BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
June 01 2024
Entry Point 24 - Fall Lake
Fall Lake entry point allows overnight paddle or motor (25 HP max). This entry point is supported by Kawishiwi Ranger Station near the city of Ely, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 7 miles. "Access is a boat landing at Fall Lake. Several trip options to Newton, Basswood, & Mud Lakes with additionalportages." This area was affected by blowdown in 1999.
Number of Permits per Day: 14
Elevation: 1324 feet
Latitude: 47.9527
Longitude: -91.7213
"This trip will be taking off from Fall Lake up through Newton Falls portage onto Pipestone Bay campsites. 3 day, 2 night trip into the wilderness.
Number of Permits per Day: 14
Elevation: 1324 feet
Latitude: 47.9527
Longitude: -91.7213
"This trip will be taking off from Fall Lake up through Newton Falls portage onto Pipestone Bay campsites. 3 day, 2 night trip into the wilderness.
Wood to Good and back again
by naturboy12
Trip Report
Entry Date:
August 11, 2013
Entry Point:
Wood Lake
Number of Days:
6
Group Size:
4
Trip Introduction:
The B.I.G. L.I.A.R.S decided to take an easier trip in 2013, and also to head to an area none of us had ever visited. My son, Tyler (12) came along for the first time as well.
Day 1 of 6
Wednesday, August 23, 2017 The sun is shining glories this am. We ate pancakes with the last of our blueberries, sat on our rock for a good while soaking up the sun, it was probably in the 60’s this am. We packed a lunch and headed out to enjoy and explore some more of Long Island. We also needed to pump some more water. We went around the NE corner of the lake. We fished all the way back there. Dan caught 3 Northern today that he let go. We also put different lures and hooks on for crappie and blue gill fishing no luck at all. We did gather some fire wood and found a different camp to check out for lunch, it had a good rock on one side with the warm sun shining we were warm in no time. We both decided to take a dip in the lake, the water was cold but refreshing. We saw 3 different canoes in the area, one of those canoes were also fishing. We also saw 2 other canoes loaded and headed out. NO RAIN TODAY! Yea! We did see bear scat that at camp and decided to move on. It was windy at times today but did great canoeing. Our dog Lil thought she should help Dan catch fish and assist him anytime he looked like he was getting a bite, which causes some concern when all the sudden the canoe shifts. She leans out of the canoe and it feels like the canoe is going to tip. When we were fishing the loons were around us. We had a family of 12 Merganser ducks right outside our camp, all week. They are so fun to watch. When we got back from fishing about 5:30 someone had moved in across the lake from us, unfortunately he likes to prance around his camp naked. Probably a 60 to 70-year-old guy. He just kept prancing! Just don’t want to see some guys naked butt even 250 yards away! We love to sit on the rock and that is the only place to look and be away from the mosquito's that time of evening. I figured we would probably have to move in the morning. While we were eating our Mountain House supper a family with two canoes came by our camp at about 6:00 p.m., looking for this camp-site, you could tell they were disappointed we were there, I am surprised Dan didn’t tell them they could have our site and we would move (naked butt). The family had entered thru 50 also. Tonight, we had Raspberry crumble w/ chocolate crunch on top. YUMMY! Dan decided to make a fire tonight, it felt so good. We Usually cook and eat on our big rock, to many mosquito's by the camp kitchen. The camp kitchen is a disaster, the logs are not for sitting on, or using they have rotted and roll away. I said many times how I wish I had a table. We used the big flat rocks on our big rock by the water to cook and do dishes on. 
Day 4 of 6
Monday, August 12, 2013. We decided to make Monday our lazy day, and spent the entire day fishing on Good Lake and hanging out around camp. More pike and both largemouth and smallmouth bass were caught, and for the first time we made a real effort to find the walleye. Even with a fish finder, leeches, and fishing multiple spots during different times of the day, we caught 0 walleye. However, with continued cooperation of 24-27" pike and Curt's excellent pike fileting skills, we had plenty of fish to eat for both lunch and dinner. As promised, Tyler outdid his previous personal best and caught a 30.5" pike as well as a nice fat 19" smallmouth. This was the day he took to saying "I really like the Boundary Waters", and I knew we had "hooked" another future trip member. During the day we took some time to go blueberry picking as well, and while we did find several decent patches, most of the areas were already well past prime. It also turned out to be a great wildlife viewing day with mergansers, loons, and eagles all showing up. 
Day 5 of 6
Tuesday, August 13, 2013. Tuesday was our first day-trip day and we headed over to Indiana Lake in the morning to see the sights and try our luck fishing there. Indiana is an extremely clear lake, and fishing proved to be a bit tougher. We did catch a fair amount of both largemouth and smallmouth bass, but no pike and no walleye. The lake was windier and the weather cooler than we had hoped, so we didn't spend as much time there as planned. We did see a red fox along the shore a couple times as well as numerous beaver lodges. After heading back to Good Lake to catch a few pike for dinner and retrieving a canoe that blew away in the wind (DOH!), we sat around the campfire pretty late and were able to see a few meteors from the Perseid Meteor Shower. 
Day 6 of 6
Wednesday, August 14, 2013. A cold morning (low of 36) got us off to a bit slow of a start on this day. After the heavy fog lifted and we warmed up a bit, we day-tripped up Good Creek into Hoist Bay of Basswood Lake hoping to hook into some trophy pike. While we didn't get anything too large, I was able to boat a nice 32" pike, and we caught several others in the 27-30" range and plenty of smaller ones to keep us busy. Two nice 18" largemouth bass provided a nice bonus as well. It was well worth the paddle to get into that type of fishing for the morning. We headed back to Good Lake and caught a few more pike for dinner. Two large snapping turtles decided to make lunch of one of our pike while it was still on the stringer, so we went out and caught another. We knew from past experiences not to keep them on stringers overnight, but that was the first time we had ever lost fish to snappers during the daytime. That night we played our first games of Euchre, and called it a great day. We knew we would be leaving Good the following morning, so we fished a little more that evening and packed things up to be ready to head back to Wood Lake in the morning. 
Day 7 of 6
Thursday, August 15, 2013. We woke up, got things moving fairly quickly, and were back on Wood Lake by 9:30 AM. We were a bit worried about finding a site on the lake, but were pleasantly surprised to find the NE site nearest the portage into Hula Lake still open, so we took that site and set up camp. We then spent the majority of the day trying to figure out Wood Lake, a significantly different lake (for fishing that is) than both Good and Basswood had been. Well, while we didn't quite get the size or numbers we did on the other lakes, we did catch a few decent pike and 1 walleye for dinner. We also explored the bluffs above our camp and took in some spectacular views of Wood Lake, but the real treat happened around 9:30 PM that night. The aurora borealis were beautiful and lasted until well into the middle of the night, coming and going with green, yellow, and pinkish hues across the northern skyline. It was a great sendoff to our last night in the BW. 
Day 8 of 6
Friday, August 16, 2013. The time finally came for us to pack up and head for home. We left Wood Lake after a lazy morning in camp, and were back in the parking lot before 11:00 AM. Ben, Curt and I were already talking about next year's trip, and I know Tyler can't wait for his 2nd BW trip. We had a great time, great fishing, fairly decent weather, and lots of memories to hold us over until next summer! 
discuss this trip report (5 comments) - last post on August 28, 2013