We've been thru most of the western region over the years except way west. Looking for info on the Little Indian Sioux and Peuness lake areas. Looking at going mid summer. Our normal group of 3 fathers and 5 kids, Portages are OK - just not monsters, thinking of the fathers not the kids. Hows the campsites, Fishing?

Easy portages. One on the way down river and one between the two lakes. The river portage, it has a name that I can not remember, is a great portage - scenic and simple. There are two portages between the two lakes. I suggest the longer one to the north. You'll have to go through a lot of weeds and pads to get to the south portage on either lake. The south portage is much shorter though and I have been told not required at times. I did not camp on either lake but looked at the sites, all appeared to be nice campsites. I have pictures of some of them but don't know which photo is of which site anymore so they will not help in planning at all. If I recall correctly, most had some decent elevation to them. Don't forget to include Devils Cascade in your itinerary.

quote fitgers1: "The river portage, it has a name that I can not remember, is a great portage - scenic and simple."

Elm Portage. You know it's special when it gets its own name on the map.

If you go up to Loon Lk, you could choose one of the campsites close to Little Loon Lake. The closest one is a nice site with red pines and a good place to base camp. Little Loon is a good spot to fish walleyes and bass. Loon is also. Be aware boat traffic is allowed on Loon but not Little Loon.

As fitgers mentioned, getting to either Pauness lake is fairly easy. My wife and I did a quick weekend trip there a few years ago. Lower Pauness was the prettier lake and had the better fishing in our experience. We stayed at the campsite on the peninsula in the middle of Lower. It was a great site, with ok fishing from shore. It would have room for your group.

As mentioned, a must visit is Devils Cascade at the North end of Lower. A good daytrip is a loop that goes through Shell, Little Shell, Lynx, Heritage and back to Shell and Lower Pauness. I think those are the lakes, but only going off memory. The portage between Lower and Shell was a little long and very muddy, but not that bad. One of the other portages was a little steep I think, but with no gear this is an easy trip to see more area.

The lakes I listed above along with Emptynest's suggestion of the Loon Lakes probably have somewhat better fishing so push on if that is a priority, but we caught dinner each night and enjoyed our stay there.

devils cascade is a unique area in the bwca.

devils cascade

I'd hope we get more moisture than we're getting this winter. In September Devils Cascade was all but dry as a bone.

BTW: It's an easy paddle to Pauness, I'd give yourselves enough time to portage into Shell or Loon in case sites are full. Loon might be the easiest, but I prefer Shell myself.

If you want a real adventure head south on the L.I.S. make your way to Bootleg, then Chad, Buck, and Western. Awesome fishing, solitude, and wild scenery.

Fantastic trip! 2011 I took my BW virgin, my Ex and myself on a loop in that area. It was a fairly long paddle for that amount of time but it was out of this world fantastic, worth every portage. The BW as a whole is full of beauty but this brought it to a new level. From put in of Little Indian Souix to our first night on Slim we headed north hitting Steep, Eugene, Beartrack, Thumb, Finger, Pocket, Oyster, Hustler Ruby, Lynx and on out the Little Indian Sioux. (to name a few) A 5 day trip. Portages were not bad the entire time. The longest of portages was cake because it was beautiful. I felt as if I were in some sort of fairytopia. (I have a little niece what can I say) lol This may not be quite what you asked about but it was a great trip that even a motley crew handled with grace. I must admit that paddling out the Little Indian Sioux was a bear. It was a giant wind tunnel. In conclusion I would like to encourage you not to take this trip.......so I can save it for myself. bluhahahaha Did I meantion we even saw moose?

Keep in mind that most of both Pauness Lakes are very shallow. Like 10 feet deep. If you camp there the north bay of Lower Pauness is the best bet because it is 35 feet deep there. I mention this because I don't like drinking water out of such shallow lakes.

Also, I would imagine these shallow areas are very buggy in the summer. I was there in Sept. 2012 and wrote up a trip report with pics of a site on Lower Pauness. Trip Report

Someone else mentioned it but a nice short loop would be Shell to Heritage to Lynx to Shell and out. You should make Shell with no problem on the first day. The 216 rod portage there was flooded in the middle but it's not a big deal to float through. There's a pic of this in my report too.

Mid summer (like mid June and then early August), Pauness and Shell can be pretty packed with people.

Going up to Little Loon would be less people, but you would hear more motors in the distance.

In between Upper & Lower Pauness (south east side) is an 8 rod portage. Near that portage is a very nice campsite, however, it is basically a one tent site. I stayed there on my second solo trip. Just enough room to set up my tent.

And even though it was September 17th, I had paddled around both Pauness Lakes and even inquired about Shell (was told no open sites), and had planned to leave when I decided to check out the small site again since it was on my way back out. The green tarp/tent that I had seen when I first paddled in was not there any more, so I was lucky.

I had never expected the amount of people! Of course, now that I look back at it, it was the very peak of the colors and they were gorgeous that year. Plus I got caught up at work and wasn't on the water until almost noon.

We camped on the northern end of Upper Pauness in Sept. That's an out-of-way site but we had trouble with water filtration and getting a clean scoop, even out of the middle of that lake. Be prepared to deal with that if you stay on those lakes.

A beautiful area, and there are many, many trip reports on this area. I've been in that area 3 or 4 times, and like some have stated, it can be really, really crowded. If you get to the Thumb/Finger area, it may not be as crowded, and there is a stunning campsite on the island on Finger.

Camped at the site on the point west of the portage to Shell. Great site, but windblown as hell. Great to keep the bugs out, but on those days it wants to blow, you'll be sorry. Great tent pads for smaller tents in a stand of evergreens. Very little firewood unless you paddle or bushwack. Hard to land a canoe; have to hike up a hill.

Best experience on this trip was three nights on Lynx Lake. Our night on Lower Pauness was on the way out. But one of the most amazing sunsets ever!

the northern campsite on heritage lake is a nice site where the heritage creek flows out,the 220 rod portage from heritage lake to loon lake is steep but downhill that direction

Can Devil's Cascade be a day trip? Through EP 14 and back...
My husband and I are looking for a good BWCA day trip in the Ely area and I love waterfalls! We've been to Hegmans pictographs before (only took a few hours) We aren't very athletic though and don't want to feel rushed...

I was up there at the end of May with butthead. The longer portage into Shell was a little wet. The dam created pretty high water. I walked my canoe through. Not sure of water levels right now but I suspect you'll have to carry gear the full portage. Pretty flat for the most part. If you're able to link my e-mail I can tell you where I caught some good sized bass! Shhh... it's a secret! :) Had a good trip north site on Con island looked like it would have been a nice site for a bigger group. We weren't able to stay there. Have a good trip. oh,Yes Devil's cascade could be a day trip if you're on Shell.

Devils Cascade May 2013 with Pete.

butthead

quote mitzmanx: "Can Devil's Cascade be a day trip? Through EP 14 and back>

If you leave the EP around first light, Devil's Cascade would be a comfortable day trip with dinner in Ely.

I have eaten lunch at Devil's Cascade a couple times and it was usually around 11:30 am. Thinking 2 1/2 - 3 hours, and that was not pushing it.



The drive out and back will take almost that amount of time.