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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Trip Planning Forum :: Sea Gull Lake
 
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GreyWolfMN
08/05/2019 09:10AM
  
Thanks for the input. We are trying to find an entry point without any portages. Getting too old for that stuff. I might try for something else. Maybe some cancellations will happen.


We have been in the number lakes area starting about 2 years after that fire, so I have a good idea of what to expect. I had looked on GE, but thought the 'lighter' area might just be the land. Now I see the limit of the fire and the green campsites.


As far as 'busy' my main concern was if finding an unoccupied campsite could be a problem.
 
minnmike
08/05/2019 10:47AM
  
Seagull is a big lake with many nice camp sites and structure. There are camp sites amongst the island clusters that are out of the wind also. I think it's a great lake choice to spend a lot of time on if you don't want to portage at all. I spent 9 days 2 miles from the portage a few falls ago and had a great time.
 
minnmike
08/03/2019 09:41PM
  
As far as busy it really hit and miss and subjective. All boat traffic is east of 3 mile island so if you are west of that you won't really notice it. A lot of the sites were in the burn area since the three fires affected most of the lake. If you look at satellite view on Google Maps you can see where the burn is. Basically the north central part of the lake was spared from fire. The last fire that affected Seagull was 12 years ago so regrowth has had time to happen. The public boat landing has a nice parking lot and landing. I have parked there several time without issue.
 
johndku
08/03/2019 09:50PM
  
All but the northernmost part of Seagull is in a burn area. That being said, Seagull has 20+ campsites, and a fair number of them were unaffected or saved from the burn. We stayed at site #457 last year, no evidence at all of being in a burn area.


The motorized area extends down to the south end of Three Mile Island, and yes, you'll see power boats down to that point. We saw/heard 4-5 per day last year.


Third week of August, close to back to school time, is when things start to slow down. August 12th is kind of right after the busiest time, so you'll probably see a fair amount of other paddlers.


Not sure about parking, we left right from Seagull OUtfitters docks and parked there.





 
Grey Wolf
08/03/2019 10:55AM
  
I'm looking for information on Sea Gull Lake for a trip starting Aug 12 for two weeks.

How busy is the lake during that time of the year?

Are any of the campsites in any burned off area?

What is the best boat access to use where parking for 2 weeks won't be an issue?

And with a 10hp motor limit in a portion of the lake, do you see a lot of motors?

Thanks!
 
GreyWolfMN
08/03/2019 11:13AM
  
Oops.......I wasn't logged in for the above post.
 
GreyWolfMN
08/05/2019 09:16AM
  
johndku: "All but the northernmost part of Seagull is in a burn area. That being said, Seagull has 20+ campsites, and a fair number of them were unaffected or saved from the burn. We stayed at site #457 last year, no evidence at all of being in a burn area.



The motorized area extends down to the south end of Three Mile Island, and yes, you'll see power boats down to that point. We saw/heard 4-5 per day last year.



Third week of August, close to back to school time, is when things start to slow down. August 12th is kind of right after the busiest time, so you'll probably see a fair amount of other paddlers.



Not sure about parking, we left right from Seagull OUtfitters docks and parked there.





"
Are the power boaters overnight users or day use people? I'm guessing they are on the sites in the powereboat area.
 
mirth
08/05/2019 09:39AM
  
I believe campers could be either, since overnight with motor is an option for the permit.


I camped 2 nights on Seagull last year. We were at the campsite on Fishhook island. It was decent despite its proximity to the wilderness border. Secluded enough that we didn't see any motor boats and only a couple canoes during the time we were there. The canoe landing is a little tricky just because it's rocky.


We bunked at Seagull and got our permit from them, but used the public launch for parking.
 
johndku
08/05/2019 02:27PM
  
Another option have an outfitter, (like Seagull Outfitters), using the same entry point permit, tow you from Seagull to Red Rock Lake, which is one of my favorite lakes. Red Rock is much quieter, not as much of a "pass through" lake as some of the others, and has good fishing. Just no lakers that I'm aware of, but healthy populations of SMB, pike and walleye.


The portage from the end of the tow into Red Rock Lake takes about twenty seconds from what I remember, can't be more than 5 rods or so. That would get you just a little bit more seclusion, no motorboats, decent fishing, and there are 6-7 campsites on Red Rock, we've seen most of them and most appear pretty decent.