I'm staying optimistic - we have an Aug 27 entry onto Moose Lake and I'm looking forward to the trip. My dad and I first visited the BWCA in 2024 and are hoping to press deeper into the wilderness this go-round. We towed to the Newfound-Splash portage and made it only a ~1/2 mile onto Ensign before we got hit with heavy rain and ended up staying the entire trip at the site where we sought refuge.

Crowdsourcing some routes here - what are some favorites that people have from the northeastern end of Moose? It is a shorter trip, only 3 nights. Any advice on this, fishing spots, prime campsites is welcome. Excited to be back in Ely (away from Houston) and get out on the water.

1. Portage into Birch and eventually to Knife and explore western end of Knife, possibly including trips to Thunder Point and to Dorothy Molter's (the Root Beer Lady) island and the "ribbon rock" that is still there. After a couple of nights on Knife you could work back to Birch for a night to reduce exit time on your last day.
This is exactly the trip I took last summer check out this video
and this trip report
for specifics.

2. Enter Splash Lake and then on to Ensign as you had before, but then continue on for a couple of nights on Ashigan. I like all of the campsites on that lake though I view the far western site as the least desirable of the four sites on Ashigan. A side trip from Ashigan to Gibson to see Cattyman Falls is well worth it. Again, you could work your way back from Ashigan towards your starting point for a night to reduce your exit time at the nd of your trip.

3. From Moose Lake, portage over to Wind Lake and then maybe to Wind Bay of Basswood Lake. A couple of "longer" portages but well travelled and not particularly difficult. For a real adventure you could even go from Wind Bay, through a swampy area to Indiana or Good. There is a huge beaver dam just before you get to Indiana and the water in Indiana is about as clear as you could imagine.

Yet another option would be up through Prairie Portage to Basswood Lake but I have never been that way so cannot comment on it intelligently.

As you experienced before, a tow will save you significant paddle time with any of these options and your fishing should be good in whatever area you choose.

Good luck! I, myself, have a permit for a Kawishiwi River entry a few days after you and am guardedly optimistic that we'll be able to go!

Good stuff! We day-tripped down to the falls at Gibson via Ashigan and I agree, those sites are prime. Our base case is same as last time, Ensign via Splash, and get over to Ashigan around midday to claim a spot. Nights 2/3 we hope to get a spot on Jordan and then haul it back to Snowbank for pickup. Your last recommendations are intriguing, though…

Awesome video. We also went with Williams & Hall and are doing so again this year. Looking forward to the beer on the dock and sauna upon return.

We took a tow up to the Indian Portage (entry into Birch) and made it beyond Dorothy's island on day one. This was right before the closure and now a lot of that area is affected by fire. Once we were told to evacuate we headed south through Vera...the Knife-to-Vera portage is one of the most difficult I've ever encountered. I don't recommend that one. Ensign-to-Vera was long and tough but nowhere near as technically difficult. Portaging from Ensign to Splash to Moose was a cake walk. I would definitely go back to Ensign and spend a week on that lake. Vera was very pretty as well.

Moose to Wind wasn't very difficult when we took that route in 2021, but we didn't find Wind to be all that great. Small, shallow, and not great campsites.

How old/how fit is dad?

I'm fairly fit and at 72 years old, I and my wife entered at Moose Lake, paddled up to Splash, portaged into Ensign, then into Ashigan, Gibson, Cattyman, and stopped at Jordan because that was our goal. When we were younger we went as far as Ima but that was with 2 early teens boys and an 8 year old daughter.

soundguy0918: "We took a tow up to the Indian Portage (entry into Birch) and made it beyond Dorothy's island on day one. This was right before the closure and now a lot of that area is affected by fire. Once we were told to evacuate we headed south through Vera...the Knife-to-Vera portage is one of the most difficult I've ever encountered. I don't recommend that one. Ensign-to-Vera was long and tough but nowhere near as technically difficult. Portaging from Ensign to Splash to Moose was a cake walk. I would definitely go back to Ensign and spend a week on that lake. Vera was very pretty as well.


Moose to Wind wasn't very difficult when we took that route in 2021, but we didn't find Wind to be all that great. Small, shallow, and not great campsites."

This is our 2nd option as of now. In 2024 (our first trip) we did the reverse - Moose - Splash - Ensign - and agree, that portage is nothing. I think we carried the canoe into Ensign with all of our gear still loaded in. I read that the Vera portage was a tough one but was some what looking forward to the challenge if we opted for this northern loop. Fingers crossed we can get in there!

RMinMN: "How old/how fit is dad?


I'm fairly fit and at 72 years old, I and my wife entered at Moose Lake, paddled up to Splash, portaged into Ensign, then into Ashigan, Gibson, Cattyman, and stopped at Jordan because that was our goal. When we were younger we went as far as Ima but that was with 2 early teens boys and an 8 year old daughter."

He can still move around a bit but definitely lost his fastball. That said, we had no issues when we daytripped from Ashigan-Gibson and back - we actually made it from the Ashigan portage to our site on the western end of Ensign in about 90 minutes with a headwind and a boat full of firewood. Our current plan is to find a site on Ashigan around lunchtime and enjoy the afternoon on that lake before going onto Jordan the next morning, but if the three eastern sites are all taken we'll probably just press on to Jordan/Ima.

If our permits end up cancelled we'll just portage between Boathouse and Frisky Otter all week.

Honestly, if you want to see Vera, I would just portage in from Ensign and go back the same way. I hope I never have to do that portage from Knife-to-Vera ever again. TBH the Ensign-to-Vera portage is plenty difficult.