Big Lake

Big Lake covers about 1,904 acres in the Kawishiwi district of the Boundary Waters, in St. Louis County northwest of Ely off the Echo Trail. It's one of the more directly reachable lakes in this part of the wilderness: a public landing sits right on its shore, so paddlers start on open water instead of carrying in.

The water runs shallow and brown, stained by the bog around it, with a maximum depth of only 22 feet and most of the basin shallow enough to hold weeds. Its shoreline is rocky, broken up by ledgerock points, and backed by coniferous forest with big pines standing over the shore. That broken shoreline gives the lake plenty of points and coves to duck into, so campsites don't sit right on top of each other even on a smaller lake.

Walleye are the main draw, helped along by periodic stocking, and catches here have run above average compared with similar lakes nearby. Northern pike work the same shallow, weedy water, and smallmouth bass and black crappie turn up around the rocky structure and points.

Four campsites are spread around the lake, giving a small group room to find one without much competition.

Big Lake suits paddlers after easy access and reliable walleye fishing rather than remote water, its roadside landing and shallow basin setting it apart from the deeper, harder-to-reach lakes farther into the wilderness.