Fall Lake

Fall Lake covers about 2,258 acres in the Kawishiwi district, on the edge of Ely near the small community of Winton. It doubles as Entry Point 24, one of the more heavily used doorways into the Boundary Waters, and a portage past the dam at its outflow leads into Newton Lake and on toward Basswood Lake and the wilderness interior. Only the lake's northeast arm actually falls inside the wilderness boundary, where a permit and a 25-horsepower motor limit apply; the public landing and most of the lake sit just outside it.

The lake runs long and open rather than broken into tight bays, with about half of it shallow enough to hold weed growth and the rest dropping to a modest 32 feet at its deepest. The water itself runs dark and tea colored, stained by the bog country the Kawishiwi River drains on its way in, so clarity falls off fast below the surface. Boulder and rubble line most of the shore.

Walleye are the main draw, and the population sustains itself naturally rather than needing regular stocking, though the fish here grow slowly and most run on the smaller side. Northern pike do better, with fish in the high teens and low twenties of inches showing up regularly. Bluegill and black crappie are scarce but grow large when you find them, and smallmouth bass are around as well, though they're spottier than the rest.

Eight campsites sit on Fall Lake, most of them within sight of the public landing and the Forest Service campground on the south shore, which makes it one of the more developed lakes carrying the wilderness name. Sites here fill fast on summer weekends, since so many groups launch or take out here on the way to or from Basswood.

A 63-site Forest Service campground lines part of the south shore with its own boat access, so Fall Lake functions as much as a launch point as a camping lake in its own right. Past Newton Lake, Basswood opens up as one of the largest lakes on the border, and motors are allowed on it as far as the narrows between Jackfish and Pipestone Bays, beyond which travel is paddle only.

Fall Lake suits a group looking for an easy, drive-up start to a Basswood trip more than a lake to camp on for its own sake. It carries the amenities of a front-country campground even though part of its water sits inside the wilderness boundary.