I'm thinking about this big loop. (See attached map.) Anyone do a loop like this with some tips or sites worth seeing? I'm aware of some old logging relics on Horse and Fourtown Lake.

Do I need to be concerned about accidently crossing into Canada? The border literally goes down the middle of this narrow lake/river for 10 miles of our route.

I have done this loop so many times I'm considering changing my username from thecanoeman to crookedman. but seriously I have spent over 180 days in this area over the last few years.

This loop provides many points of interests like lower basswood falls, wheel barrow falls, the pictographs on crooked, incredible scenery, wildlife and some pretty good fishing.

You will also travel across small lakes, large lakes, rivers, creeks and beaver dams. I wouldn't worry about accidentally crossing the border as long as you very close to it but don't ever fish in Canada.
Most of my trips are 6 days but I have done trips as long as 9 days and I even did this entire loop in 2 days a few times.

Did pretty much the same loop, except we went in further west (Nina Moose). Nice area, a lot of camp sites and good fishing in general. No problem w/ Canada. Crossing into it while traveling is not a big issue. Camping/fishing in it w/o the proper permits is not something you want to do.

Going back to Crooked this year (last week in May).

I did choose my screen name because of my favorite lake, not by paddling skill level!

Looks like an awesome trip, you will have a great time. One thing that you might want to consider (if we eventually get some winter snow) would be to paddle up the moose camp river from Fourtown to Moosecamp Lake. It is a fun paddle, alhtough you will have to pull over many beaver dams in route. I always enjoy paddling it when the conditions are right.

Once on crooked there are lots of sites to see, such as an old model "t" on one of the islands, table rock, and the pictographs near lower basswood falls. If you are using an outfitter, they should be ablet o mark those on a map for you.

As far as incedental crossing of the border, don't wory about it. If you are fishing down the middle of the lake, you won't have any issues, but if you are going into bays that are obviously in canada that could spell some trouble for you.

I guess the other thing would be that a day trip to the west end of hte lake to see curtain falls.

Have a great trip!

Looks like a beautiful plan to me! How many days are you planning for the entire trip? Is there any way you could highlight your potential stopping points each day? I'm really interested in this as a trip in the future. My plan next time was to solo just the shorter Horsetown loop thru Moosecamp and fish with base camps , but I'm liking this plan also.

The old car is actually in Canada, the island in Canada to the left/north of campsite 20, last "finger" or nub to the west, just in the woods. Nice loop, probably 4 days minimum to enjoy, could easily be 6 days, with lots of fishing.

Did this exact route in 2009. See trip report here, if interested.

Trip report-Crooked loop

i am always amazed by how few people i see on crooked lake (and the other large lakes to the west). this is prime BWCA, the basswood river is heaven. the horse river maybe not so much.

Spartan1 just did this trip with thecanoeman in September. He has a trip report called "One New Fisherman".

Trip report: One New FIsherman

I've done that route twice, including last fall. It's my favorite route in the BW thus far. We do the loop in a clockwise fashion for 2 reasons - 1, the winds are more often than not coming from the west and 2, because we haul ass on Day 1, get up into Crooked and make camp in Friday Bay. I have yet to fish the lakes between Mudro and Friday Bay so I cannot comment there, but the fishing on Crooked is fantastic. Once we're on Crooked, we travel slowly and fish like madmen, working our way back to the Horse River. The paddle down Wednesday Bay and into Basswood River is almost mystical - big huge cliffs on both sides, plus pictographs.

I would not do this loop in less than 5 days though. Its roughly 34 miles from start to finish and it takes us about 8 hours single portaging to get from Mudro to Friday Bay (14-ish miles). Plus, I like a layover day or two so I can concentrate on finding fish.

I've done this route 4 or 5 times at least, and it is a great one. I have always gone counterclockwise...with a 2 pm start, Horse Lake is your target...an early morning start could put you at Lower Basswood Falls or beyond. There is a good logging camp ruins on the north end of Horse, great fishing below Lower Basswood Falls, the best US pictographs about 1.5 miles north on Crooked, Table Rock, great fishing on many parts of Crooked. I have always taken 6 days to do this trip, and had a layover day on Crooked.

Suggested camping spots: Horse, Lower Basswood Falls, Crooked 2 nights, Fourtown. Or push harder and get three nights on Crooked. Or camp on Gun-Boot-Fairy or Moosecamp and then paddle the river to Fourtown.

Thanks everyone for your great comments. I'm planning a trip for late May or early June. What are my chances of finding a campsite on Horse Lake, and at Lower Basswood Falls. I hear those spots can be quite busy. Is it easy to find a campsite on Crooked and Fourtown?

Would you say Horse Lake has the better fishing compared to Fourtown, Boot, and Gun?

Thanks!

quote bwcarocks: "Thanks everyone for your great comments. I'm planning a trip for late May or early June. What are my chances of finding a campsite on Horse Lake, and at Lower Basswood Falls. I hear those spots can be quite busy. Is it easy to find a campsite on Crooked and Fourtown?


Would you say Horse Lake has the better fishing compared to Fourtown, Boot, and Gun?


Thanks!"

chances of finding an open site on horse...what day will you be entering? i think tuesdays and wednesdays have the lowest traffic.

LBF sites...its a crap shoot. many groups basecamp in that area.

crooked...as wartman said, crooked does seem deserted at times. its a big flowage and people spread out quickly.

i havent fished boot and gun but between horse and fourtown i think horse is a much better fishing lake.

youre looking at a wonderful loop. loved it!

If I recall, you'd have to make sure you didn't get a permit restricting you from camping on Horse Lake. We did that trip three years ago paddling counter clock wise. We paddled out the Horse and took the first campsite around to the right towards Wheelbarrow falls. Then paddled up into Crooked to Friday Bay and camped on the island on the county line... It's also on the country line :) as there is a marker on the back side of it. Then down to Gun Lake and then out. We took some extra days and had a great time, even though it rained a bit. We sat a whole day on Gun under the tarp whittling. :) It poured all day long! Fourtown and Horse were full of people, but we were just passing through.

I also did that route last September, we put in right about when the Pagami fire was flaring up. Look for my report titled 'summer to fall in 7 days' or something along those lines.

We had a good time, even with high winds & waves on Crooked and very low water on the Horse river.

I've done this trip twice and consider it the most perfect canoe trip we've done. Get the EP23 permit, which allows you to camp on Horse.

I did that exact loop with my brother and our sons. It was fantastic. Loved camping by the falls. Loved camping on the NE end of Gun, with the little peninsula fire place set up. Lots of wildlife. Good fishing. Excellent adventure.

Don't sweat the mile portage (330 rods), it's flat and easier than the short goat trail out of fourtown.

fun fun fun. I'd do it again. But I'd like more than 7 days actually. But I like to fish, and would've liked more time to explore Crooked, Gun and Fairy. 7 is fine, but 9 or 10 would've been better. I wouldn't want to do less than 5. But if you want to get some decent fishing time in, plan at least a week.

you could do that loop in 3 days, it only about 34 miles...but yould miss alot.

What a great loop! My partner and I have done it twice in the last few years. We went clockwise the first time and decided to go the other way if we ever did it again... so last summer we did the same loop and last minute decided to go clockwise again because of time issues, numerous people,crazy wind, and to avoid the bigger parts of fourtown and across horse. Both trips were oustanding! we did it in six days both times but wished we would've had more time (3 weeks would be awesome of course). I'm actually planning a trip up to crooked with a buddy and 2 of my brothers this June. I like to travel, they like to base camp, so I'm planning on two days travel up to crooked, base camp for 3-4 days then one or two days out. Have a great trip. Maybe we'll pass you.

I have been to Crooked many times, and up to Gun on separate trips but never the loop. Actually I do at least one trip a year with the kids to Fourtown and stick in that area. Big lake w lots of day trip potential and easy to get to.

What is the area between Gun and Friday Bay like? Is is a lot of long portages? How long does that part take- a day?

Brain,
We did the route up last year and then came back down. Our itinerary was slow and cautious because my daughter had a broken/pinned/partially healed dominant wrist. From the northeasternmost campsite on Gun Lake we set out at 9am and were on Friday Bay at 12:30pm. As said by others, the long portage to Wagosh is dry and level-gradually going up and down and would make a great state park trail. Wagosh to Niki is short but steep near Niki and a great endurance builder coming out. Chippewa Lake and Papoose Creek and Lake are an easy paddle and the last portage is not extraordinary,
Now if you can, have you ever traveled west of Friday Bay to find all the campsites occupied between it and Iron Lake? Or have there always been some open?