Loon Lake

Loon Lake straddles the Ontario border in the La Croix district of the BWCA, its 2,498-acre Minnesota portion sitting in St. Louis County southeast of Crane Lake. It is an exception to the wilderness's usual rule: motor restrictions do not apply here, and anglers commonly run outboards up from Crane Lake accesses over Loon Falls. Paddlers reach it the quieter way, via the Little Indian Sioux River corridor out of entry points 14 or 9, both about seven and a half miles out.

Nearly 49 miles of rocky, irregular shoreline wraps around the lake's many islands, classic Canadian Shield country with tannin-stained, low-fertility water rather than the clearer lakes found deeper in the wilderness. More than a dozen sand beaches break up the boulder and ledgerock along the Minnesota shore, an unusual amount of sand for this part of the BWCA. The lake bottoms out at 76 feet.

Walleye rank as the top predator here, with smallmouth bass close behind them and running good size and numbers of their own. Northern pike do well too, with some real size mixed in, and black crappie, while not especially numerous, draw a following in late fall for their size. Cisco make up the main forage base.

The lake carries 17 campsites. With motorboats working the Crane Lake end, the character shifts noticeably compared to lakes reachable only by paddle, something worth weighing before picking Loon for a quiet stay.

Loon suits anglers chasing walleye or smallmouth on a border lake willing to share water with motorized traffic, or parties using it as the start of a longer paddle-only route west toward the Moose River.