Moose Lake

Moose Lake covers about 1,300 acres in the Kawishiwi district of the Boundary Waters, just outside Ely in Lake County, and it doubles as the largest single entry point into the BWCAW. Outboard motors up to 25 horsepower are allowed on the lake, and paddlers heading further in cross onto the wilderness portion, where five campsites sit under Forest Service permit.

The lake tops out at 65 feet, with roughly a fifth of it shallow enough to fish from the surface down. Ledge rock, rubble, and gravel make up most of the shoreline, and 21 miles of it fold the lake into enough points and bays that the near-shore water reads as more varied than the open crossing a map suggests.

Walleye carry the fishery here, naturally reproducing rather than stocked, with numbers in recent years among the strongest ever recorded on the lake. Northern pike run alongside them, and smallmouth bass and bluegill work the shallower rock and weed edges.

Five campsites hold the wilderness end of the lake, a small number given how many parties pass through on their way toward Basswood and the interior lakes beyond. A portage out to Wind Lake carries paddlers past the motorized water and into that quieter interior.

Moose Lake suits paddlers who want solid, naturally reproducing walleye fishing right at the put-in, or who plan to cover the lake itself by motor before wilderness rules and a permit take over past the entry.