I think I may be close to making up my mind about where I want to start. I am looking into Mudro Lake as our entry point.

I have read of a parking lot at Mudro. How far from the water? How much to park a vehicle for a week?

With the Mudro restricted permit I understand that we cannot camp on Horse Lake. Is that the only restriction with that permit?

Also, if we paddle the northwest route through Fourtown Lake to Boot...Fairy..Gun..Wagosh....will that route permit solitude or have you found it to be full of other canoeists?
Will the 328 rod portage from Gun Lake to Wagosh deter people from traveling that route?

Also, any cool sites such as pictographs or fall while going this route?

Thanks! and very happy paddling.

Sincerely, paddler finding comfort in BWCA planning while struggling through nose numbing -15 temps in my hometown!

If you don't have your Mudro permit yet, I'd advise getting it asap! I just tried for one for August 1st and they were all gone, even the restricted!

By the way, the only restriction for the #22 Mudro Restricted is that you may not camp on Horse, no other restrictions apply.

Yes, the mile portage from Wagosh does deter some people. It is a bit hilly and has a couple muddy spots on it.

You will get less people in the areas north of Fourtown than you would at Horse, Fourtown or near the waterfalls or pictographs.

However, it you are in Crooked, you could take a day trip over to see at least 2-3 of the water falls (please be very, very careful! see picture below), see the pictographs and maybe even Table Rock. Also some prime walleye and smallie fishing in Crooked! :-)

Last fall my son and I put in at entry 16 on the Moose River on Sunday, September 28 and took out on MUdro Saturday, October 4. We dropped our car at the Chain Saw Sisters Saloon on Mudro and had an outfitter drop us at the Moose River entry point. It's an easy portage to the water, and not far at all. It cost us something like $17.00 to park. Lots more for the taxi service.

Being the off season we saw very few people on our trip. We camped the last two nights on Fourtown. We came down from Crooked, Papoose, Chippewa, Nikki, Wagosh, Gun, Fairy, Boot to Fourtown. Papoose, Chippewa and Wagosh had just one camp site each, and are connected by small streams. I think they would offer lots of solitude, but aren't very pretty campsites. The portage from Gun to Wagosh is over a mile and very steep at the beginning and end. That helps keep people out and adds to the solitude. It's also a long portage. The series of portages from Mudro to Fourtown are medium difficulty, but really pretty. The shortest one is the worst one.

We saw a lot of parties going in on Mudro when we were heading out. I think for solitude you'd want to go past Horse or Fourtown.

Check my trip story on this site for more about our trip.

I used an outfitter I talked to at the sports show in KC for our permit. We got it on the first try for June 19 point 23 at Mudro. I checked the availabilty on the 2oth January and it was pretty much open, except for three to four weekends. I looked at it tonight and it has filled up a lot in two weeks. I will post the link so you can look at what is still open. I don't know if you will need to refresh it, but it would'nt hurt. http://bwcaw1.reserveusa.com/entrypoint/EpAvailByDate.jsp?epId=17&permitType=OPAD&startMonth=6&startDay=19

Hunter

I did the Mudro entry 2 years ago - parked at Chainsaw Sisters Saloon. There is a launch about 200 yards before you get to the parking lot - don't make the mistake of launching there! The portages going to Fourtown are not long, but they are very rocky -ankle-breakers for sure, so no Teva's here. A nice camp on Fourtown is on the East side - half way up the lenght of the lake next to a an inlet leading to another bay/lake. Good views, large site, breezy. I don't have my map handy, but I took a day trip to the lakes north and west of Fourtown (I believe the lakes that you had mentioned). Be prepared if you take the stream immediately North of Fourtown that there are SEVERAL beaver dams you'll need to lift over. We did not see many folks on the lakes that you had mentioned and they were a fun paddle.

I hope you have fun!

Just got back from Mudro-Horse and back this past weekend. Water levels currently are fine-not high but certainly not low. We had no problem navigating Picket Creek. I did not go into the Horse River so can't say how that was.

Here are details on the portages to Horse.

Chain Saw Sisters parking lot to Picket Creek portage: Park you car here-be sure to go up to the saloon to pay $2.50 a day for parking and get your ticket for your car. From the parking lot to Picket Creek is an easy 20-25 rod portage. Don't be surprised if a couple of dogs (1-Shelty and 1-Retriever mix) accompany you. The landing and put in is a nice sandy beach. Real Easy.

Mudro-Sandpit. Some have called this the Mule Portage. It is about 80 rods and starts off innocent enough with a slight uphill. About half way the trail begins going downhill through a boulder field with some large boulders of basketball size and larger. It descends quickly to Sandpit Lake. Not as bad going this way as it is coming back to Mudro. This will be especially difficult and possibly dangerous if it is wet and/or raining. Landing on each end of portage are real good and wide.

Sandpit to Tin Can Mike-160 rods but ohhh so easy. Former railroad bed that is relatively flat and wide. After the last portage this is a walk in the park. Landings at each end are very nice. Last 20 rods or so to TCM are a raised boardwalk that is in very good condition. Rock shelf at end, but not hard to negotiate.

Tin Can Mike to Horse-90 rods and pretty easy. Not quite as flat as previous portage but easy. Good landings at each end. Final 10 rods going into Horse has a slight downhill.

Hope this helps all going into Mudro this year.

Hey Horzverti, this is a nice loop if you have 4-5 days. Going in at Mudro and heading towards Fourtown, Gun Lake then up into Wagosh, Friday, Thursday and Wednesday Bays. Coming down Crooked Lake does afford some pictographs but have an outfitter mark your map because they are tricky to spot. We had a heck of a morning with a moose at Wagosh Lake that landed me IN Wagosh Lake! The fishing was decent, but wind is an issue once you get up to those big bays. There are plenty of beautiful places to camp all along this rugged and sparsely populated loop.

P.S. The Horse has more portages than appear on the maps thanks to our aquatic genius, the beaver.

Got back from Mudro area last Sunday. Spent the first few days with Bogwalker then, continued on when he had to come home. He gave a very good summary of the Mudro to Horse part of the trip so, I'll take it from there.

From Horse, I went down the Horse River to Lower Basswood Falls. Water levels were sufficient so there were no additional portages to worry about... I'd been here in September '02 when the water was low so, then there were extra portages and some of the existing ones were almost double in length to get to water that could be paddled. Out of the 2 trips on this river, I haven't seen any problems due to Beavers as Saganagaguy reported.

Water was really running over Lower Basswood Falls. When I've been there in September, there's been a nice wide beach at the landing. Not this time. Strong current right up to the shore. Give the top of the falls a wide berth and be careful when landing. The unwary could easily get swept down the falls -- not a good thing.

Campsite on the left side below the falls is super. I've stayed there twice now.

About 1/4 mile north of the falls on Crooked Lake, you'll notice a cliff which actually extends over the water. This is where the pictos are.

From there, I continued along Crooked Lake to Friday Bay. Was surprised to find a rapids to be negotiated, I think it was between Wednesday and Thursday bays. Easy, Class I rapids though. Stay to the left.

Beautiful campsite in the cedars on "Island 18" on north part of Friday. Could be undesirable during skeeter season though.

Portage from Friday Bay to Papoose Creek was level but very wet. Actually saw a group taking the portage wearing sandals... in May... not highly recommended. Of course, this was the same group that had 2 people carrying one canoe. Go figure.

No campsite on Papoose. Small isolated lake.

Campsite on Chippewa looked enticing though I didn't get a close look. Beautiful little lake. Definitely a place for Solitude.

5 rod portage from Chippewa into Nikki was a pain in the you know where! Rocky landings, ankle eating trail. Small portage, big headache.

Nikki is another gem of a lake. Another one for solitude.

There's a waterfall between Nikki and Wagosh that's worth checking out. Also, when I went through, there was still a large ice cliff.

I stayed 2 nights on Wagosh. Very nice but small campsite -- good thing I was by myself. Campsite sits high off the water and back in a bay off the main track through the lake. Resident Loons, Beaver, and Otter.

300 rod portage to Gun was not particularly difficult. A little up and down but nothing major. A few wet spots (including walking in a couple of streams) but not muddy. Landing on the Wagosh end was ok, a little tricky on the Gun end.

From Gun, I turned east towards Bullet. Very pretty portage out of Gun. A bit of a climb but, it's a short one. Especially picturesque on the Bullet end.

Bullet Lake is shallow. Looks like it could be weed choked later in the summer.

Portage into Moosecamp is not bad but, there are a few ankle breakers along the way. Saw a lot of Bald Eagles and Ravens as I negotiated this one. Must have been a kill of some kind nearby.

Moosecamp is a nice, isolated lake. Saw no one on the lake although there are 3-4 campsites. Didn't take a close look at any of the sites.

Moosecamp River is very interesting. There were 8-9 beaver dams but, most had been knocked out so I was able to paddle through. Only 2 required a lift over.

On Fourtown, I chose one of the campsites at the north end of the lake... the one on the northwest facing point. Very nice campsite. Very open, including around the latrine! I dubbed the site "Clear View Point" mainly due to the excellent view of the lake you get while sitting on the throne, not to mention the view anyone on the lake would have of you! Fortunately, there were only 2 other parties on Fourtown and they were camped well to the south.

The portages from Fourtown to Mudro were probably the most rugged of any on the whole loop. The first one is a real winner. Not long but, it goes up steeply, has a very poor landing on each end, and lots of ankle breakers. 2 paddle strokes brings you to the 2nd one. The landings aren't much better but, the path is. Another big climb though. 2 more paddle strokes and you're at number 3. No hill this time but, the landings are still bad and the path is nothing but ankle breakers.

Hope this helps. I'll be posting a trip report (with pictures) shortly.

Thanks Nibi for the "Rest of the Story" I still wish I could have stayed through the week with you and made the second part of your trip-but then you would not have gotten the opportunity to be truly solo for a couple nights. I'll be checking with you on more details on this part of the route before I go in July-Might go this route down from Crooked with the youth.