Canoe Routes and Maps

Routes vary and include the following options:

Loop - Starting at one entry point and moving camp daily with options for layover days.

Basecamp - Enter the Wilderness, pick a good campsite, and hang out there for a few days.

Fly-Ins - Fly to a remote part of the wilderness to start your experience. Spetacular aerial views!

Boat Shuttles will support all of the above options.

Key to Route Specifics

Symbol	Code	Description
#Days	Days to Complete	Calendar Days to allow for Trip
DF	Difficulty	1 (Easy)........5 (Challenging)
F	Fishing	Smallmouth, Walleye, Northern Pike, Trout
CMP	Campsites	1 (Fair)..........5(Excellent)
P	Pictographs	Pictographs along route Y / N
BCH	Beaches	Beaches along route Y / N
RMT	Remoteness	1 (Fairly).........5 (Extremely)
MAP	Map	WA Fisher Map # for Route

A Few Great Boundary Waters Loop Routes

Little Indian Sioux River to Lac LaCroix, exit Moose River

#Days	DF	F	CMP	P	BCH	RMT	MAP
5 - 7	3	SWNT	4-5	Y	Y	5	F16

Start on the Little Indian Sioux River north. Paddle to Loon Lake for the first night. Paddle into Lac LaCroix the second day setting up camp in Snow Bay or around Island 41. This is a potential layover spot – spend 2 nights at the same camp, fishing and exploring this part of Lac LaCroix. Make you way into Lady Boot Bay for the fourth night. Another spot for a layover. Paddle past the pictographs and Warrior Hill on your way to Agnes Lake for the last night. Meet the van back on the Echo Trail on the last day. The trip can also be modified with a route through some smaller lakes on the Lac LaCroix Peninsula, then pop out into LaCroix near Lady Boot Bay. It’s also possible to day trip to Iron Lake to see Rebecca Falls and Curtain Falls. Great 50 mile trip. A lot of history, smaller lakes, and much less traffic than any other part of the BWCAW. The trip can be reversed if so desired. An awesome way to spend a week in the BWCAW.
Moose River to Mudro Lake via Crooked Lake

Another great 50-mile trip is the Moose River to Mudro Loop. Start on the Moose River and paddle to Lac LaCroix (view pictographs and climb Warrior Hill), then Iron – Rebecca Falls, Curtain Falls – Crooked Lake, and Pictographs on the way to the Basswood River, and then exit at Mudro. The Basswood River is busy, but can be dealt with for the scenery. Bypass the Basswood River by dropping out of Friday Bay and south toward Gun Lake enroute to Fourtown and Mudro. Iron and Crooked Lakes offer spectacular fishing for smallmouth bass, northern like, and walleye. One of the best fishing trip in the BWCAW – excellent trophy smallmouth fishing!

Moose River – Lac LaCroix – Gebeonequet – Oyster Lake

This is a perfect 5-6 day trip. Some guests have completed this route in 4 days as well. The portages are pretty easy – flat, not too technically difficult. A remote route through some of the best country the BWCAW has to offer. Enter on the Moose River and paddle toward Lac LaCroix. View the Pictographs, climb Warrior Hill, then continue into Lady Boot Bay toward Pocket Creek. Drop into Gebeonequet, Green and Rocky Lakes. Finish up through Oyster Lake and exit out the Moose River. Or continue westward through Hustler, Lynx, Shell and exit the Little Indian Sioux River. You can also travel into Iron Lake for some fishing on the second and third days of the trip and still complete the loop. A very scenic, pretty easily paced week trip, and a significantly less traveled loop.

Stuart River - Agenes Lake - Moose River
Note - there is a 1.5 mile portage at the beginning of this trip. Enter at the Stuart River and paddle to Stuart Lake. Basecamp on Stuart Lake or continueing traveling north toward Iron Lake. Eventually make your way through Lac LaCroix south into Agnes Lake and exit at the Moose River.

Angleworm Lake - Gun - Fourtown - Mudro Lake
Note - there is a 1.5 mile portage at the beginning of this trip. Enter the BWCAW at on the Angleworm Hiking Trail and portage to Angleworm Lake. Proceed northeast to some small and remote lakes for some solitude. Paddle your way through Gun, Fairy, Boot, and Fourtown Lakes on your way to the exit at Mudro Lake. Great solitude, scenery and fishing if you're willing to put in some extra effort.

Mudro Lake Basswood River - Crooked Lake - Gun - Fourtown
Mudro Lake to the Basswood River via Horse River. Paddle north past Lower Basswood Falls into Crooked Lake. Paddling west and dropping out of Crooked through Friady Bay into Gun Lake. Finish the loop by paddling through Fourtown Lake back to Mudro. Shorten the loop by cutting out Crooked Lake with a portage from Hrose lake to Fourtwon Lake, exiting at Mudro.

Little Vermilion Lake Entry

Little Vermilion Lake is best utilized by taking a boat shuttle from Crane Lake and dropping off to start at Loon Falls, Beatty Portage, or one of several spots on Lac LaCroix.

Loon Falls - Enjoy a paddle across Loon Lake and head for a few smaller lakes adjacent to Loon. Eventually make you way through Shell Lake and exit the Little Indian sioux River on the Echo Trail.
Beatty Portage - Paddle north on LacLaCroix and camp near Snow Bay. Cut east and ride a chain of lakes back to Loon Lake. Exit through the Little Indian Sioux River on the Echo Trail.
Lac LaCroix - There are 4 good drop off locations. Take a look at a map and let your imagination run wild with the possibilities! Big water or small lakes, the choice is yours. Exit at the Moose or Little Indian Sioux Rivers on the Echo Trail.

The Best Basecamps Options in the Boundary Waters

Moose River – Lac LaCroix Basecamp

Start this adventure on the Moose River north. Paddle through Nina-Moose and Agnes Lakes to Lac LaCroix. Set up a basecamp on an Island in the Warrior Hill area. Make day trips to Indian Pictographs, Warrior Hill, Rebecca Falls, and Curtain Falls. Excellent fishing structure provides great bass, northern, and walleye fishing. Allow about 6 hours to paddle in and out. A great way to spend a relaxing week. You could also cross the above trip with a basecamp on Iron Lake. First night on Agnes, next 3 or 4 nights on Iron Lake and your last night on Lac LaCroix or Agnes Lake.

Shell / Lynx / Hustler Lakes Basecamp
Black trip. Paddle down the Little Indian Sioux River and portage into Shell Lake for a basecamp trip with lots of day trip options; Hike the Sioux-Hustler Hiking Trail to Devil’s Cascade, Make a small loop through, Little Shell, Lynx, and Heritage Lakes. Or extend your first day and push for Lynx Lake for a similar experience. Push all the way to Hustler for some solitude. Shell and Lynx are best for fishing. The Sioux-Hustler Trail is updated every spring and affords some wonderful hiking. Reverse for the exit at the end of the trip.

Boat Shuttle to Iron Lake Option
An interesting twist to the Moose River to Mudro trip is to omit the Moose River and start with an exciting 2-hour boat shuttle from Crane Lake to Bottle Portage. This basically gets you to Iron Lake in 3 hours versus 2 days of paddling. This option would allow more time or Iron and Crooked Lakes and perhaps extend the Crooked Lake portion of the trip to include the Basswood Falls area. Just a thought. Boat shuttle is $110 per person one way.

Big Moose Lake Basecamp
Moose River south into Big Moose Lake. Nice laid back trip. Two portages in, two out. It will take about three hours to paddle in to a campsite. The trip is kind of a dead-end, in that the portages to the adjacent lakes are quite long – about 2 miles. They make great hiking trails for a daytime walk! Lake has walleyes, northern, and smallmouth bass.

Lac LaCroix Secret Basecamp
Jump on a boat at Crane Lake. About 1-1/2 to 2 hours later you’ll be dropped off on the east side of Lac LaCroix. (Note: The Canadian side of Lac LaCroix is motorized, the U.S. side is NOT. Therefore, you would not encounter boats on the U.S. side of the border.) From the drop off spot paddle a short distance and set up a basecamp on one of the island campsites in the area. Beautiful area. From there make day trips to adjacent lakes for smallmouth and walleyes or to pictographsl. This area does not see much traffic throughout the season. Eventually work your way out through Agnes and Nina-Moose Lake and the Moose River. Van shuttle back to LaCroix Outfitters. This is a great trip if you want to stay in the Boundary Waters.

Stuart River - Agenes Lake - Moose River
Note - there is a 1.5 mile portage at the beginning of this trip. Enter at the Stuart River and paddle to Stuart Lake. Basecamp on Stuart Lake. Eventually make your way into Agnes Lake and exit at the Moose River.

Little Vermilion Lake Entry

Little Vermilion Lake is best utilized by taking a boat shuttle from Crane Lake and dropping off to start at Loon Falls, Beatty Portage, or one of several spots on Lac LaCroix.

Loon Falls - Enjoy a paddle across Loon Lake and head for a few smaller lakes adjacent to Loon. Eventually make you way through Shell Lake and exit the Little Indian sioux River on the Echo Trail.

Lac LaCroix - There are 4 good drop off locations. Take a look at a map and let your imagination run wild with the possibilities! Big water or small lakes, the choice is yours. Exit at the Moose or Little Indian Sioux Rivers on the Echo Trail. Round trip boat shuttle allows you to stay in the same spot the entire time.

Fly-Ins - You owe it to yourself to try it at least once!

LaCroix offers fly-ins to four different destinations:

Lac LaCroix: Boundary Waters and Quetico Park
Beaverhouse, Nym, Clay Lakes in the Quetico Park

You can fly round trip or boat shuttle or paddle out if you’d like.

I.D. Required: Passport, Driver's License, or Birth Certificate

All fly-ins starts at Crane Lake. Since you will be entering Canada you will need to check through Canadian Customs on Sand Point Lake as a formality.
Please bring a picture ID such as a driver's license for adults. A copy of your birth certificate to prove citizenship is recommended also.
Chidren 17 and under need a copy of their birth certificate, a photo I.D. such as a school or library card, and a letter from the absent parent granting the accompanying parent permission to take the child out of the country.
Passports aren’t necessary until June 2009, but a passport trumps all forms of I.D.
From Customs you will fly to your destination.

Boundary Waters Fly-In

Fly-In – Paddle-Out Trip: Get remote without paddling for 3 days!
Lac LaCroix to Little Indian Sioux or Moose River
From Crane Lake and Canadian Customs you will fly to Campbell’s Resort on Lac LaCroix. Paddle away from their dock and set up camp in the Island 41 area or portage into Gun, Takucmich. Planes can still be heard from the Island 41 area – so if you’d like to get a bit more secluded try getting into Gun, Takucmich, or further. It's possible to paddle all the way into Lady Boot Bay and camp there two nights before moving toward the exit spot. Take a day trip to Pocket or Gebeonequet Lakes. Lac LaCroix has some awesome smallmouth fishing. The best way to exit this area is by paddling out the Moose River through Lake Agnes. I would recommend spending your last night on Agnes Lake. A paddle over to the pictographs and even Warrior Hill is certainly time well spent. Great trip. Only 7 portages and they’re all on the last half of the trip. Longest of those is ½ mile and it’s the very last one – flat and well maintained also.

Quetico Park Fly-Ins

Beaverhouse Lake
	Enjoy classic border lake scenery and great fishing with a fly-in to Beaverhouse Lake in Quetico Park. Access Cirrus, Quetico, Jean, Badwater, and Sturgeon Lakes. Fly-in and paddle-out to Lac LaCroix via Jean Lake, Sturgeon Lake, and the Maligne River. Or fly round trip as you basecamp on one of the beautiful sand beaches on Quetico Lake. Fish for walleye, smallmouth bass, northern pike and lake trout while in this area. Some of the lakes offer a grand slam for all four species.

Nym Entry
	Waterfalls and rapids join glistening lakes on the numerous routes through the wilderness with an entry at Nym Lake. Paddle across Bud and Fern Lakes enroute to Chatterton Falls before ascending into the Kahshahpiwi or Agnes loops. Finish this route up exiting at Moose Lake near Ely. Or choose the western route paddling through Russell and Sturgeon toward Lac LaCroix. Paddle to the Echo Trail or our tow service can shuttle you back to our Crane Lake base. Allow a minimum of 8 days to make your way through this area.

Three Mile Lake
	This area is regarded to afford some of the best smallmouth bass fishing in the world!! Take a long weekend or spend a week working the structure for plenty of rod-bending fun. Not much paddling is needed to reach your fishing destination. You'll want to bring your video camera to capture these memories. Round trip flight suggested.

Clay Lake
	Take at least 8 to 10 days to enjoy this fine fishing and scenery trip through the heart of the Quetico. Fly from Crane Lake to Clay Lake on the east side of Quetico Park. Venture into the walleye country of Kawnipi Lake. Enjoy beautiful Chatterton and Splitrock Falls. Paddle the entire length of Sturgeon Lake, known for its walleye and smallmouth action, on your way to the Maligne River. Pick up a boat shuttle at Twin Falls full circle back to Crane Lake. Fine walleye and smallmouth fishing compounded with some great waterfalls and waterways make this trip the one that sets the standard for your next vacation.

Quetico Park Routes
All Quetico Park Routes start with a Boat Shuttle or a Fly-In
Check out the Quetico Park Fly-Ins

Lac LaCroix to McAree, Minn, and Bottle Portage
Basecamp
Portage into Minn or McAree Lakes and start fishing immediately. Camp on McAree or Minn. Fishing for smallie, northern, and walleyes. Minn, McAree, and Iron Lakes offer some excellent smallmouth bass, northern pike, and walleye fishing. Plenty of swift moving water through some rapid areas make for great scenery and hold a lot of fish. Basecamp here 3 days or a week. Lots of good day trip options. There are three ways to exit this area. A boat shuttle from one of the entry points take you back to Crane Lake. You can paddle back to Lac LaCroix and exit the Moose River through Lake Agnes.

Loop
Paddle from Minn to Darky Lake via the Darky River. Or from McAree lake through Wickstead to Darky. Then you can drop from Argo Lake over to Cone, Elk, and Gardner Bay of Crooked Lake. Exit by either paddling back to Bottle Portage for a boat shuttle out or paddle south through Friday Bay of Crooked Lake, eventually into Gun, Fairy, Boot, Fourtown and exit at Mudro Lake. The paddle out is an adventure (a one mile portage in there) and if you’re looking for a good paddle trip this route is awesome. This fishing is top notch as well.

McAree Lake, Darky, Brent, Crooked, and Iron Lakes Loop
This trip starts and ends with a boat shuttle to/from Crane Lake. You’ll be dropped off at Brewer Rapids and portage into McAree Lake. Brewer and McAree Falls offer some good fishing right from the go. Paddle into Minn Lake for your first night. The next day paddle into Darky Lake via the scenic Darky River. Pictographs on the south end of Darky are a must to see. Fish for northern pike, walleye, smallmouth bass, and lake trout on Darky. I would suggest moving into Brent Lake after viewing the pictographs on Darky. Enjoy beautiful Brent Lake for a few days. The narrow midsection straight affords some good walleye fishing. Start your descent to your pick up point as you paddle through Cone, Elk, and Crooked Lakes. Crooked Lake is a long time favorite with the walleye and smallmouth fisherman. Paddle west toward Curtain falls through Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Bays. Camp your last night on Iron Lake in the Curtain or Rebecca Falls area. Iron Lake is a well-established walleye and smallmouth bass lake. Your last day is spent paddling and portaging to Bottle Portage for your boat shuttle pick up. Another exit is Mudro Lake via the Basswood River or Friday Bay to Gun Lake.

Fly or boat shuttle to LaCroix and enter the Quetico at Entry Point #42, Twin Falls, and paddle up the Maligne River to Sturgeon Lake. The trek can be made in 1 day, but is a haul. Split it up into 2 days with the first night at Tanner Lake. Exit and caught a boat shuttle back out again.