Brule Lake

Brule Lake sits on the western edge of the BWCA in the Tofte district, one of the largest lakes in the wilderness at 4,326 acres. It's also the largest lake that lies entirely inside the wilderness boundary, unlike several of the region's other big lakes that straddle the edge and allow motors on part of their water. Brule's own entry point puts paddlers on the water within a couple of miles, which makes it a common launch point for larger groups and a gateway to a network of smaller lakes to the north.

The lake runs an unusually elongated shape, stretching about eight miles end to end but barely a mile across at its widest, filling a valley pinched between the Misquah Hills to the north and Brule Mountain to the south. Ridges of harder rock stand out along the shore where softer bedrock around them has worn away over time, giving Brule more relief along its shoreline than the flatter, low country common elsewhere in the wilderness.

Nearly 63 miles of shoreline fold around the lake's bays and points, far more than its acreage alone would suggest, which means a stiff wind rarely shuts the whole lake down at once. If one bay is stacking up whitecaps, there's usually a calmer stretch somewhere else along the shore. The main basin runs deep, dropping to 78 feet, though close to a third of the lake stays shallow enough to fish from the surface down. Brule forms the headwaters for two rivers that drain off opposite ends of it, the Temperance running west to Lake Superior and the South Brule running east, and the water itself stays clear, with visibility reaching around 16 feet in late summer.

Brule has long been one of Cook County's better walleye lakes, and its population has sustained itself through natural reproduction alone since stocking stopped decades ago. Northern pike grow large here on the lake's abundant cisco, though yellow perch and other small forage fish stay scarce, so Brule has no real panfish fishery to speak of. Smallmouth bass round out the lineup and tend to grow fast for the area, and cisco are plentiful enough that the lake opens to fall netting for them.

Motors are prohibited everywhere on the lake, in keeping with the rest of the wilderness. Thirty campsites spread across its bays and points, giving groups room to spread out even with the steady traffic its own entry point brings through.

Brule suits groups comfortable managing wind and open water more than paddlers looking for a quiet, tucked-away first night.