My son and I are putting in at Moose Lake July 24 and getting a tow up to Birch in order to get us (hopefully) beyond the madding crowd. We plan to camp the first night on the end of Knife Lake. My question is: given the proximity to Moose, and the large number of people entering and exiting there, are we going to have a difficult time finding an available campsite on Knife?

Knife is big and has lots of sites so the answer is no problems finding an available site. The closer in sites have two risks, being overused and potentially taken and used by people who feed the animals.
My 2 cents is to use the maps section on the tabs to the left and open the bwca map. You can zoom in to campsites; many have ratings and even photos that will help decide if it meets your needs. I usually target a few sites in an area within my day's paddle and once there start looking.
have a great trip.

We usually try to get past "Dorothy's" island and onto the island shaped like a duck facing east or the site on the north side of the Thunder Point Island.

We have had trouble finding a good site when we have been large groups of(8 or 9). We have also had trouble with the LARGE number of Scout groups in the area taking up sites and clogging portages.

Looks like this will be a group of 2. We just returned from a great trip to that area a week ago. Had no issues finding a good site on knife lake and that was during the 4th week. Traveled Knife quite a bit and saw many open sites. Hope that eases your mind a bit.

Thank you. I tend to be apprehensive when close to an entry point. Last year we spent the final night on Saganaga Lake and finding an available campsite was tough. Sites were occupied by huge screen tents and camp furniture and it did not look as if people were going to be moving. We eventually found an unoccupied site in a cove on the South shore but we were close to resigning ourselves to canoeing on to the pull out point.

Have not been able to find open camp sites on Disappointment Lake more then once

I have camped multiple times near Dorothy's Island and have always found that most people push on beyond that. It is indeed a big lake and you will find a home. Last time, we found the near end of Knife better fishing and less populated--it was more crowded up on the north end. Of course, we saw many groups passing by out on the lake, but not many stuck around down there.

quote pastorjsackett: "I have camped multiple times near Dorothy's Island and have always found that most people push on beyond that. It is indeed a big lake and you will find a home. Last time, we found the near end of Knife better fishing and less populated--it was more crowded up on the north end. Of course, we saw many groups passing by out on the lake, but not many stuck around down there. "

Thanks. That's the area I plan on ending up the first night.

quote arcadie: "

quote pastorjsackett: "I have camped multiple times near Dorothy's Island and have always found that most people push on beyond that."

Thanks. That's the area I plan on ending up the first night."

YOu might check out the sites on Portage Lk - it is off the bay in the southwest corner of Knife. We didnt find the portage but did find the "winter route" which is on the north shore of the bay. We spent two nights on the northwestern site last summer. The fishing was good and we had a small bear watch us as we cleaned fish on the shore across from the campsite.

We stopped first at the site on the south shore of the bay. It was quite busy with mini-bears and not a great layout.

Just entered on Moose on Friday the 10th. Left Indian Portage into Birch at 7:30 and was first canoe to reach Knife for the day. Camped at the westerly island site near Dorothy's island at 11 or 11:30. Decent site, good kitchen, 1 nice tent pad. When I made campe, I noticed from a distance at least 3 other nearby sites were vacant. Set up camp and hung around until about 1:30 / 2:00, noticed at least 4 other groups passing through check to see if my site was taken yet. I'd suggest leaving early if you are nervous about and you won't have a problem.

I would advise to take the earlier tow possible as well. We left on the 7:30 tow and saw few people on the portages.

Thanks
I think I will see if I can get an early tow.