The best route in the BWCAW: Put in at South Kawishiwi River and head for Lake One Then on to Malberg via Insula and Alice. Head south to Kawishiwi Lake and take the 400 rod portage (most difficult; plan a full day) to Perent Lake. Head down the Perent River to Isabella Lake onto the Isabella River and back to the South Kawishiwi entry point. Plan a ten day trip for this excursion; you'll see it all and want to reload with food/dry gear and do it again. This was a premier loop back in the 30's and 40's. It fell out of use in the 50's and 60's due to the logging roads but it's back in pristine shape again.

Thank You.

Where's the portage from Kawishiwi Lake to Perent Lake? I've never seen one marked on a map as a portage. Looking at this sites maps (the topos) it looks like maybe you can go from EP37, SSW, along the east side of the marsh, to Perent Lake. Is that it?

It would make for an interesting loop.

Just looked at the sat photos and can't see any clear evidence of the route I picked out on the topos.

On a 1920 map there is a trail from Kawishiwi Lake to Perent Lake.

On the Kawishiwi side the portage starts from the south end of the SW bay. On The Perent side the trail starts from the north end of a cove on the NE arm of Perent.

I have covered all of this ground on different trips (except the ancient portage). As a loop it would be a good one.

Interesting. I can't find anything, either marked or very obvious in the sat photos (also checked on bing maps which tend to be pretty high resolution). According to the USGS topos, including back to the 1960s that area is pretty marshy. And a few years ago I did try hiking along that part of Kawishiwi Lake and it was very spongy ground and difficult going. Of course, Atomic Ant did say to leave most of a day for 400 rods and so I wouldn't be surprised if this was a tough bushwhack.

I do find this a very interesting loop and have often wished there was a connection across there.

HPD, could you post a photo of that part of the 1920's map?

NO need to post that portion of map. We have it on BWCA.com

Go to MAPS
Scroll down to historic maps
Click the 1920 map and start zooming in. You will see the trail

These historic maps were brought to us by one of the board members. I forgot who that was.

So is this a vote for best loop? Opinion? Fact? I disagree, but looks like an interesting loop.

Interesting but the problem I have is that you would go thru multiple entry point lakes: Lake one, Kawishiwi, Perent, Isabella, Gabbro, Little Gabbro. Not really a great route for solitude.

Thanks for the tip on the maps. I am going to attach a screen grab from the 1920 map from here (brought to us by Eglath) and from the 1986 USGS topo. The route from the 1920 map also shows up on the 1929 canoe routes map. I do wonder how accurate it is, though. It basically is drawn as a straight line through a lot of marsh based on the 1986 topo. But on the 1986 topo there is a drawn path through drier ground that leaves from just south of the EP and which goes to the other side of the cove on Perent. No matter what, this is going to be a bushwhack from what I can see on the satellite photos. Could be interesting to first explore this as a daytrip.

I do agree that the southern part of the loop goes past a lot of EPs and that could affect soliitude.

I assumed that the original poster was just expressing his opinion.

I wonder when the spelling got changed from parent to perent. wasn't perent a trapper from the area?

quote kanoes: "I wonder when the spelling got changed from parent to perent. wasn't perent a trapper from the area?"

Could just be a mistaken fixing of the spelling. If you read the notes in the lower left corner it was compiled in Denver and traced in Washington. Local knowledge may have been lost and it is hard to do something that big without an error.

I really like the Sawbill to Malberg Loop.





Approximately 40 miles with 4 different river systems.

quote LuvMyBell: "I really like the Sawbill to Malberg Loop.







Approximately 40 miles with 4 different river systems."

Agreed, a fantastic loop. Not a simple trek, but worth the effort.

Is the Sawbill to Malberg loop doable this time of year.Im thinking of doing a solo the end of this week.

i wouldn't consider any loop a 'best' if it didn't include at least one of the big border lakes.

quote andym: "Just looked at the sat photos and can't see any clear evidence of the route I picked out on the topos."

I looked for the portage in the early 1990's while an instructor at the Outward Bound School. We eventually went out of hog creek and portaged down the road to Kawishiwi Lake. LONG portage!!!!

The portage starts from a small stream just west of the campground. You are still inside the BWCAW. It's not maintained. Most maps do not show the location. Look on a USGS Quad.

quote atomicant: "The portage starts from a small stream just west of the campground. You are still inside the BWCAW. It's not maintained. Most maps do not show the location. Look on a USGS Quad."

Thanks. Looks like the trail on the USGS topo I posted.

You can see the current topos, and much more, at The USGS National Map

And you can explore the historic topos, which can be very interesting, at here. That can be helpful as trails do come and go on these maps.

quote steveo23: "Is the Sawbill to Malberg loop doable this time of year.Im thinking of doing a solo the end of this week."

Having only traveled this route in the spring and summer I cannot comment on low water adventuring. I think it would only increase the degree of difficulty with more carry.

A less rigorous route, also very nice, is the Baker, South Temperance, Cherokee, Sawbill Fire Chain and back to Baker. Or any combination. Pretty lakes and smaller water in case of the October blows.

Luvmybell, looking for routes for next year and would like to do more river canoeing. What are the four river systems you speak of? What are the challenging portages on the route? How is the fishing - species? Anything spectacular about the route? How many days without layovers, assuming about 5 hours paddling per day? Interesting note - I see that the portaging time and paddling time are exactly the same - is that assuming single or double portaging? Thanks for the info.

quote lindylair: "What are the four river systems you speak of? What are the challenging portages on the route?"

I’m not trying to speak for LMB, but the rivers shown on the map with the route outlined above are Phoebe, Kawishiwi, Louse, and Kelso. Yes there are a lot of portages including the mile and a half trail between Zenith and Lujenida Lakes.

quote LuvMyBell: "I really like the Sawbill to Malberg Loop.







Approximately 40 miles with 4 different river systems."

there is a reason that this is about the only area in the bwca i have not been to. almost as much portaging as paddling, that is not my idea of a canoe trip.

quote inspector13: "

quote lindylair: "What are the four river systems you speak of? What are the challenging portages on the route?"

I’m not trying to speak for LMB, but the rivers shown on the map with the route outlined above are Phoebe, Kawishiwi, Louse, and Kelso. Yes there are a lot of portages including the mile and a half trail between Zenith and Lujenida Lakes.

"

Thanks for replying to lindylair. I wasn't monitoring this thread to see his question in time to answer it.

quote lindylair: "Luvmybell, looking for routes for next year and would like to do more river canoeing. What are the four river systems you speak of? What are the challenging portages on the route? How is the fishing - species? Anything spectacular about the route? How many days without layovers, assuming about 5 hours paddling per day? Interesting note - I see that the portaging time and paddling time are exactly the same - is that assuming single or double portaging? Thanks for the info. "

Inspector13 answered your 4 rivers and challenging portages questions.

If memory serves, the last time we did this loop, we started at Sawbill, arrives at Polly early on day 2. Had a layover day on Polly because the fishing for walleye is good there for us. We then headed to Malberg the morning of our 4th day. Malberg has excellent fishing too. We spent days 4, 5 and 6 on Malberg. Day 7 was spent paddling to Wine Lake. We finished up on Day 8 heading from Wine Lake back to Sawbill. That Lejuenda portage is a bear! We mostly single-portaged the entire trip with the exception of Lejuenda.

Thanks for all the responses to my opinion of the best BWCA Loop. I know that the Kawishiwi to Perent portage isn't a typical portage trail. Parts of the original tread are still there and since it isn't under a federal schedule for clearing, it's a bushwhack alright. But it completes a historic loop in the center of the wilderness. This loop was a standard trip for many years. I wish one of the volunteer groups who adopts historic trails would take a look at this one. But on the other-hand, if it didn't take a full day to negotiate this portage, it would lose some of it's charm.

Before the catastrophic clear-cutting that occurred in that part of the BWCA in the 1950s-1960s (Tomahawk Sale), there was also a portage route from Square Lake (near Kawishiwi L.) to Insula Lake via Baskatong, Jupiter (or Andek?), Maniwaki, and Hope Lakes.

Although I learned of the former route back in the 1980s while looking at an old map (of Lake County, MN??), I just found a reference to it on a website called Rook.org. Here is what it says:

"Maniwaki is a link in the Maniwaki route, which extends south and east from Insula, up Hope Creek through North Hope, Hope, and South Hope, then up Maniwaki Creek to Maniwaki. At one time, the route continued on up Maniwaki Creek to Andek and from Andek, by way of a mile-long (320 rod) portage, to Baskatong in the upper Kawishiwi drainage. Today Maniwaki is a dead end, at the end of a long spur route up from Insula. It is clear, however, that in the past this lake had through connections east to the upper Kawishiwi country, and north to the middle reaches of that river. It is not known if these old portages can even be found today, much less used."