Sea Gull Lake

Sea Gull Lake sits near the end of the Gunflint Trail in the Gunflint district, one of the larger lakes in the BWCA at just under 4,000 acres. Its own entry point puts paddlers on the water quickly, and the lake works as a hub for trips continuing east toward Alpine, Red Rock, and the Knife Lake country.

Sea Gull spreads out into dozens of islands and deep bays rather than one open sweep of water, which means there's almost always a sheltered channel to duck into when the main basin kicks up chop. The lake runs deep for its size, dropping to 145 feet in open water, while the water closer to shore and around the islands stays shallow enough to fish top to bottom.

Motors up to 10 horsepower are allowed on the lake's east end, but banned entirely west of Threemile Island, so paddlers looking for engine-free water need only keep going past that point. Even on the paddle-only side, a big open crossing between islands can build real chop in a sustained wind, though the broken shoreline usually offers a calmer route around it.

A stretch of cliffs known as the Palisades rises at the tip of a peninsula in the lake's northwest corner, across from Miles Island, with a spur trail leading up to a view out over the water. It's one of the more distinct landmarks on a lake otherwise defined by its islands and bays.

Both the 2006 Cavity Lake Fire and the 2007 Ham Lake Fire burned through Sea Gull's shoreline, the first working through the lake's south and west sides and across Miles Island and Threemile Island, the second sweeping the east shore. Two decades on, much of that ground has filled in with dense young aspen and birch and scattered standing dead pine, while stretches further from the burn keep taller, older forest and more shade.

Sea Gull carries a real lake trout fishery in its cold, deep water, alongside walleye and northern pike that make up the rest of what most paddlers come here to catch. Smallmouth bass turn up around the rockier shoreline and islands.

Thirty-nine campsites spread across the lake's islands and bays, enough that a full landing at the entry point rarely means running out of room to spread out. Sea Gull suits paddlers who want big water and a lot of shoreline to explore without leaving their first lake, more than those looking for a small, tucked-away pond to camp on for a night.