Routes
Paddling routes that provide adventure and a chance to connect with the world's wild places. We used to include the routes with the Trip Reports, but are breaking them out into their own category. If you have a route that you'd like to contribute to PaddlingLight, please, contact us.
Route Index
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Kelso River Dolmen: A Boundary Waters Adventure
Paddling from Sawbill Lake to the Kelso River Dolmen is one of the best BWCA day trips that you can take. The route features big lakes, crooked shorelines, narrow rivers, swamps, easy portages, and carnivorous plants. With the Kelso River Dolmen as the goal of the trip, it offers a set destination. That’s something that other day trips in the area don’t offer. The story behind the dolmen is that Vikings explored North America and found copper nearby. To mark the mine, they built the dolmen. Legend has it that there’s a second smaller dolmen nearby that when used as a navigation range points to the mine. Some paddlers claim…
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Sag to Seagull Route Trip Report
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Sag to Seagull route is a short trip that can be broken into an easy multi-day trip or a long day trip. It consists of paddling across two large lakes, through many islands and across three small lakes. There are three easy portages. At higher water levels, you can skip one and maybe two of the portages. The route passes through areas of the BWCA that burned at least once in recent years. We recently paddled the Sag to Seagull route over four days and three nights. Most of the days consisted of short paddles between campsites and then lazy days in the campsite…
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Lake Nipigon Kayaking Trip Report
Dates: Sept. 12 – Oct. 2, 2017 by Hannah Fanney & Rodney Claiborne Reason for Travel Lake Nipigon is a large lake directly above Lake Superior. We were familiar with the lake’s location, but information on it was difficult to obtain. It looked to us like a less developed Superior with smaller seas and more protection available from the myriad of islands and peninsulas. Our goal was to spend time exploring an area we were not familiar with while testing out the carrying capacity of food and equipment in our boats. We chose the fall season due to our seasonal employment schedule and to enjoy rougher seas, cooler temperatures, and…
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Source to Sound on North Carolina’s River of Death
Only the ripples showed where the steel blue water starts. The glassy surface reflects in perfect composition the land also hued in the steel blue of the sun’s last light. Escaping the 18 foot wide Cut Cypress creek, the 4 of us enter into the large bay of Three Sisters. In the sun’s darkening light, a lone barred owl sits sentinel at the entrance. In the dark we reach our platform. Headlights on, gear is pulled to the night’s home deep in the bottomland forest. The Roanoke River, known locally as the River of Death for carrying away the unprepared on its swift currents, runs 130+ miles through North Carolina.…
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Twin Lakes Canoe Route Trip Report
Just 25 miles from Grand Marais, Minnesota, the Twin Lakes Canoe Route [pdf] offers canoeists a five lake adventure that unlike the nearby Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness doesn’t cost a dime and doesn’t require a permit. The US Forest Service describes the the Twin Lakes Canoe Route as a quiet, wilderness-like lake experience featuring five water accessed campsites, four portages and plenty of fishing. While we’ve day tripped on the lakes before, we never camped, so with only one night to spare, we decided to give it a go. The Twin Lakes Canoe Route Put-In The put-in for the Twin Lakes Canoe Route is 16.5 miles up the Gunflint Trail…
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Kayaking Lake Superior’s Shipwreck Coast (Skeleton Coast)
Lake Superior’s Shipwreck Coast, in the southeast corner of the lake, runs approximately 50 miles from the sand spit of Whitefish Point to the first safe harbor at Grand Marais, Michigan. As part of my Port Huron to Home trip in the spring and summer of 2011, I kayaked past this mainly undeveloped area. At the time, I wanted to paddle past it in two days to avoid getting stuck there during bad weather. In the end it took me five days, because of wind and waves. Out of the entire 800-mile trip, the Shipwreck Coast, also known as Superior’s Skeleton Coast, was the most hauntingly beautiful and monotonous section of the…
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Free Boundary Waters Canoe Area GPS Data: Campsites and Portages
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is a million acre wilderness area in northern Minnesota established to protect pristine boreal forests and historic and recreational canoe routes. It has over 1,000 lakes and 2,000 campsites. If you use a GPS unit, finding GPS data for BWCA campsites and portages was difficult. Now, you can get that GPS data for free. If you’ve read my Free Garmin Topo Maps article you know the basic procedure. If you don’t here it is: You need to download several maps to make this work: BWCA Campsite and Portages Map: This has all the portages and campsites as of 2009. This will change a bit…
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Boundary Waters Routes: Sag and Sea Gull Loop
Two large lakes dominate the terrain at the end of the Gunflint Trail. To the north at Trail’s End, Saganaga Lake stretches through the Boundary Waters and into Canada. To the west, Sea Gull Lake runs for miles. A Boundary Waters Canoe Area entry point serves each lake and both are connected through a set of portages. These portages make it one of the easy Boundary Waters routes that make a loop. Distance: 29 miles (450 rods of portages) – This area has several variation, so you could do a shorter route and still see most of it. Entry Points: 55, 55A, 54, 54A Trip Rating: Intermediate. The portages are…
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Boundary Waters Day Trip: Bower Trout Lake BWCA
The eastern side of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area has many great day trips, but one of the best starts at the Bower Trout Lake BWCA entry point. This route is an out and back paddle, so you decide how long of a trip you want. The fishing is good on several of the lakes, and moose often frequent Bower Trout late in the evening. Combine those factors with the burned area further west along the route, and you get a diverse day trip with plenty to see. Start early in the morning on this one, because there’s so much to explore Distance: 1 to 10 miles – This is…
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Boundary Waters (BWCA) Primer
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota protects 1.09 million acres of Boreal forest and lakes under the Wilderness Act of 1964 and the 1978 BWCA Act. The U.S. set aside the area to provide a place “where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” It is one of two protected canoe areas in the U.S. The other one, the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Canoe Trail System, is in Alaska. A typical BWCA experience takes a visitor across lakes and the portage trails connecting them into an unspoiled forest. Because most the area’s 1,000 lakes and over 2,200 backcountry campsites are only accessible by water, the…
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Manitou River Kayaking Trip Report
If a kayaking trip included one arch, one cave and one waterfall, I’d call it a winner. By that definition, the trip from Sugarloaf Cove to the Manitou River on Lake Superior wins the world championship. During the 11 mile round-trip, you will paddle past three arches that you can kayak through and many others above the waterline. You’ll see two postcard worthy waterfalls, paddle past towering palisades, kayak into caves (one with a waterfall falling down over the entrance) and encounter mansions and old fishing buildings. Rock from Keweenawan lava flows and intrusions makes up the shoreline and the presence of glaciers gone shows itself with gouge marks. A…
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Susie Island Kayaking Trip Report
A great kayak day trip should have interesting landscapes, open-water crossings, nice places for lunch and a chance of surprise. In my book, it should also be remote but easily accessible. On Minnesota’s northshore of Lake Superior, the trip from Grand Portage through the Susie Islands to the Pigeon River includes all those features and more making it the best full-day kayaking trip on Minnesota’s shoreline. Distance: 16 miles Trip Rating: Advanced. Water conditions, especially in late summer or fall, can change quickly creating large waves. Use an experienced kayaking guide if you have doubts. Maps: NOAA Chart #14967, Lake Superior Water Trail Map #4, USGS Pigeon Point and Grand…
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Sea Gull Lake Loop Trip Report
Since I moved near to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, I’ve spent less time exploring it on extended trips than before I moved here. At first, I tried to continue doing one-week solo Fall trips, a few long distance longer trips, like when I paddled theVoyager’s Route, but most my Boundary Waters trips since moving here have been overnights or day trips. It’s likely my love of Lake Superior and being able to kayak on an ocean-like body of water (or the warm bed nearby) that keeps me away. This year, I wanted to end the summer with a Boundary Water’s trip and Ilena’s vacation matched up with the…
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Kayaking Lake Superior’s Tettegouche State Park
For one of the best day-long kayaking trips on Minnesota’s north shore of Lake Superior, North America’s largest inland sea, visit Tettegouche State Park. The trip begins on the Baptism River, heads out along the open coast of Superior, and brings you up against 200-foot tall palisades and through sea caves. Because of the limited landings, rebounding waves, and cold water, I recommend this trip for experienced sea kayakers only. If you lack experience consider hiring a guide or booking a trip through an experienced sea kayaking company, such as North Shore Expedition’s Tettegouche Kayaking Trip. The Kayaking Route Enter Tettegouche State Park and park near the bridge. You’ll need…
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Boundary Water’s Route: The Hunt for the Viking Dolmen
Experts believe fifth-century Vikings placed a dolmen—a large stone perched upon three small rocks—somewhere in the Boundary Waters. Join us while we hunt for the Viking dolmen. Kelso River Boundary Waters Route Lakes Used: Sawbill Lake, Kelso River, Kelso Lake, Kelso River, Kelso Lake, Alton Lake, Sawbill LakeLength: 1 to 2 daysDistance: 9 to 10 milesElevator Pitch: A short scenic day trip, that works as an overnight. Paddle along varied terrain including birch forests, bogs, small and large lakes. The highlights include many large beaver lodges and the mysterious Viking dolmen.Description: Start at the campground on Sawbill Lake. If you need a canoe, rent one from Sawbill Outfitters. Head north,…
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