eBookSeventh Edition (Seventh Edition)
Related collections and offers
Overview
Find your way into the western BWCAW via 27 entry points, accessible near Ely, Minnesota.
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in northeastern Minnesota—over a million acres of wilderness on the US-Canada border—is a magnet for visitors seeking to explore some of the most beautiful waterways in the world. With a canoe or kayak, you can paddle its remote lakes, rivers, waterfalls, forests, and trails. Boundary Waters Canoe Area: Western Region by Robert Beymer and Louis Dzierzak helps you select the perfect trip for your schedule, ability, and interests.
This classic guide—along with its companion volume, Boundary Waters Canoe Area: Eastern Region—has been the trusted source for more than 40 years on where to go in the BWCAW and its 1,000+ lakes. Now fully updated, it’s the bible to the 1,200 miles of canoe routes and 154 miles of portage trails in the wilderness.
The guide describes 27 entry points in the western part of the BWCAW—those accessible near Ely, Minnesota, from the Echo Trail, Fernberg Road, and State Highway 1. For each entry point, both a short and a long route are described, along with all the information you’ll need to plan a successful trip.
Inside you’ll find:
- Complete trip data, including total distance, time, difficulty, required Fisher maps, and permit and quota requirements
- Day-by-day details, such as number and difficulty of portages and recommended campsites
- Fishing recommendations for surrounding lakes and rivers
- Wise advice on navigation and points of interest
- Added bonus: “Lake Index for Fishing,” covering the 185 lakes that lie on this book’s described routes
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780899976105 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Wilderness Press |
| Publication date: | 03/12/2010 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 288 |
| Sales rank: | 737,234 |
| File size: | 35 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Entry Point 1: Trout Lake
Daily Quota: 14 Closest Ranger Station: LaCroix Ranger District in Cook
Location Trout Lake is accessible from Vermilion Lake. From Ely, follow State Highway 1-169 west through Tower to its junction with County Road (CR) 77, about 4.5 miles west of Tower. Turn right on CR 77 and continue for 12 more miles until you reach the public landing on Moccasin Point. There you will find a large private parking lot operated by Moccasin Point Resort, with gasoline pumps, telephone booth, snack bar and store. A fee is charged to park there.
Description Public campgrounds on or near Vermilion Lake’s south shore are located at Tower-Soudan State Park, McKinley Park, and Tower Park, all just north of Highway 1-169, just outside of Tower. There is also a National Forest campground at Pfeifer Lake, 10 miles southwest of Tower. Any of these will provide you with a convenient place to spend the night prior to the canoe trip. All are less than 20 miles from the public access to Vermilion Lake. Camping fees are charged at all of them.
Trout is the largest lake within in the boundaries of the BWCAW. More than 40 campsites can be found on the lake’s 78 miles of shoreline. Throughout these route descriptions, words on a page often are challenged to give a true sense of scale and scope. Keep a current map at hand since the distances between some of these campsites can be significant.
To access Trout Lake, you must first cross part of Vermilion Lake. Located near the southwestern corner of the BWCA, Vermilion is a very popular lake, dotted with private cabins and resorts. It is particularly attractive to boaters, many of whom travel into Trout Lake, where there is a 25-horsepower limit on motor size. Motors are not permitted to travel beyond Trout Lake itself.
What does all this mean for you? On the one hand, you may encounter some noise and congestion, mostly in the form of motorboats, on Trout Lake. On the other hand, if you are seeking a quick escape to solitude, you can find it at the Trout Lake entry point if you don’t mind sharing the first two large lakes with boaters and if you don’t stop on Trout Lake itself. You can quickly pass through one of the busiest lakes in the Boundary Waters and into one of the least traveled and most pristine areas in the wilderness, offering as much peace and solitude as anywhere else in the BWCAW. If you can tolerate the first and last days of these two routes, you will surely find a wilderness trip from this entry point to be outstanding.
Trout Lake is also one of the most available entry points in the entire BWCAW. The supply of overnight travel permits is usually much greater than the demand for them. If you are looking at the last minute for a good wilderness canoe trip, and most other entry points are filled up, consider Trout Lake as a fine alternative.
The Trout Lake area was affected by the 1999 windstorm. In some places more than 50 percent of the trees were knocked flat.
Table of Contents
AcknowledgmentsLocator Map of Boundary Water Canoe Area: Western Region
Prefaces
Chapter 1: introduction to the BWCA Wilderness
Chapter 2: how to Plan a Wilderness Canoe Trip
Chapter 3: Entry from Echo Trail south and highway
- Entry Point 1 Trout Lake
- Entry Point 4 Crab Lake
- Entry Point 6 Slim Lake
- Entry Point 7 Big Lake
- Entry Point 8 Moose River South
- Entry Point 9 Little Indian Sioux River South
Chapter 4: Entry from the Echo Trail north
- Entry Point 12 Little Vermilion Lake
- Entry Point 14 Little Indian Sioux River North
- Entry Point 16 Moose River North
- Entry Point 19 Stuart River
- Entry Point 20 Angleworm Lake
- Entry Point 77 South Hegman Lake
- Entry Points 22 & 23 Mudro Lake
Chapter 5: Entry from the Fernberg Road
- Entry Point 24 Fall Lake
- Entry Point 25 Moose Lake
- Entry Point 26 Wood Lake
- Entry Points 27 & 28 Snowbank Lake
- Entry Point 29 North Kawishiwi River
- Entry Point 30 Lake One
- Entry Point 31 Farm Lake
Chapter 6: Entry from state highway 1
- Entry Point 32 South Kawishiwi River
- Entry Point 33 Little Gabbro Lake
- Entry Point 84 Snake River
- Entry Point 75 Little Isabella River
- Entry Point 67 Bog Lake
- Entry Point 34 Island River
- Entry Point 35 Isabella Lake
Appendix i: Routes Categorized by Difficulty and Duration
Appendix ii: Commercial Canoe Trip outfitters
Appendix iii: Lake index for fishing
Appendix iV: BWCAW hiking Trails in the Western Region
Appendix V: More Resources
Photo Credits
Index