BWCA canoe routes
6–7 days · 43.7 mi · 2,441 rods · EP 38 · Sawbill Lake
The Sawbill to Little Sag loop begins and ends at Entry Point 38, where the Sawbill Trail dead-ends at the landing. It runs north to Little Saganaga Lake, the far point of the trip, then comes back down a separate chain of small interior lakes. The…
4–5 days · 28.0 mi · 1,973 rods · EP 51 · Missing Link Lake
Entry Point 51 starts on Round Lake and the carrying begins almost immediately, first into Missing Link and then down a chain of small lakes toward Long Island. The loop turns south through Gordon to Frost Lake, drops west into the Frost River, and…
4 days · 23.7 mi · 911 rods · EP 35 · Isabella Lake
Entry Point 35 opens onto Isabella Lake after a short carry, and from there this one-way route runs west to Entry Point 32 on the South Kawishiwi River. What sits between them is mostly river. The Isabella runs the long middle of the trip, from…
3–4 days · 28.8 mi · 1,043 rods · EP 26 · Wood Lake
Entry Point 26 puts the hardest work of the trip first. A long carry drops from the Fernberg Road to Wood Lake before a paddle touches water, and from there the route runs north through Hula and Good to Basswood, then turns and comes back the same…
3–5 days · 23.9 mi · 531 rods · EP 30 · Lake One
The Lake One to Hudson Loop begins and ends at Entry Point 30 on Lake One, one of the busier put-ins in the Kawishiwi District. From the landing, the route follows the Numbered Lakes chain east through Lake Two and Lake Three, then leaves that busy…
3 days · 18.1 mi · 536 rods · EP 31 · Farm Lake
The Kawishiwi Triangle begins and ends at Entry Point 31 on Farm Lake, a large lake in the Kawishiwi District that also serves as one of the BWCA's motor-permitted entry points. From the landing, the route follows a connected chain of river…
4–6 days · 24.6 mi · 841 rods · EP 69 · John Lake
The John Lake to Clearwater Lake route begins and ends at Entry Point 69 on John Lake, in the Gunflint District. It's a loop: portages carry paddlers south through East Pike, West Pike, and Clearwater Lakes to a turn at Caribou Lake, then the route…
3 days · 27.7 mi · 2,749 rods · EP 19 · Stuart River
The Stuart Lake to Iron Lake route begins and ends at Entry Point 19 on the Stuart River, offering a middle-length alternative between the entry point's short river trip and its full loop out to Lac La Croix. From the put-in, the route follows the…
1–2 days · 1.8 mi · EP 39 · Baker Lake
The Baker Lake to Peterson Lake route begins and ends at Entry Point 39, a boat landing on Baker Lake in the Tofte District. A single short portage carries paddlers onto Peterson Lake, then the route returns the same way. It's the shortest paddle-in…
3–4 days · 23.9 mi · EP 62 · Clearwater Lake
The Pike and Pine Lake Loop begins and ends at Entry Point 62 on Clearwater Lake, along the Gunflint Trail. From the put-in, the route heads east through West Pike Lake to reach Pine Lake, a large, multi-armed lake near the middle of the loop,…
3–4 days · 21.5 mi · EP 84 · Snake River
The Clearwater Lake Loop begins and ends at Entry Point 84 on the Snake River, reached by way of Bald Eagle Lake in the Kawishiwi area. From Bald Eagle Lake the route heads east through Gull Lake, Pietro Lake, and Camdre Lake to Clearwater Lake,…
3–4 days · 9.5 mi · EP 39 · Baker Lake
The Baker Lake to Kelly Lake route begins and ends at Entry Point 39 on Baker Lake, in the Tofte Ranger District along the Sawbill Trail corridor. From Baker Lake, the route portages north through Peterson Lake to Kelly Lake, then returns by the…
4 days · 25.2 mi · 1,196 rods · EP 41 · Brule Lake
The Brule to Long Island Loop begins and ends at Entry Point 41 on Brule Lake, one of the larger lakes on the eastern edge of the Boundary Waters. From the landing it crosses Brule Lake, threads north through the Cone Lakes to Davis Lake, then…
4–6 days · 12.7 mi · 1,144 rods · EP 51 · Missing Link Lake
The Missing Link–Tuscarora–Gillis Loop begins and ends at Entry Point 51 on Round Lake, on the Gunflint Trail. From the landing, the route portages into Missing Link Lake and on to Tuscarora Lake before swinging through Owl, Crooked, and Gillis…
2–4 days · 15.9 mi · 1,016 rods · EP 4 · Crab Lake & Cummings Lake
The Crab Lake and Cummings Lake route is a Boundary Waters out-and-back trip that begins and ends at EP 4 (Crab Lake & Cummings Lake), with the put-in reached by paddling out from Burntside Lake. From the entry, the route makes a long carry into…
3–5 days · 29.6 mi · 898 rods · EP 12 · Little Vermilion Lake
The Little Vermilion Lake to Loon Lake route is an out-and-back trip that begins and ends at Entry Point 12. Paddlers cross from Crane Lake through Little Vermilion Narrows onto Little Vermilion Lake with no carry required, then continue north down…
2–3 days · 15.9 mi · 726 rods · EP 1 · Trout Lake
The Trout Lake Route is a Boundary Waters out-and-back trip that begins and ends at EP 1 (Trout Lake), with the put-in reached by paddling out from Lake Vermilion. From the entry, the route portages into Trout Lake itself, then continues on to…
3–4 days · 12.8 mi · 862 rods · EP 48 · Meeds Lake
The Meeds Lake Loop is a Boundary Waters loop route that begins and ends at EP 48 (Meeds Lake), with the put-in reached by paddling out from Poplar Lake on the Gunflint Trail. From the entry, the route climbs through Meeds Lake, Swallow Lake, and…
3–4 days · 21.5 mi · 912 rods · EP 16 · Moose/Portage River North
The Lac La Croix Route begins and ends at Entry Point 16 on the Moose River, working north through Nina Moose Lake and Lake Agnes before reaching the open water of Lac La Croix on the Canadian border, then retraces the same corridor back to the…
2–5 days · 21.0 mi · 155 rods · EP 54 · Seagull Lake
The Sea Gull Lake Loop begins and ends at Entry Point 54 (Sea Gull Lake) near the end of the Gunflint Trail. The route travels east across Sea Gull Lake to Alpine and Red Rock lakes before reaching the open waters of Saganaga Lake on the…
3–5 days · 26.4 mi · 1,467 rods · EP 49 · Skipper & Portage Lakes
The Poplar Lake Loop begins and ends from Poplar Lake, the route travels west and south through a long chain of interior lakes before looping back east to return to the put-in. From Poplar, the route carries into Skipper Lake and works south through…
3–5 days · 29.9 mi · 1,205 rods · EP 64 · East Bearskin Lake
The East Bearskin to Pine Lake Loop begins and ends at Entry Point 64 on East Bearskin Lake in the Gunflint District. From the landing it drops through Moon, Deer, and Caribou Lakes to Clearwater Lake, continues east across the Pike lakes and…
3–5 days · 35.8 mi · 1,016 rods · EP 41 · Brule Lake
The Brule Lake to Cherokee Loop begins and ends at Entry Point 41 on Brule Lake, a large lake in the Tofte District. From Brule the route threads a chain of smaller interior lakes west to Winchell, continues through Long Island Lake to Cherokee…
3–5 days · 19.7 mi · 962 rods · EP 23 · Mudro Lake
The Mudro to Gun Lake Loop begins and ends at Entry Point 23 on Mudro Lake, a put-in reached by its own short portage from the parking area. From there the route works north and east through Sandpit, Tin Can Mike, and Horse Lakes before turning onto…
5 days · 38.0 mi · 1,141 rods · EP 24 · Fall Lake
The Horse Lake Loop begins and ends at Entry Point 24 on Fall Lake, crossing Newton Lake into Basswood Lake before turning south through Horse, Tin Can Mike, and Sandpit Lakes and closing the loop back across Basswood to Fall Lake. Basswood forms…
3 days · 20.6 mi · 379 rods · EP 25 · Moose Lake
The Moose to Basswood Loop begins and ends at Entry Point 25 on Moose Lake, a large Kawishiwi District lake that connects by open water through Sucker Lake before the route reaches Basswood Lake. It's a loop built around one of the larger connected…
5–7 days · 34.0 mi · 935 rods · EP 27 · Snowbank Lake
The Snowbank to Lake One Route begins at Entry Point 27 on Snowbank Lake and finishes at Entry Point 30 on Lake One. Rather than circling back, the trip crosses the interior in one continuous line, linking a long sequence of wilderness lakes and…
3 days · 14.8 mi · 633 rods · EP 27 · Snowbank Lake
The Snowbank Lake to Disappointment Lake loop route that begins and ends at Entry Point 27 (Snowbank Lake). From the large open water of Snowbank, the route threads south through a chain of small, connected lakes before reaching Disappointment Lake…
2–5 days · 31.7 mi · 470 rods · EP 30 · Lake One
The Lake One to Insula route begins and ends at Entry Point 30 on Lake One, in the Kawishiwi District. From the landing it works east through Lake Two and Lake Four before reaching Hudson Lake and opening onto Lake Insula, then returns by the same…
5–7 days · 57.5 mi · 3,196 rods · EP 50 · Cross Bay Lake
The Brant Wilderness Loop is a challenging Boundary Waters loop that begins and ends at Entry Point 52 (Brant Lake). This route leads paddlers through some of the eastern BWCA's quieter interior lakes, combining rugged portages, expansive wilderness…
5–7 days · 28.9 mi · 1,048 rods · EP 52 · Brant Lake
The Brant to Saganaga Explorer is a scenic point-to-point route through the eastern Boundary Waters that connects quiet interior lakes with the expansive border waters of Saganaga Lake. Beginning at Entry Point 52 (Brant Lake), the route winds…
3 days · 38.5 mi · 995 rods · EP 62 · Clearwater Lake
The Mountain Lake Loop begins and ends at Entry Point 62 on Clearwater Lake, a large motor-permitted entry point in the Gunflint District. From the landing the route crosses onto Mountain Lake, part of the international border with Canada, then…
1–3 days · 7.8 mi · 318 rods · EP 60 · Duncan Lake
The Rose Lake Loop is a scenic Boundary Waters loop that begins and ends at Entry Point 60 (Duncan Lake). Despite its relatively short distance, this route is known for its dramatic scenery, historic border waters, and one of the area's most iconic…
3–5 days · 23.8 mi · 654 rods · EP 35 · Isabella Lake
The Isabella to South Kawishiwi Traverse is a point-to-point route that connects the quiet forests surrounding Isabella Lake with the winding waters of the South Kawishiwi River. Beginning at Entry Point 35 (Isabella Lake), the route travels through…
5–7 days · 45.6 mi · 709 rods · EP 14 · Little Indian Sioux River North
The Little Indian Sioux to Moose River Route runs point to point between Entry Point 14 on the Little Indian Sioux River and Entry Point 16 on the Moose River, both in the La Croix District. From the Sioux River landing, a short chain of portages…
3–5 days · 22.8 mi · 1,441 rods · EP 38 · Sawbill Lake
The Cherokee Loop begins and ends at Entry Point 38 on Sawbill Lake, in the Tofte District. The route runs north through Ada and Skoop Lakes to Cherokee Lake, continues over a second height-of-land portage to North and South Temperance Lakes, then…