Looking for some ideas and suggestions for a trip that would be compatible for this particular crew. I have made many BW-Q trips deep into the interior of the park with 'the guys' primarily with a view to fishing and touring. My favorite hangout is Thomas Lake however, I think it may be a little extreme as a first trip for wife and child.

We will be base camping hopefully on or near decent walleye and trout water, would like to avoid burn or blowdown areas and crowds. Looked at Clearwater to West Pike as a possibility but G-busks trip report of high wind in that area kind of freaked her out.

Seagull is another possibility. Big water but plenty of isles to break up wind and waves, little or no portaging and good fishing. Another consideration too is splitting a trip back to Thomas in half, with a layover on Ima or Hatchet. Maybe I'm putting too much thought into this. Any tangible or psychological input from 'my posse' would be greatly appreciated.

Make it easy on them so they want to go again. Pull a permit for Sawbill and go into the Fire lakes, start at Kelly and go up to Weird or Jack, enter at Ham Lake and go down to Cross Bay or even Long Island, enter at Little Indian Sioux and camp on the Pauness...fish, hike the portages and see Devil's Cascade. Take a toy or two for the little one... swim goggles, ?. Bring a folding (camp) chair of some kind for your wife, mosquito head nets for both of them, a big tarp to sit under if it rains.

Don't try to cross any big water, just in case it is windy and freaks the others out and works your bow paddler too hard.

Here are two routes that are "child friendly"....from the Gunflint Trail.

Entry point #50 - Cross Bay. Enter at Ham to Cross Bay and work your way down to Long Island. All of these are small lakes with an intimate feel - plenty of opportunities for wildlife sightings - we saw moose every day. Nice campsites and easy, short portages. Options for day trips to Frost Lake and Cherokee Lake.

Also recommend entry point #47 - Lizz. Cross Poplar to Lizz and then paddle Caribou, Horseshoe and on to Gaskin. Once again lots of great opportunities for wildlife sightings and small to medium size lakes with easy portages. Day trip options to Vista and Winchell.

I personally would avoid Seagull - big water, wind and waves, plus there is evidence of blow down and fire.

Have fun and enjoy your trip!

With our kids, we've done:

EP 35 Isabella River
-Maybe less people. Moose habitat. Fish on Isabella or Gabbro.

EP 50 Long Island Lake is a pretty lake with lots of side lakes for fishing/day tripping. Agree with alpine on this route.
It's on our list to do with our kids.

EP 29 N Kawishiwi
Will see more people, but easy for the family with side trips for fishing and sightseeing.

With kiddos you not as likely to get in far = seeing more people. Think of choosing back bays with out of the way campsites for more seclusion.

Do you want an EP off the Gunflint? Or are you flexible?

Flexible

Hog Creek #36 to Perent and back was a great trip for us w/ our 5 year old last year. It's a weekend destination so you can avoid people if you can go during the week. We entered on a Mon. and only saw 2 groups in 3 days. It was the last week of July which is supposed to be one of the busiest times of the year. Decent fishing for eater size walleye.

As mentioned above Lizz EP #47 is very kid friendly. Short/easy portages and small lakes. You can get away from the crowds of Caribou and Horseshoe by going one or two more lakes into Allen and Pillsbury.

EP 62 Clearwater to Caribou, base camp there. It is good fishing and provides good opportunity for day trips to Deer, Little Caribou, and Johnson Falls. Your six year old will love the falls!
Good luck!

Done deal,, Long Island lake it is, thanks to you fine folks. Really haggled back and forth between there and caribou. The multitude of shallow bays L.I.L has tells me theres a better potential for walleyes looking for warm water. Will plan on a couple of daytrips to Frost and Cherokee. Once again, thanks folks. Your the reason this is such a great site. If your in that area beginning of June and see us in our red Disco 17 say hey! We'll probably be traveling with another friend and his 13 yr. old son.

I am taking my 5 year old this year and we were looking at taking that same loop. How was it? Anything I need to know about even though its been this long?

Enter at Bearskin, 1 tiny portage to Daniels, base camp there. Good hiking trails in the area and a fun day trip to Duncan/Rose to the stairway portage and the waterfall.

Easy trip. It was our first family trip and my family loved it. This was in 2012 when my girls were 9, 6, and 3.

47 seems to be a site favorite and I agree. 33 will work, and you already know both of these are people areas.

Some of my first trips with my then 5 and 6-year-old boys were to Seagull. We'd camp for a few days. Lots of options for day trips. Great memories. We'd buy a couple dozen "oxygenated" crappie minnows and would rig up slip bobbers with small jigs....my son Ben hooked and landed a 20.5 inch smallie, the picture of which went into the Duluth Tribune back in the mid-1990s.