Isabella Lake to EP South Kawishiwi Rive4
Starts at EP 35 Isabella Lake
- 4 days
- Duration
- Moderate
- Difficulty
- 24 mi
- Total distance
- 21 mi
- Paddling
- 12
- Portages · 911 rods
About this route
Isabella Lake to South Kawishiwi River
Overview
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 Isabella Lake down to Bald Eagle, so this travels as a river trip broken by lakes rather than a chain of lakes joined by portages.
Isabella Lake is shallow and bog-stained, brown enough that visibility drops to a few feet, and most of its shoreline came back as young growth after the 2011 Pagami Creek Fire. The southeastern shore escaped the burn and still carries older timber, a break visible from the water. The river holds that open, exposed look for miles before the mature forest closes back in on both banks a short way below the Quadga Lake portage. It starts over a jumbled boulder channel, shallow enough in low water to mean walking the canoe as much as paddling, and several rapids have to be carried around. Past Bald Eagle, Gabbro folds nearly twenty-four miles of shoreline into under a thousand acres, which usually leaves a bay out of the wind somewhere close.
The route suits paddlers who would rather read moving water than cross open lakes, and who don't mind a handful of long carries rated difficult. Anglers get cold water at the finish rather than the start. It ends at a different road than it begins on.
Route Highlights
- Most of Isabella Lake's shoreline is young post-fire growth, with older unburned timber still standing along the southeastern shore — the line between them reads clearly from a canoe
- A short way below the Quadga Lake portage the burn ends and mature forest closes in on both banks, a change you can watch arrive from the water
- Gabbro holds cold water deep into summer, enough to carry cisco in above-average numbers, and the northern pike there run larger than average
- Several sets of rapids along the Isabella River have to be portaged around, and the carries put you alongside moving water rather than through the usual stretch of bog
Updated October 4, 2026
Suggested itinerary
4 days at a steady pace.
Entry Point 35 → Isabella Lake
A short carry puts you on Isabella, and the rest of the day is a crossing of open, shallow water with the fire's edge in view along most of the shore. Seven campsites are spread around a shoreline broken into enough bays that finding one open is rarely the problem. Isabella sees more traffic than its distance from pavement suggests, so claim a site earlier than the mileage would make you think.
Isabella Lake → Quadga Lake
The day starts with the carry down into the river and stays on moving water from there. Low water makes the first miles slow going over boulders, and the rapids along this stretch are portaged rather than run. Quadga has four designated sites and sits just off the river, which makes it the reliable stop on a day where campsites along the water are thin.
Quadga Lake → Gabbro Lake
Below Quadga the burn gives out and the banks close back in with mature timber. The river opens into Bald Eagle, where six inlets meet and the shoreline breaks into bays and points rather than running as one sweep. Gabbro is a short paddle beyond it, with no portage to reach it and plenty of sites to choose from.
Gabbro Lake → Entry Point 32
The last day crosses Little Gabbro and takes the long carry over to Bruin before dropping onto the South Kawishiwi River. This is the heaviest carrying of the trip and it comes at the end, so start early. The final climb up to the Entry Point 32 lot is the one that catches people with a loaded pack after four days.
The portages
12 carries, 911 rods total.
| Portage | Rods | Climb |
|---|---|---|
| Little Gabbro Lake → Bruin Lake difficult | 238 | +141 ft |
| Bruin Lake portagecarry 2 of 2 difficult | 149 | — |
| Rice Lake → Little Gabbro Lakecarry 6 of 6 difficult | 141 | — |
| Isabella Lake → Rice Lakecarry 2 of 2 difficult | 106 | +27 ft |
| Isabella Lake portage moderate | 78 | +0 ft |
| Rice Lake → Little Gabbro Lakecarry 3 of 6 moderate | 46 | — |
| Isabella Lake → Rice Lakecarry 1 of 2 moderate | 42 | +23 ft |
| Rice Lake → Little Gabbro Lakecarry 4 of 6 moderate | 36 | — |
| Rice Lake → Little Gabbro Lakecarry 1 of 6 moderate | 22 | — |
| Rice Lake → Little Gabbro Lakecarry 2 of 6 easy | 21 | — |
| Bruin Lake portagecarry 1 of 2 easy | 20 | +36 ft |
| Rice Lake → Little Gabbro Lakecarry 5 of 6 easy | 12 | — |
Lakes on this route
7 lakes, 46 campsites between them. Fish species recorded by the Minnesota DNR.
| Lake | Depth | Size | Campsites | Fish species |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isabella Lake (2) | 19 ft | 1,257 ac | 13 | black crappiebluegilllake whitefishlargemouth bassnorthern pikepumpkinseedrock basssunfishwalleyewhite suckeryellow perch |
| Rice Lake (2) | — | 205 ac | 3 | — |
| Little Gabbro Lake | 26 ft | 148 ac | 4 | black crappienorthern pikerock basstullibee (cisco)walleyewhite suckeryellow perch |
| Bruin Lake | 30 ft | 35 ac | 1 | northern pike |
| Bald Eagle Lake | 36 ft | 1,243 ac | 12 | black crappiebluegillcisco speciesnorthern pikerock basswalleyewhite suckeryellow perch |
| Gabbro Lake | 50 ft | 977 ac | 9 | black crappienorthern pikerock basssmallmouth basstullibee (cisco)walleyewhite suckeryellow perch |
| Quadga Lake | 35 ft | 251 ac | 4 | bluegilllargemouth bassnorthern pikepumpkinseedrock basswalleyewhite suckeryellow perch |
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