Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Trip Planning Forum :: EP 1 Trout Lake - Mud Creek Road parking
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bunker3 |
Ho Ho: "Thanks onajourney! If the forecast holds we should have calm conditions for this trip, which is an advantage of spur-of-the-moment trips - you can adjust to the weather schedule. Still undecided whether to go from Rice Bay or Moccasin Point, Rice Bay is a shorter drive but longer paddle . . . I'll hop in here. We've always parked and launched from Moccasin Point and used the mechanical portage into Trout. There are 2 ways to get into Pine from Trout. You can paddle to the north end and take Pine Creek all the way to Pine. Winding paddle, lots of fun on a nice sunny day. You can also take the long portage into Pine that's on the east side of Trout, not very far from the entrances into Trout. It's long, hilly, rocky, and muddy, but it's not much for paddling to get there. Hope that helps! |
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Ho Ho |
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thebotanyguy |
Zooming in on Google Maps shows a small parking lot associated with the ramp and dock. |
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onajourney |
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Ho Ho |
And thanks straighthaired also. Coming from the Ely area it’s just a much shorter drive to go up Mud Creek Road than to circle all the way around to Moccasin Point. |
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Ho Ho |
After going back and forth about whether to launch at Rice Bay (Mud Creek Road) or Moccasin Point, we decided on Rice Bay because the route looked more protected on Vermilion. The paddle from the Rice Bay parking area to the Trout Lake portage was 7.2 miles, which is kind of hefty just to get started. It's a bit like paddling up the Moose Chain to Prairie Portage, but with a lot of water-access properties along the way. It was fun to do once but I'd probably paddle from Moccasin Point or get a tow if we go again. We camped both nights at a great site on Dunwoody Island in the southwest part of Trout. It seemed like we were the only paddlers camped on the lake (but obviously it's a huge lake so who knows). There were a number of motorboats but for the most part they were pretty unobtrusive. On our layover day we did a 16+ mile loop up Pine Creek and around Pine Lake then out the long portage and back to our camp. We had some trouble finding the portage from Trout at the beginning of the creek - it's all the way on the right of the sandy beach. We saw only a couple other paddlers on this loop, and none of the campsites we passed on Pine appeared to be occupied (although we didn't go by two of them). It was a really fun day-trip adventure. Thanks for the help to those who provided info! Ho Ho |
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Ho Ho |
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straighthairedcurly |
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Ho Ho |
I didn’t know you could do the creek to/from Pine Lake. Can you tell me more about that? |