers. They enjoy some fishing (prefer casting from shore) but trolling across a large lake for several hours is not their cup of tea.

For a shorter trip I can make my NW 17 work with a drop in seat, otherwise I use my Wenonah Seneca but still mostly avoid big water if I don't have another adult as this is a big boat for their size.

We have gone out of Sawbill a few times, sometimes just camping in the campground (with access to yard games and ice cream) and day tripping/fishing from there or moving a lake over in either direction.

Their favorite was probably staying on Gabbro and spending some time on the large sandy beach there or exploring some of the Kawishiwi. Understanding a Gabbro permit is hard to come by you could grab any of the surrounding permits and stay somewhere in the Kawishiwi triangle.

THANK YOU THEGrandRapids, Michwall2 and portagerunner! I will check those suggestions on the map. I REALLY appreciate your advice.

I took my son on his first trip to Brule and stayed on one of the island sites not too far from the entry point. He was thrilled to just run around the campsite and explore the surrounding forest for a couple days. We went fishing and did a daytrip over to the portage to Vernon to see the falls and that's all he needed.

For my daughter's first trip, I'm looking at lakes with a lot of campsites that aren't too far from the EP. This way, I have a lot of options for campsites and am less dependent on a particular site being open. Sawbill, Baker, and Brule are my top choices.

The biggest concern I'd have is to get a site that is a little further back from the water and/or relatively flat so you don't have to worry about them drowning or falling. When it starts to get dark, and especially if it is slippery, is when this really becomes a concern.

Thanks A1t2o, I will check Brule out on the map. Thank You!

portagerunner: "Their favorite was probably staying on Gabbro and spending some time on the large sandy beach there or exploring some of the Kawishiwi. Understanding a Gabbro permit is hard to come by you could grab any of the surrounding permits and stay somewhere in the Kawishiwi triangle."

Thank You! Gabbro and Bald Eagle seem perfect.

Interesting how the suggestions show what area people are used to starting at...

I totally agree with the Gabbro idea, with campsite 2135 being ideal (island with great rock face). Problem is getting a permit.

In the same area, Lake One is good with the ability to get to two, three, four with only two short/easy portages. However lots of that area burned... what, 20 years ago now? Not a game breaker, just worth noting.

Also I'd look at the S. Kawishiwi river entrance. While you can come into the river from Lake one entrance (it's technically on the river) there's way more campsites coming up from the south side.

Lastly, perhaps a tow up through Moose to Ensign? Lots of area to explore and with a tow one or both ways it's an easy trip.

Downside to all of these is that there's "lots" of people. But hey, you're at the point of getting the kids into it and they're old enough to do real trips whenever. Mine are 14 and 12 this year... time to kick it up a notch!

EP24 Fall Lake is another good, gentle, introductory route. The boat ramp is as easy as it gets for starting out (you can unload the car about 20' away) and the two portages around Newton and Pipestone Falls are practically sidewalks. Once you are in Pipestone there are lots of terrific campsites.

If you and your wife are both strong paddlers in the stern, I would go with two canoes. It might mean you have to portage both canoes, but if you take an easy route that's not the end of the world.

There are literally thousands of possible route options - all of the ones listed would be fine.

A few points from a guy who has done this a few times;

Keep moving and exploring. Kids need the adventure and stimulation, base camps can lead to boredom.

Your kids can pull their weight at these ages. Challenge them to help you.

A route such as Moose River (EP16) takes you easily up to LLC. There are many campsites, good fishing and Canada is right across the lake. Add in the ancient Pictographs and you have a good trip. (And you sometimes see moose on the Moose River) You can make LLC in a day from the EP so this would be a three day trip.

Have fun!

Now that you have all this input on where you could choose to go, here comes the hard part. Getting a permit for the entry point you want at the time you want to go. There are several steps that you need to take.

1. Go to www.recreation.gov

2. Choose permits.

3. Choose Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

4 Choose "explore available permits"

5. Select permit type (top left corner of the page). You'll want overnight paddle

6. Use the calendar to choose a reasonable time for your trip. If you want water warm enough to swim in, mid June is the earliest I would want, mid August to early September would be the latest.

7. Look at the entry points that have permits available. You can look at 10 days at a time. If none of the entry points with permits available suit you, you can look at the next 10 days. If you find one that suits you, research the entry point as to the difficulty. I would not choose Angleworm Lake because it is 640rds (about 2 miles) from the parking lot to the lake. By clicking on the name of the entry point there will be some information displayed. If you don't find one that is available when and where you want, check back as there are cancellations.

8. If you choose the entry point there will be a lengthy list of information to read through and fill out. If you miss one entry in that list, it will not let you reserve the permit. You will have 15 minutes to get if filled out correctly.

Thank you all for your great advice. I learned about entry points and lake options that I was not familiar with. I'm going to review all the options.

Lots of great advice above. I’ve done a lot of trips with kids. Each of my daughters (20,18) started when they were 5, and my 7 year old son will be doing his 3rd trip with me this summer. I like exploring new areas so I’ve used a lot of different EPs with each of the kids.

My 4 favorite areas with kids are….
Baker to wherever you end up. I’ve had good fishing on Kelly and Jack. This is a good area to see moose. I’m going there this summer with my son and it will be the only EP that I have used with all 3 kids.

Lizz to Caribou/Horseshoe. I’ve had good fishing on those lakes and it’s another good area for seeing moose.

Sawbill to Smoke/Burnt

South Kawishiwi River.

Thank you ducks!

When our son was a toddler we went to Wind, which is an easy paddle across Moose Lake. Wind has several nice sites, plus nice exploring and fishing opportunities. You can base camp on Wind or portage into other nearby lakes. The second option would be the Fall-Newton-Pipestone route which has easy portages, rapids to see, and fishing. The campsites in the area are good, but the route is popular and you will probably run into motor-boaters with their portage wheels on the portage. Having taken out youth trips with paddlers the age of your kids and as young as 7, the most important thing is to keep things fun and interesting. We never base camped, although sometimes we were wind bound. I would also involve your family in the planning as much as possible.

OldGuide2: "When our son was a toddler we went to . . . "

Thank you OldGuide2

Since no one else has mentioned it... I'll throw out East Bearskin EP #64. Here's a trip report that's admittedly a bit dated. And, although we didn't have much luck fishing on this particular trip, it is typically better than what we encountered on this go 'round. Primarily the report features a trip to one of the premier waterfalls and gigantic cedar trees in the bwca and an old miners cabin. Things I suspect your kids would be thrilled to see.

Canoe basecamp

I see you've gotten some suggestions for lake one, we are canceling a permit today for that EP on July 4th. It should show up tomorrow if you want to grab it!

I hope you have a great trip!!

Disappointment Lake stay at the NE end of the lake. The fishing on Dissapointment is hit and miss, I've had great fishing and not so great fishing. Take days trips to Cattyman falls and Jordon Lake.

Hog Creek to Perent Lake for a relaxing vacation, good walleye fishing.

Sawbill to Alton Lake, very easy trip. Take a day trip to Beth to fish for 12" small mouth, you can't keep them off the hook.

The numbers chain, easy trip, however it's very crowded on the weekends.

Caribou Lake, good fishing and relaxing.

I would go on a Monday morning as these are very popular areas and you will have a hard time finding campsites later in the week.

Thank you Captn Tony, Marblerose, TuscaroraBorealis and everyone for the great advice.