My dad and I have been going up to the BWCA along with my three brothers since we were little. However, we are all past the age of 16 now and are quite a bit more adventurous. An exciting thing for us to do have been to find places where there are waterfalls and just kind of explore around the place. So far we have seen Rose falls in-between Duncan and Rose lake, the Brule Bay waterfall in-between Brule and Vernon, the waterfall on Winchell that I'm not sure has a name and Basswood Falls. Looking for more ideas to travel, we are all fit, strong and good paddlers; traveling is not hard and we can go very rugged. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Side note-- I have heard Johnson Falls is awesome, has anyone been there?

Johnson Falls is very nice. It has several levels, and it is easily reached from Pine Lake. There is also a way to come in from Canoe Lake but we have never done that route. A lot of people do, so I am sure others will give you the scoop on that.

There is a path back to the falls. Every time we have taken the path it has had trees to maneuver over/under, but it has been a path worth taking! Once you get to the lower falls, be sure to go up to the upper ones. We haven't ventured clear up to the very top, but I know it must be interesting, too.

Here is a photo of the lower falls, and one of the upper level.

kawishiwi falls is not technically in the BWCA, but it is close by, drive up accessible (well, practically) and absolutely awe inspiring.

hit it on your way to or from the Bdub.....you won't regret it!

Kawishiwi Falls has a short hiking trail from the parking lot. Nice scenic waterfall.








This pretty little waterfall is at the portage to Ge-be-on-e-quet Lake from Ge-be Creek, too.

Johnson Falls is one of my favorites, I've been there 3 times. You can sit in the shallows on the lower falls as the water bubbles by you. Very relaxing. Another is Cattyman Falls. This one was rocking a few years ago after a big rain.

Go up through the Falls chain in Quetico all the way to Chatterton Falls and back, maybe through Louisa falls.

Cattyman is awesome. I also like the beauty of Jasper, but my favorite was Curtain Falls.

Two suggestions:

1. Entry 54 - Seagull Lake. Before you go take in the falls between Seagull and Gull Lake at Trails End Campground. Pretty spot. You are headed to South Arm of Knife. They will likely tell you not to use the portage here, but I believe there is a rapids between Seagull Lake and Alpine Lake. There is a beautiful falls between Alpine Lake and Jasper Lake. Camp two nights on Ogishkemuncie Lake and day trip to Muelller Falls between Mueller Lake and Agamok Lake. About half way through the portage you will find a wide spot where the Kekakabic Trial crosses the portage. Head east here on the Kek Trail about a quarter mile. You will find a bridge that crosses above the falls. There are side trails (some say the old portage?) that you can walk along side the falls downstream.

Head back to Ogishkemuncie and prepare to head northeast to SAK. You will pass through 3 beautiful smaller lakes - Annie, Jenny, and Eddy Lakes - on your way to Eddy Falls. Make your portage first. There is much more room to store your gear out of the way on the SAK side of the portage. Then you can walk back up the hill and find one of the many side Spurs that will take you to see the falls. Stand at the top of the falls (careful of the shifting logs here) and take in the east bay of SAK and cliffs from above.

2. Entry 14 - LIS North. As you paddle towards the Pauness Lakes you will find a beautiful falls along you first portage. After you get back in your canoe, immediately look to your left for the falls entering LIS. We continued counter-clockwise on our route. Shell lake, Little Shell Lake, Lynx Lake, Ruby Lake, Hustler Lake, Oyster Lake. If you listen as you approach the portage from Oyster to Rocky you will find a beautiful little falls to your left. We walked in about 50 to 100 feet to find an idyllic little spot with plants and insects out of a Midsummer Nights Dream.
Continue on to Rocky and Ge-be-on-e-quet. As you portage out of Gebe you will be going about straight down along side a beautiful falls. Gebe Creek and Pocket Creek bring you to Pocket Lake. There is a short portage here that follows along a section of Pocket Creek with many small falls and rills. Pocket Creek heading west drops you into Thumb Lake. From here you pass through a very little visited portion of the BW. Beartrack, Little Beartrack, Eugene, Steep and North/South Lake. All beautiful places, but the portages do not run along side the streams connecting them. We did not find much in the way of falls here. We were going to continue with the smaller lakes but the forecast was for severe storms and we decided to bug out. LLC was a fun paddle at 7 am. Went by fast. The Beatty Portage gets you around a falls, but the Canadian side is private land and exploring here is not necessarily encouraged. You can see the bottom of the falls as you paddle out onto Loon Lake. I wish we had had more time to explore Devils Cascade along the portage back into Lower Pauness Lake. There was a lot of water flowing through the falls when we were there and sections of the falls were spectacular.

There are other rapids/falls scattered throughout the BW. e.g. Between Koma Lake and Mahlberg Lake is a beautiful rapids with an iconic Canadian Shield erratic in the middle. The northeast portage out of Malhberg follows a small canyon/falls dumping into The Kawishiwi River. The Kawhishiwi River flowing into Alice Lake is a sizable rapids. Between Little Sag and Rattle is an iconic little rapids. Between Little Sag and Mora is an idyllic rapids. Along many of the portages of the Lady Lakes chain you can find streams winding between the rocks in almost a Japanese Garden quality.

If you study your maps before heading out and paddle the shores with yours ears open, you can find the small streams entering the lakes down the hillsides.

Good Hunting!

Going in the Spring after a winter of heavy snow falls will allow you to see any of the falls at their best or give you a new look to some you have already seen.

+1 On LIS North

Also, between Polly and Koma, there are falls you would never know are there. You exit the portage (on Koma) and paddle up the flow a little ways, and will have to do the rest on foot off to the left. Well worth the trouble. As Michwall2 states, there are flows through the Lady Chain. If you like rugged trips, I would HIGHLY suggest the Phobe River-Louse River loop. There are the falls mentioned, rugged portages, route finding challenges and lots of wilderness. We did it out of Baker last year and had a blast.


John

Thank you very much! That's super helpful.

Looks gorgeous! We will definitely have to get there.

Is that a long paddle? Estimate on length of trip and mileage?

How can anyone forget to mention Curtain Falls? In the spring, this is the King of the BWCA falls. Not only the size and height and amount of water but the fact that Crooked lake just goes right over with no real river mouth. Walking up from Iron on the portage, you're suddenly looking across miles of Crooked and its drop. The river below the falls is beautiful too, a lot of big rapids there!

Basswood River has a number of great falls though not as majestic as Curtain. Instead of taking the mile long portage from upper Basswood on down, carefully paddle, pull and walk the river. It takes longer but the scenery is good. We did this in the fall when the river was down, I'd not do this in the spring! There are two incredible campsites below Lower Basswood falls, the one straight out from the falls is really neat, higher on a hill looking right back at the falls. There is a campsite somewhere on the river below upper Basswood falls that is really good, good fishing in the hole downstream.

These above are the bigger falls. Nearly every lake that drops into a lower lake has some falls on them. Between Hansen and South Knife on the portage is heavenly, Cherry has a rivlet coming into it in the spring. From Topper to South lake is a gem, and alongside Mountain to Moose. Then th

johnson falls is nice, hardly awesome. curtain falls is awesome, you can feel the ground shake under your feet. don't paddle over it.

As you come into SAK from Hanson, I really like the view you get of Eddy Falls across the water. The upper whitewater of the falls shows through a gap as this white shiny spot contrasting with the green way up in the trees. From that angle you can't see the lower part of the falls so it looks like rapids all by themselves up in the treetops!

Curtain Falls for sure, we saw it for the first time last year and still remember it like it was yesterday. Great fishing too.



Did you see all the sets of falls along the Basswood (upper, lower, wheelbarrow?)

EP 16 would let you see some smaller rapids/falls along the river up to LLC. Then head into Iron and see Curtain Falls.

Another route to look at is put in on Gunflint Lake take Granite River up to Big Sag. You'll have lake & river canoeing, good lake & river fishing, some rapids & waterfalls. And the trip isn't too strenuous.

My favorites are Curtain and Lower Basswood
The guys sitting at the bottom of Curtain Falls
Overview of Curtain
Group on portage around Lower Basswood

quote jfinn: "+1 On LIS North


Also, between Polly and Koma, there are falls you would never know are there. You exit the portage (on Koma) and paddle up the flow a little ways, and will have to do the rest on foot off to the left. Well worth the trouble. As Michwall2 states, there are flows through the Lady Chain. If you like rugged trips, I would HIGHLY suggest the Phobe River-Louse River loop. There are the falls mentioned, rugged portages, route finding challenges and lots of wilderness. We did it out of Baker last year and had a blast.



John


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I second the Phoebe River/Louse River loop. I did this two years ago. It was challenging, on the Louse River none of the maps are right, portages disappear or you can't find them to begin with. Trail Lake felt very remote, did a layover day there. Whole route was great.

quote Captn Tony: "Another route to look at is put in on Gunflint Lake take Granite River up to Big Sag. You'll have lake & river canoeing, good lake & river fishing, some rapids & waterfalls. And the trip isn't too strenuous."

Captn Tony - how long does this trip take, and can it all be done from the BW side, or is a Quetico permit required as well?
John

It's about 21 miles so do it in 2 days. My goal has been to not work very hard and pick a camp about 1/3 to 2/3 in and spend a couple of days fishing at each site. Then find another camp and spend 2 days fishing that area. Once you get to Big Sag you'll find a lot of motor boat traffic however.
1st time was the day after the big blow down 18 years ago, so we ended up on 3 campsites.
2nd time I pulled a muscle in my leg so ended up using 3 campsites.
The campsites I remember are 1946 below the devils elbow rapids. I really liked it and good fishing around the rapids and at the elbow.
The second one I liked was 418 in a little bay just past Sag. Falls. The downside is hearing the motor boats.
The others I don't remember or I don't recommend.

Since we fish Iron and Crooked we are treated to 2 great falls. Curtain and Rebecca.
Since Curtain has been mentioned here, I won't describe it.
Rebecca is very cool because it's a falls that is more like a rapids. It's actually a pair of falls.
If you're at curtain falls, and seeing falls is a priority, then you really should paddle over to Rebecca. It's really not very far.

The most scenic trip I've taken is the Rose lake area that you mentioned. Beautiful terrain and rock formations. The waterfall near the staircase portage is beautiful and remind me of Oahu since that falls is in the forest and not off the edge of a lake.