Canoe Day Trip

[JBMasterAngler]

My family and another family will be camping in Ely over 4th of july weekend. On that saturday we're planning a canoe day trip. I'm not sure which outfitter/location we'll rent from yet. But what are some good beginner friendly lakes in or outside of the BWCA?

[Steve Foss]

I'd say hit South Hegman, North Hegman and Trease. It's in the Bdub. Short trip up the Echo Trail, short portage down to South Hegman, and the pictographs just above the water on the sheer cliff to the left as you're about to exit North Hegman into Trease. Very short portage between South and North Hegman (like only a few yards). No portaging needed from North Hegman to Trease.

We did that trip the first summer we moved up here and it was nice. We had a picnic lunch at a campsite on the north shore of Trease. All three lakes are fairly small, so it's not a long/hard day of paddling at all.

[mbeyer]

Fall lake. It has outfitters right on shore. A gateway to BWCA.

[Beegreen111]

I second Fall Lake. You can rent from PackSack Canoe and paddle the length of the lake to get into the BWCA or rent in town and drive them to the campground boat launch and you are real close to the BWCA. The portage is short into Newton by the roll dam on Fall. Good luck and have fun.

Brad

[JBMasterAngler]

That hegman deal sounds pretty good. But yeah, I definitely need it to be as simple as possible. Something to rent at whichever lake we choose. The other family is beginners, and when I mean beginners, I mean BEGINNERS! We'll also have 4 kids all under 5. Aside from being an easy canoe day, I'm most concerned about the newbies being able to catch fish. Some fast smallie action would be ideal. Thanks for the help so far.

[Jmnhunter]

hey JB, i'm in the same situation you are for next week as my inlaws want to experience the BWCA for the day and they dont have any experience. I really like steve's suggestion and will probably lean towards that to see the pictographs and some fishing.

I'll let you know how it goes

[chucker1101]

I'd say hit South Hegman, North Hegman and Trease. It's in the Bdub. Short trip up the Echo Trail, short portage down to South Hegman, and the pictographs just above the water on the sheer cliff to the left as you're about to exit North Hegman into Trease. Very short portage between South and North Hegman (like only a few yards). No portaging needed from North Hegman to Trease.

We did that trip the first summer we moved up here and it was nice. We had a picnic lunch at a campsite on the north shore of Trease. All three lakes are fairly small, so it's not a long/hard day of paddling at all.

+1

This is a decent day trip without any serious portages. I've taken my father on this one, and the portages are pretty easy, plus as mentioned, the pictographs are a definite must see.

[chaffmj]

Quote:

That hegman deal sounds pretty good. But yeah, I definitely need it to be as simple as possible. Something to rent at whichever lake we choose.

There is no rental at the Hegman BWCA entrance, just a parking lot for people headed in to use. There are lakes up the Echo where you can rent canoes but you are limited. Big Lake and Fenske have resorts on them that rent canoes.

[JBMasterAngler]

I just did a quick search, and found that there is an outfitter on lake one. How is that lake? I'm going to do some further research, but would love to hear from some people that have fished/paddled it.

[Steve Foss]

That hegman deal sounds pretty good. But yeah, I definitely need it to be as simple as possible. Something to rent at whichever lake we choose. The other family is beginners, and when I mean beginners, I mean BEGINNERS! We'll also have 4 kids all under 5. Aside from being an easy canoe day, I'm most concerned about the newbies being able to catch fish. Some fast smallie action would be ideal. Thanks for the help so far.

If you want to rent canoes on the lake you're paddling, that leaves out Hegman. Didn't realize from your OP that was a constraint.

I'd say Fall, as others have recommended. Or the Kawishiwi/Lake One. That's really nice country.

[delcecchi]

Unless you have absolutely no way to get a canoe to hegman, I would go there. Especially if this is a paddle around to look at stuff kind of trip.

I would even check out getting a shuttle from an outfitter in ely for the canoe(s).

The pictographs are as good as any I have seen, and I just got back from a week on Quetico Lake. The bog is full of pitcher plants and other interesting stuff. All in all, I thought it was top notch. Day use permits are free and self issued.

[Jmnhunter]

hey JB just got back from ely, and took Steve's suggestion on Thursday. My inlaws and wife have never been in the bwca and had limited canoe experience, and they LOVED it! it was a really cool trip, we did it within 3 hours, but we sped it up at the end as some showers were moving in. not sure how many people you plan on bringing but there were 4 of us and we took 2 canoes 1 pickup; the guys at Pine point lodge set us up and they were awesome to work with and they gave us the history behind the pictographs. the trip shows everything that the bwca has to offer. the 1st portage is a 1/4 of a mile with some terrain but it was manageable, my father in law has never portaged before and he was fine with the light canoes we rented; and the 2nd "portage" was just a good break to stretch the legs walk 10 yds and your in the water again. the hegman lakes are really nice with some cool terrain and the pictographs looked as if they were drawn a few days ago. so if you can pull it off, i would definately do it.